Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller) on raising the issue of temporary and agency workers through his Bill. I appreciate his deep and genuine concern to protect the vulnerable at work and to ensure fairness for all workers whether they are permanent or agency workers. The Government share that concern and I shall set out our position. The Bill sets out a series of rules under which agency work—work carried out by working through an agency established to supply labour to a number of different hiring firms or organisations—should be conducted. As my hon. Friend said, the Bill is motivated by a desire to protect vulnerable workers and to combat mistreatment at work. We all know that there are people who are vulnerable or mistreated at work. The Government are committed to protecting people in those circumstances, whether they are permanent employees or temporary or agency workers. Just as some permanent employees feel themselves poorly paid and treated, so do some agency workers. Together with the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, my Department recently commissioned a survey of those who had inquired at citizens advice bureaux around the country about employment rights issues. The survey was perhaps not scientific, as it was a self-selecting sample of those who had turned up at citizens advice bureaux. Nevertheless, it showed that 95 per cent. of complaints came from permanent employees and just 2 per cent. from agency workers. Therefore, vulnerability and mistreatment are issues, but it would be wrong to equate agency work with exploitation and permanent work with an absence of exploitation.