Agency Work Law

[nailit]

Im fuming! Sick of all this zero hours contracts and agency work boolicks.

My son has been on agency work for years, unable to get a full time job but works where he can.
Health and safety of agency workers seems practically non existant.
In the past he accidently nailed gunned a piece of wood to his finger due to no protective gloves been provided (and the firm involve hired a lot of cash in hand workers as well) Since then it has turned out to be a right Micky mouse firm due to one reason or another but one still on agencys books.

At his present firm he has sliced his finger, again due to no protective equipment. And tonight he is currently in A&E with a suspected ankle fracture after been ordered to drive a warehouse vehicle (something similar to a forklift) without a license and had an accident. At the time, the manager, and other personall, found it funny to make fun of his 'accident proness' while he was in agony. He was only an agency worker after all. He's walked off the job after waiting 20 minutes to see a first aider who laughed at him and told him to wait. and worried about what the agency will say. He got a load of stick of the agency a few months ago as he had to have a day off to visit the dentist when his tooth broke.

Seems that agency workers have no rights (Although theres bound to be something in law)
Just pees me of.
My son may not have employment now, but how do I report these firms that have no care for their zero hours, no contract agency workers?
And how do I report the agencies that still recruit for these Micky Mouse firms?

[nailit]

Zero hours and agency work.
The way forward eh?

Welcome to the 5th richest nation....

[Theland]

I agree -- slave labour.

[nailit]

Built on the backs of broken ankles and cheap, couldnt care less for your well being, agency workers.

[10ClarionSt]

With regard to manual handling equipment, the Approved Code of Practice(ACOPS) states that every operative has to undergo a course of basic operator training. Chris is correct. The Fork Lift Licence doesn't exist as such but having undergone a successful course of basic operator training, the operative is issued with a Certificate of Competence which proves this. Lots of companies insist on
re-training after three years, but in law and in accordance with the Road Transport Industry Training Board (RTITB), an operator certificate never expires. It says this on the RTITB website. Should any court case be brought against the company, the first question that the judge will ask is: "Did the operative undergo a course of basic operator training?". The company would have to prove that he/she did so.

In my experience, The Health & Safety Executive is just a paper tiger and will only prosecute a company in extreme cicumstances. They will take complaints from disgruntled employees and may visit companies, where they can gain access without authorisation, to any part of the company premises. If the HSE does visit a company, more often than not, they will only give a wrist slap, or the equivalent. Company officials know this, which is why people like Nailits' son always get a rough deal. Sorry Nailit. I don't think that's quite the answer you were looking for. I hope your son is ok and gets a job with a decent company.

[ToraToraTora]

at 24 it's not to late to get higher education and a decent career, just saying.

[Prudie]

Nailit I didn't mean a Union specifically for Agency workers, I meant a Trade Union that represents his branch of work. Unite and Unison for example welcomes agency workers to join. And Theland I did say going forward- to help if this kind of thing happens in the future.

[nailit]

//at 24 it's not to late to get higher education and a decent career, just saying.//
In all seriousness, any links would be much appriciated,
Thanks.

[Buenchico]

Relevant links:
https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/knowledge/vulnerable-workers/agency-and-temporary-workers/
and
https://www.tuc.org.uk/workplace-guidance/agency-workers
(In particular, see the first link under 'What should you do if you have a complaint?')

[Hymie]

Sadly things are about to get much worse with 1,000s applying for each advertised position.

It makes me wonder whether these operators comply with the legal requirement to notify the relevant authorities of reportable work injuries.

https://www.hse.gov.uk/riddor/reportable-incidents.htm

[fiction-factory]

>Zero hours and agency work.
The way forward eh?

Well it suits me down to the ground. Win win-win for me, agency and client schools. I can work when I want, negotiate higher rates or wait for a better offer if it's a school I prefer to avoid, and I get variety of locations and more enjoyment from my work. If I want a few days off I just say I'm not available.

But I wouldn't have wanted it when I had a mortgage and children at home and needed certainty.

So it's horses for courses. Xero hours contracts are not bad per se

[10ClarionSt]

Hymie, the RIDDOR process is just something that the HSE uses to frighten companies. The HSE might pay a visit to a company that has a few RIDDOR incidents in a short space of time. Such visits will rarely, if ever, result in prosecutions, just a reminder to the company of the relevant requirements. As I said earlier, the HSE is just a paper tiger.

However, the HASAWA is something that ALL companies secretly embrace whilst pretending it's a pain in the armpit for them. Why? Because any expenditure in the company, and I mean ANY expenditure, that can be justified as Health & Safety, is tax deductable, so when the boss tells you that the PPE for the work place has cost the company a fortune, he's telling porkies. The govt pays for anything that is justjified under Health & safety.

[Jackdaw33]

Agencies are little more than parasites. They cream off a proportion of the wages which should rightly go to the employee. It's over 20 years ago now, but I used to work for an agency. After 2 years I was taken on to the company's books. Overnight my pay went up from £4.50 p.h. to £6.50 p.h.

[fiction-factory]

At least it helped you get your foot in the door, JD. I do zero hours agency work and sometimes get offers to work directly for the schools, at better rates of pay because there is no agency cut, but they want a long term commitment whereas I want complete flexibility so I politely decline the offer. In fact I get far more offers now than I ever did before I started agency work- when I was unemployed I used to spend days preparing lessons for interviews plus a whole day in the school only to lose out to a cheaper NQT or to someone already working in the school or elsewhere. SO agency work gets you known. It's certainly a good option for some.

You mentioned working for 2 years via a n agency before getting the full rate: the Agency Worker regulations also mean you now get paid the going rate for employees after 12 weeks with a client company, so things have improved.

[pixie374]

All our agency staff got paid far more than contracted, and with full flexibility and choice. Different options for different situations- I don't know how I would have managed as a single parent with 4 under 8, without a zero hour choice.

[woofgang]

We used to use zero hour contracts at work to avoid having to make our school term/school holiday staff resign and go through the new staff induction process every year. As they remained on contract, they could phone us one day, be in working on the next, and if it was the beginning of the month or late on in the month before, they would get paid at the end of that month.

[gulliver1]

What's the going rate there days for Dinner Ladies ?. F/F

[teacake44]

If NHS staff couldn't get PPE from the government to protect them from a deadly virus, resulting in the death of about 170 staff, what chance has your son got of being protected either way .

[fiction-factory]

Same rate as for Dinner Men, gulliver. Bit of a random question though

[bednobs]

and in any case, how is your son's ankle nailit?

[Mamyalynne]

I guess Nailit is at work, hopefully he'll tell us later.

Be good news if it isn't a fracture.