People management experts the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) have reiterated their call for the UK Government to resist proposals that would damage the employment of agency workers. The CIPDís statement comes ahead of the meeting of the EU Council of Ministers on Tuesday 3 June when the EU Council of Ministers will consider the draft Directive on Agency Workers.
CIPD Employee Relations Adviser, Mike Emmott said: ìThe Government has continued to argue that giving agency workers the same pay and conditions as permanent workers would remove the element of labour market flexibility that is critical to a successful UK economy
ìAgency work brings benefits to both employers and employees. As the CIPDís annual employee satisfaction survey shows, temporary staff are actually more highly motivated and more satisfied with their jobs than staff on permanent contracts. In many cases agency workers value the freedom of choice that agency work can offer.
ìTemporary workers, for example in IT and healthcare, may receive higher pay in return for less security. Meanwhile, organisations can retain the flexibility they need to deal with changes in demand.î
A study1 of agency working in a number of EU countries concludes that legislation on its own is unlikely to be effective in securing equal pay and conditions for agency workers.
Says Emmott: The same study shows that unions across the EU are increasingly willing to accept agency working. They recognise that it can provide an element of flexibility that helps to protect, rather than undermine, the position of permanent employees.
ìIt also shows that temporary work allows individuals to explore different opportunities and employers to get to know a number of different workers, so that the longer-term decisions of both parties about employment will be more soundly based.î
Adds Emmott:î Agency work is not part of the problem but part of the solution. It promotes labour flexibility which in turn leads to higher levels of employment and economic growth.î
The CIPDís annual employee satisfaction survey (Pressure at Work and the Psychological Contract) shows that temporary staffs are more highly motivated and more satisfied with their jobs than staff on permanent contracts.
For a press copy of CIPD Pressure at Work and the Psychological Contract please contact Emma Price on 020 8263 3240 or e.price@cipd.co.uk
Pressure at Work and the Psychological Contract is price at 50 for non-members and 20 for CIPD members. To buy a copy contact our sales on 0870 800 3366 or www.cipd.co.uk/bookstore
The research1 is reported in Contingent Employment in Europe and the United States, by Ola Bergstrom and Donald Storrie and to be published by Edward Elgar www.e-elgar.co.uk
A survey undertaken by the Institute for Employment Studies found that a fifth of employers surveyed deliberately used some of their temporary jobs as trials for workers who could become permanent www.employment-studies.co.uk
Nearly 70 per cent of employers of temporary workers had in the past three years made temporary workers permanent (Labour Market Trends, September 1996, page 403) www.statistics.cov.uk
DTI estimates suggest that some 700,000 workers in the UK are working as temporary agency workers at any one time; Labour Force Survey data show that that, because of the degree of turnover, temporary jobs account for as many as 1 in 3 job hirings (Labour Market Trends September 1997, page 348) www.dti.gov.uk
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has over 117,000 members and is the leading professional body for those involved in the management and development of people.
CIPD urges government to protect UK ìtempî market
.