UK recruitment bodies sign joint letter to protect temp agency work
The UK’s four leading recruitment bodies have come together to urge the government to protect the UK’s temporary agency work and professional contracting sector amid potential legislative and regulatory changes.
In a joint letter to the secretary of state for business and trade, the bodies – The Association of Labour Providers (ALP), Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) and The Employment Agents Movement (TEAM) – the organisations have underscored the critical importance of temporary agency work to the UK economy.
The 10 September [2024] letter to Jonathan Reynolds MP details how the sector, supporting around 1m workers daily, enables the flexibility and adaptability necessary to maintain a dynamic workforce. The letter highlights several key benefits that temporary agency work offers to both workers and businesses:
- Pathways to employment
- Economic resilience
- Work-life balance and flexibility
- Business adaptability, with flexibility “especially critical”, the letter says, in sectors like healthcare, logistics, agriculture, hospitality and education.
“Overly restrictive measures risk destabilising the labour market potentially reducing flexibility, leading to higher unemployment, and lower economic growth,” the letter says.
In the letter, they call on the government to:
- Recognise and protect the sector: Acknowledge the unique role of temporary agency work in future legislation.
- Collaborate with experts: Engage with industry leaders to ensure regulatory changes are balanced and preserve the flexibility that benefits both workers and businesses.
- Promote the sector’s benefits: Raise awareness of temporary agency work as a legitimate and valuable form of employment.
- Focus on worker protection: Prioritise the protection of vulnerable workers while avoiding complex regulations that could hinder business growth.
- Enforce existing regulations: Strengthen enforcement of current regulations to protect workers and support responsible businesses.
“Not all zero-hours contracts are exploitative, and not all flexibility is one-sided,” the letter’s signees close by saying. “Temporary agency work plays a crucial role in fostering a modern, adaptable workforce and is integral to the continued success of the UK economy.”
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