Temporary Workers Directive - Jenrick CPI lobbies Parliament
Jenrick CPI was a key member of the lobby group that met with MP’s at the House of Commons on Monday
6th October to discuss the Temporary Workers Directive, sometimes called the Agency Workers Directive (also see our TWD article dated September 9th 2008).
The hosts for the event were Jim Dowd (MP for Lewisham) and Andrew Miller (MP for Ellesmere Port), and was organised by ATSCo (Association of Technical Staffing Companies) and sponsored by Lloyds TSB.
The afternoon was opened by Jim Dowd, who has been a member of parliament for Lewisham West since 1992 and is currently sitting on the health select committee and has held positions as Senior Government Whip and spokesperson for Northern Ireland. Mr Dowd gave a brief introduction to the event and witty overview of the “collapse of capitalisation” in recent weeks. He then handed over to Ann Swain.
Ann delivered an insightful overview of ATSCo’s position regarding the Temporary Workers Directive and re-iterated the views of Jenrick CPI and other ATSCo members that vulnerable workers in all industries must be protected. However, the fear was that the proposed legislative change would potentially affect IT Limited Company contractors. Swain commented “IT and Telecom Limited Company contractors do not fall under the bracket of vulnerable workers” and will therefore not be affected by the introduction of the TWD.
Next to speak was Andrew Miller MP who was quoted earlier this year:
“I am delighted that consensus was reached at the Council of Ministers this week. The agreement on both the Working Time Directive and the Agency Workers Directive achieved the Labour Government’s twin objectives in these areas – to ensure fair treatment for agency workers and also to maintain the labour market flexibility for employers and employees which has been central to the creation of an extra 3 million jobs in the UK over the past decade.
“This now paves the way for the principal provisions of my Private Member’s Bill (The Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill) to become law in the very near future.”
The Bill aims to secure equal treatment for agency workers and will ensure that over 1.4 million agency workers in the UK are entitled to the same terms and conditions as their directly employed colleagues.
Andrew Miller said:
“My Bill is not aimed at those agencies who run a reputable operation but at rogue agencies who exploit both indigenous and migrant workers, undermining their terms and conditions and in some cases, operating what can only be described as a ‘Dickensian’ setup.
“The UK should be striving to be a high skill, high pay economy that is based upon a well trained workforce. That goal is not achievable with 1.4 million workers in the agency sector, few of whom receive any opportunity to upgrade their skills.”
Together with defining the agency targets of this bill (“Rogue Agencies”), Miller also made clear that professional Limited Company contractors will not be affected by the bill and should expect to see no change in their working conditions.
Further details of the bill can be found in a ministerial statement by Pat McFadden (Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Services) http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file47072.pdf
Having attended the session representing Jenrick CPI, MD Peter Jezeph commented:
“We were very pleased to have confirmation from Andrew Miller that our core business associates, IT Limited company contractors, will not be directly affected by this bill, and this will not impinge on our ability to continue delivering a valuable service to British industry.”
Should you have any questions or comments regarding this article, please do not hesitate to contact Philip Fanthom (Sales Director) – philip.fanthom@jenrickcpi.co.uk
Tags: agency workers directive, atsco, temporary workers directive, TWD
