MP Wants Protection for Agency Workers

Neil Gerrard, Labour MP for Walthamstow, is asking people in Walthamstow to tell him if they have suffered poor treatment at work because they are an agency worker.

Mr Gerrard is supporting a campaign to change the law to tackle the abuse of agency workers, and to stop employers using agency staff to drive down the pay and conditions of directly employed workers. In response to a Private Members Bill the Government has now agreed to accept evidence detailing the abuse agency workers have suffered.

“I was disappointed that the Bill did not make progress” said Mr Gerrard, “but I hope that now we can present sufficient evidence to the Government to persuade Ministers to take action. I have seen examples of agency staff getting poor treatment and I want to collect as much evidence as possible.”

“For some people the flexibility which agency working can offer is a bonus, but in too many cases agency work brings with it job insecurity, poor pay, no holiday or sick pay, and even cases of pay being docked to pay for essential equipment or training.”

“I would like to hear from anyone who is an agency worker and has encountered:

• Agency staff being paid less than permanent staff doing exactly the same work

• Agency staff being denied sick pay or holiday pay

• Long term use of agency staff rather than offering permanent work

• Deductions from agency staff pay to cover the costs of equipment, transport, or accommodation”

Anyone who has a story to tell can write to Mr Gerrard at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. Any information provided will be submitted to the Department for Trade and Industry as evidence of the need for protection for agency staff.

May 2007

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