The main purpose of the Agency Worker Directive (AWD) is to ensure the appropriate protection of temporary agency workers through the application of the principle of equal treatment and to address unnecessary restrictions and prohibitions on the use of agency work. The AWD follows similar directives on fixed-term and part-time work (which were based on European social partner agreements). Under the Directive ‘equal treatment’ relates only to basic working and employment conditions of temporary agency workers (eg pay, working time). The Directive does not affect the employment status of temporary workers.
The Directive allows the UK to implement the agreeement reached on the 20 May 2008 between the CBI and the TUC, which means that after 12 weeks in a given job, an agency worker will be entitled to equal treatement (at least the basic working and employment conditions that would apply to the worker concerned if s/he had been recruited directly by that undertaking to occupy the same job).
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