Government and campaigns
The Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill is currently progressing through Parliament. This bill proposes the introduction of a right for all workers to request a more stable working pattern after they have worked in the same role at the same hirer for a set period of time. Under the draft legislation this would apply to temporary workers, working via an agency after 12 weeks, much like a temp's agency worker regulation entitlement.
These proposals could have a huge impact on the UK's temporary work market. Allowing temps to request a more stable contract after only 12 weeks would completely undermine the inherent flexibility of the temporary work market to respond to peaks and troughs in demand. It would also prevent workers who choose and want to work flexibly from working in this way. One large REC member reported that 60% of their temporary workers work at the same end hirer for more than 12 weeks. That would mean roughly 24,000 workers potentially requesting new contracts from their employment business or the end client, creating a huge administrative burden and wasting valuable time and resource. Given ongoing labour and skills shortages, coupled with a challenging economic climate, undermining the value of the UK's £36.4 billion temporary labour market seems an odd choice for the government.
The REC has made our concerns about the proposal well known. Initially, we wrote to Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, to outline our concerns over the impact this bill could have. As a result of our letter, Kate Shoesmith, our Deputy CEO, met with senior officials to highlight the damaging impact these proposals could have on the UK recruitment industry. This was a great opportunity to share our views with the civil service team working directly on this bill and raise awareness of potential gaps in the draft legislation, particularly the omission of umbrella companies, and gaps around the qualifying period for this right to take effect. Our concerns were taken on board, and we've been asked to share additional information in writing with officials - showing the impact to REC members and the wider industry and will play a key role in working with the government to develop sensible regulations when the time comes.
As the bill continues to progress through the House of Lords, the REC has also taken this opportunity to ask members of the house to table proposed amendments to the bill on our behalf. These amendments covered a range of issues, with our main ask being the removal of agency workers entirely from the scope of the legislation. Failing this, we have also tabled suggested amendments to limit the scope and application of the right to request a more stable contract and called for an amendment to explicitly bring umbrella companies under the remit of this bill.
As the bill progresses through parliament, the REC will continue to engage with all the relevant stakeholders to push for the necessary changes to this legislation. To really push our message to the government and the civil service we need members to share case studies/impact estimates of how much damage these changes could do to the temporary labour market. Please email these to patrick.milnes@rec.uk.com so we can share this data, which will of course be anonymised, with the relevant parties.
As well as continuing our engagement with the Department, we will also be sharing our briefing document with MPs. Once the bill has potentially been amended and passed through the Lords, there will be a final opportunity for MPs to have their say on the bill. Making them aware of the impact of the draft legislation will be crucial.
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