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The announcement, that agency workers will be entitled to the same rights as permanent workers after a 12-week qualifying period, came as part of Queen’s speech.

John Hannett, Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers ) General Secretary, said:

“I am delighted that the Government has listened to our concerns and made this commitment to equal rights for agency workers. This will mean that they will be entitled to the same pay, holidays, overtime, breaks, rest periods, night work and duration of working time as permanent workers after 12 weeks. We would like to see these new rights implemented as quickly as possible. Usdaw has long campaigned to the Government for equal rights for agency workers. This will not only benefit the agency workers themselves, but permanent workers who can find themselves undercut by rogue employers exploiting agency workers. We will continue to campaign for agency workers to be given equal rights from day one, but see this very definitely as a move in the right direction. Press reports indicate that the Tories plan to frustrate the Government’s programme. I hope they will give this measure their full support to stop rogue employers from exploiting agency workers and undercutting permanently employed staff.”



Usdaw is one of Britain's largest trade unions with over 383,000 members nationwide.