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UK – Agency workers protesting Swedish derogation offered permanent contracts

April 01, 2015

Some agency workers at a distribution depot near Swindon, who were at the centre of a dispute over different rates of pay for agency and permanent workers, could soon become permanent employees, reports the Swindon Advertiser.

More than 400 workers at the DHL depot near Swindon are sourced by employment agency 24.7 Recruitment. They are then formally employed through another company, called Tempay Ltd, and are paid the minimum wage at around £6.50 an hour.

However, 300 permanent workers doing the same job who are represented by the site’s recognised union, Unite, receive £2 an hour more.

While the practice is legal under Section 10 of the Agency Workers Regulations, otherwise known as the Swedish derogation, the GMB union and the agency workers have been calling for the process to be changed.

Last week, DHL announced that they would give 150 agency workers permanent contracts with the company, offering more security and a higher pay packet to employees.

In a joint statement from DHL and Unite, a spokesman said: “As part of the ongoing labour strategy review process… a decision has been taken to recruit 150 full-time permanent colleagues.”

“This review has been carried out in partnership with the full support of Unite the Union, as the recognised union on site, who have been instrumental in supporting DHL in the process. The recruitment will be drawn from a closed pool of existing agency colleagues on site.”

Earlier this year, GMB took the row to the EU Commission, urging a change to the law that made the wage discrepancy for workers doing the same job possible.

At the time Chris Watts, President of the Wiltshire and Swindon branch of GMB, said: “Our delegation to Brussels was extremely successful. We met with senior EU Commission officials for Employment, Social Legislation and Social Dialogue leading on Agency worker legislation.”

“It was interesting to note that only five member nations have allowed Swedish derogation of agency contracts in their country (UK, Ireland, Sweden, Hungary, and Malta).”

“We were able to explain to the EU Commission officials and MEPs that the Swedish Derogation loophole was being inappropriately applied wholesale to hundreds of agency workers in Swindon. This legal trickery is solely for the purpose of working against the principles and spirit of the Agency Workers Directive to promote equality, security, social mobility and economic stability,” Mr Watts concluded.