Every year, I put my name in the Private Members Bill ballot, and keep on hoping that my name will come out of the draw.  So far: no luck. But my Newcastle colleague Paul Farrelley did secure a slot, and has chosen to sponsor a Bill which would improve the status of agency workers.  Paul has got my full support for this Bill.

We need to make sure that jobs coming to this area are high quality and can use the skills which we have.  We also need to make sure that they are decent, and that all workers get the rights, pay and holidays that they are entitled to.  The problem is that when I speak to constituents who are on temporary contracts or are agency staff, this is not always the case.

This Government has granted many new employment rights granted to agency workers in recent years, but the fact remains that agency workers and other workers who do not fall within the definition of ‘employee’ do not have protection in relation to redundancy, unfair dismissal, maternity and parental leave, flexible working rights, various time off rights, notice rights and certain rights relating to health and safety.

The way our employment laws are written, the full range of employment rights apply to workers who come within the definition of  an ‘employee’  but there is a lot less protection for workers such as agency workers who are outside that definition. It is especially needed in Stoke-on-Trent where we are in the process of replacing the many manufacturing jobs that have already been lost.

This means that two workers doing exactly the same job, working side by side, have different employment rights. For example, employees have protection against unfair dismissal but agency workers do not. The lack of protection for agency workers can lead to abuse and exploitation by unscrupulous employers. Pay and working conditions can be reduced to the bare minimum and any complaints risk the penalty of instant dismissal.

I expect that extending employment rights for agency workers, together with the steps proposed to outlaw abuse by employment businesses proposed in the consultation paper ‘protecting vulnerable agency workers’, would increase the willingness of workers to take up agency work. Also, a fairly treated and happier workforce is going to be a more productive workforce.

It is a win win situation for workers and business.

Private Members Bills are often the first sounding board for new legislation. In this case, the Bill did not proceed to the next stage.  But an issue as important as this cannot be ignored and I shall be working with Paul, other local MPs and the trade unions to get these changes to employment law.

If you live in Stoke-on-Trent North and would like to know more about agency workers, their rights and what I am doing, then please be in touch.