merrion street

Enterprise Minister Richard Bruton today published the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011. The Bill is intended to give effect to an EU Directive (Directive 2008/104/EC) on temporary agency work which requires that agency workers be treated equally, in certain respects, to people directly recruited to the same job.

The main provisions of the bill include:

The Minister has previously announced the main provisions of the Bill:

• All temporary agency workers are entitled to equal treatment in terms of pay and basic working conditions as if they were directly recruited by the hirer to the same job

• Basic working conditions will include working time, rest periods, rest breaks, night work, annual leave, public holidays, access to collective facilities

• Pay is defined as including only basic pay, shift premium, piece rates, overtime premium, unsocial hours premium and Sunday premium where a Sunday is worked and a premium is normally paid to a directly recruited employee

Publishing the Bill the Minister said:

This Bill represents an important step for agency workers by guaranteeing equal treatment, in terms of pay and basic working conditions, with directly recruited workers. However in these very challenging economic times, it is also designed to minimise the impact on competitiveness in the economy and to keep costs on employment to a minimum.

The Minister’s intention is to have the Bill enacted as early as possible in the new Dail term.

Read the full press release here.