Full text - European Trade Union Institute (ETUI)

Temporary agency work in the European Union
Conclusion
The long-lasting and difficult debate that finally led to the adoption of the Directive
on Temporary Agency Work shows how significant this issue is at European
level. Meanwhile, as the process has been very lengthy, the objectives
of the European legislator have changed. At the beginning of the process, the
aim pursued by the European Commission was to regulate temporary agency
work and to ensure minimum protection for agency workers. Nowadays, temporary
agency work is also seen as a tool for the creation of jobs and growth
emblematic of flexicurity, in particular in the discourse of the European Commission
and the employers’ associations. As a consequence, if ensuring workers
protection is still one of the objectives, flexibilisation has also become an
element to take into account (Lhernould 2012). Compared to all other forms
of employment, temporary agency work has the worst record for working conditions,
judged in particular on a number of indicators, including repetitive
labour, and the supply of information to employees about workplace risks
(ETUC 2007). Indeed, temporary agency workers tend to have less control
over the sort of work they do and how they do it, to get less training, to have
a higher rate of workplace accidents and are less well-informed about safety,
and to do more shift work and have less time to complete jobs.
With the Directive, as an essential piece of social legislation guaranteeing the
protection of workers and in particular the implementation of a principle of
equal treatment from the first day of their assignment, there are hopes that
the situation will improve towards better working conditions for temporary
agency workers. However, the review of prohibitions and restrictions as well
as possibilities of derogation may lead to more partial and inconsistent implementation
of the Directive in the Member States (Lhernould 2012).
Finally, there are main causes for concern, ranging from the proper implementation
of the equal treatment from day one, the review of restrictions and
prohibitions that might lead to the diminution of workers’ rights and protection,
to issues related to proper access to workers’ collective rights and training
and proper protection in case of dismissal.
Finally, some critical trends have been witnessed in various Member States.
Indeed, the use of temporary agency work in the public sector is foreseen in
some Member States to replace civil servants (France) or it is seen as worsening
the existing protection (Greece). Transposition measures are sometimes
unsatisfactory (Bulgaria, Germany), or Member States adopt a minimal inter-
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