New safeguards for temp workers

Employers cannot refuse to pay if there is no timesheet

New measures aimed at improving the rights of agency staff have been unveiled by the government.

Modelling and entertainment agencies will be banned from charging upfront fees before finding work for clients.

Rules limiting the fees, that are imposed when temps switch to permanent jobs, are also to be introduced.

The regulations come into force in April 2004 and could affect more than half-a-million workers and 17,000 agencies, the government said.

Temp-to-perm

Agencies will no longer be able to withhold pay if a temporary worker cannot produce a timesheet and they will also be required to vet temps who work with vulnerable groups.

Gerry Sutcliffe, employment relations minister, said the rules would help ensure "vulnerable groups are looked after by suitable people".

Fees paid by employers to agencies if they want to employ a temporary worker directly, known as temp-to-permanent fees, can be very high.

Employers will not have to pay temp-to-permanent fees if there is a gap in employment, a so-called "quarantine period", before they take up their permanent post.

Life for temps would be much better if the government had agreed to stop opposing Europe's proposals Brendan Barber, TUC

This period varies according to how long the temp has worked with the company.

For example, in the case of a temp who had worked for six weeks with a firm, they would need to take an eight week break from employment; otherwise the employer would pay a fee to the agency.

The maximum penalty for breaking the regulations is a £5,000 fine for each offence and a maximum ban of 10 years.

Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, welcomed some of the measures, but said he was disappointed by the government's decision to block other temp rights.

"Working life for temps would be much better if the government had agreed to stop opposing Europe's proposals for better rights for agency workers, and had resisted the recruitment industry's lobbying to keep 'temp to perm fees'."