Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill

My hon. Friend is on to a good point. Again, it is another reason why the Bill as drafted is wholly inadequate and unsatisfactory. It is regrettable that there are no explanatory notes. I notice that the next Bill for discussion does not have any explanatory notes either. I do not know whether that is because this Bill's promoter thinks that it is self-explanatory or whether he wishes to keep people in the dark. It is customary for Bills to have explanatory notes. Indeed, I think it is obligatory, under the rules of the House, for Government Bills to have them. In the absence of explanatory notes, one has to speculate about the meaning of some of the expressions in the Bill. My understanding is that it introduces three new rights for temporary and agency workers under clauses 1(1), 3(1) and 3(4). I am not going to go through the Bill line by line, as we were promised we would be allowed to do with the European constitutional treaty. You would not allow me, Madam Deputy Speaker, to do that during the day-by-day consideration that the Prime Minister said we would have. I would, however, like to highlight one or two provisions that should be tightened up in Committee should this Bill be given a Second Reading. As has been said, clause 1(2)(b) does not define the ““objective grounds”” to which it refers. In clause 1(3), ““pro rata temporis””—the meaning of that phrase will be familiar to anyone who did Latin at school or university, but not to others—would not cover overtime. That is a good point in the Bill, in comparison with the European Union directive, and it is a pity that the Minister did not highlight it. That is a positive feature, but vague language is deployed in clause 2, particularly in subsection (1)(b), which uses the expressions, ““broadly similar””, ““having regard””, ““where relevant””, ““seniority””, ““similar level”” and ““qualifications and skills””. There is no reference, however, to age or experience. All those vague concepts are used to try to derive a comparator, which under the provisions of clause 2 could be a hypothetical person, which is quite ludicrous. The Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe consistently argued against giving rights to individual agency and temporary workers that would enable them to access the terms and conditions of permanent staff. I do not think that the employers are wrong: it is perfectly reasonable that terms and conditions of employment in individual contracts should remain a private matter between the employer and the employee. That is a particularly significant factor in the UK, where most contracts of employment are with the individual, as opposed to the collective basis often used on the continent. The rights given by clause 3(1) would impose a particularly onerous burden on employers, as their existing contracting terms that prevented someone from becoming a permanent employee would be made void. If an employer had a policy or an agreement with trade unions that temporary workers could not be taken on as employees, such a condition would be null and void . What is the point of that? It is unnecessarily oppressive and regulatory, and it discriminates against the rights of individuals to reach agreements based on their assessment of what is in their best interest. Clause 3(4) states:"““An agency worker has the right not to be subjected to any detriment by any act, or any deliberate failure to act, of the end user or the employment business, or employment agency, done on a ground specified in subsection (5)””" That is a serious issue, which will create a substantial burden for employers, and runs counter to the principle of privacy of contract.