The government confirmed that agency workers would be included in the prohibition on ‘exploitative zero-hours’ contracts. This will guarantee them a certain number of hours per week, and notification when their shifts change.
Yesterday, the response was published in response to the consultation on the impact of zero-hours contracts reform on agency workers.
The government has published so far three of the five responses it received to its consultations regarding the Employment Rights Bill. Next week, amendments will be debated by the Commons.
In the consultation response, the key point was that agency workers who work zero hours would have a right of guaranteed hours “wherein the number offered reflects the hours worked by the employee during a period of reference”. The consultation response stated that zero-hours agency workers would gain a right to guaranteed hours “where the number of hours offered reflects the number of hour worked by the worker during a reference period”.
Second, they’ll get the right to “reasonable notification” for shifts. They will also be entitled to compensation if a shift is cancelled or reduced at short notice.
In response, the government stated that it wanted to “ensure agency work doesn’t become a loophole when plans are made to stop exploitative zero-hours contract”.
The government is prioritizing the design of solutions that are effective, which address one-sided flexibilities and provide agency workers with greater safety, while still retaining flexibility for employers to manage their workforces.
The Association of Professional Staffing Companies and Recruitment and Employment Confederation urged the Government to exempt agencies from the crackdown. They feared that it would reduce the employers’ ability fill unexpected resourcing gap.
Who is responsible?
The government proposed that the final hirer would be responsible for offering guaranteed hours.
It was suggested that employers, rather than agencies, would “be best placed to manage future work”, as it stated. The proposal of joint liability to guarantee hours was considered too complex.
This exception is applicable to “truly temporary” or seasonal work. Before introducing legislation to accommodate these arrangements, the government will consult “what constitutes temporary needs”.
It would be the end-hirer’s responsibility to provide notice of shifts, while the agency will have a share. The agencies will have to cover any cancellations and curtailments with short notice, but they will be able recoup these costs from the end hirers.
The consultation participants noted that the agency or the end-hirer can be held responsible for an unreasonable notice. Therefore, it is reasonable to share the burden so that a tribunal may apportion responsibility depending on the circumstances and the responsible party.
Who pays?
If the agency was required to pay for changes made with short notice, it would result in fewer delays and unnecessary administrative work, since the workers would already be on their payroll. The report also said that agencies and employers could change their arrangements for recouping cost at a future date, if they deemed it appropriate.
Neil Carberry said, “Agency Workers are different from directly employed workers, and already have their own stricter regulatory regime.”
If the government wants to be serious about workers’ long-term interests, growth and competitiveness it must change its approach. We worry that the current approach could lead to serious non-compliance, and fake self-employment at the cost of workers.
Paul Nowak (General Secretary of the TUC) welcomed the amendments proposed: “The Government is right to close the loophole. In order to crackdown on exploitative zero-hour contracts, agency workers must be included. “Agency workers will benefit from better protection from unfair working practices and more security regarding their working hours.”
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