Small businesses could suffer after an agreement between the government, the CBI and the TUC to give agency staff the same rights as direct employees after 12 continuous weeks of employment.

Speaking on 20 May when the deal was announced, secretary of state for business, enterprise and regulatory reform, John Hutton, said: ‘Today’s agreement achieves our twin objectives of flexibility for British employers and fairness for workers. It will give people a fair deal at work without putting their jobs at risk or cutting off a valuable route into employment.’

But the Forum for Private Business (FPB) warned that the changes could leave small businesses with serious staffing problems. It said using agency staff to cover absences such as maternity leave will become much less attractive.

‘Increased costs and bureaucracy is an unwelcome burden for our members at a time of financial uncertainty, and we fail to see how these measures fit in with the government’s plans to reduce red tape for small firms by 25% by 2010,’ said FPB’s chief executive Phil Orford.

The 12-week period represents a concession since the original proposal was that temporary workers would get equal rights after six weeks, but the FPB says the compromise does not go far enough.

Source

Construction Manager