The Government, TUC and the CBI have reached agreement on improving the rights of agency workers.

I received today a persuasive email alert from the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA). At the moment the Government Sentencing Advisory Panel (SAP) is drafting guidance for Courts on what sentence they should give companies convicted of work “death related” and manslaughter offences.

The CCA research show that most fines against companies convicted of offenses following work related deaths are less than 1/700th of turnover.

“If individuals earning an average annual income of £24,769 were sentenced at this level, they would be fined just £35.

The research also shows that the fines imposed on most of these companies was only 1% of their gross profits”.

 I think that's what you call a result....,  backbench Labour MPs have backed Andrew Miller's bid to end the two-tier workfirce and give equal rights to agency workers. Which will make it very, very difficult for the Government to listen to the hysterical voices of the CBI and try and weasel its way out of ensuring that the growing number of temporary and agency workers enjoy the same rights as permanent staff. We don't need a "Commission", we just need this long overdue legislation to be implemented ASAP. And here's the full list of MPs who backed it , which I notice includes Peter Hain......Alun Michael, Fiona MacTaggart and EVEN Sion Simon. Way beyond the "usual suspects", Gordon..... so you'd better start  listening. 
The message couldn't be clearer......here are the MPs who at last are giving us some hope things   may change  in the future......

Good to read in the Times On-line today that exploited agency workers may finally be given some protection under an EU directive and no longer treated as 3rd class citizens.

Details are a little unclear but I suspect that “The Times” is scaremongering as usual over the suggestion that agency workers will be getting “full rights” after only 6 weeks. It takes a year for permanent staff to be given protection from unfair dismissal so I can’t see agency staff being given greater rights than permanent.