Agency workers endure much lower levels of job quality and are paid less than permanent staff, according to a new report.

Conducted by academics at universities in Bradford, Leeds and Kent, the ‘Agency Working in the UK: What do we Know?’ study found that, on average, agency workers are paid £7.80 per hour contrasting with an average £11.47 for permanent workers.

Two out of three agency workers are employed in clerical, semi-skilled and unskilled occupations, while only one fifth are to be found in managerial and professional occupations.

Dr Gary Slater, senior lecturer in economics at the University of Bradford and co-author of the report, said: “The CBI has called for equal rights to be limited to agency workers with tenure of one year or more. Our study shows that almost three-quarters of agency workers would be excluded from coverage if such a restriction were to be put in place, which surely runs counter to the aims of the Bill [Andrew Miller’s  Private Member’s Bill] to provide equal treatment.”
 
Dr Chris Forde of Leeds University Business School and the report’s other co-author, added: “Agency working has grown in importance over recent years. Our figures, drawn from nationally representative data, provide a reliable basis for comparing the experience of agency workers with other groups in the labour market.”