Queen's Speech: agency workers to have equal treatment with permanent staff

June Barber, 18 November 2009

Legislation will be passed to provide agency workers with the right to be treated equally with permanent staff on pay, holidays and other basic conditions, it was confirmed in the Queen's Speech today.

Commenting on the proposed legislation Kevin Green, chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), said: "It is crucial that plans to introduce legislation to ensure equal treatment for agency workers in October 2011 do not add cost and bureaucracy to the recruitment process as this would go against the Government's job creation objectives.

Referring to the Equality Bill part of the speech which announced that business with more than 250 employees will have to report on gender differences on pay, Green said: "The Equality Bill proposals on reporting gender pay differences should not clog up companies with added bureaucracy when they are trying to re-staff as we pull out of recession. These measures need to be proportionate and effective. Simply reporting gender pay differences will not help to create more high quality flexible working, which could give many women a more effective route back into the labour market."