Retail surgery: I understand the law on temporary workers is changing. How will this affect retailers when it comes to sourcing and treating their staff?

There has been some confusion about this. Actually the law is changing only in relation to agency workers, not temporary workers employed directly.

The gist of the Agency Workers Directive is that from October 2011 agency workers will have the right to equal treatment after 12 weeks working on a given assignment.

Charles Rae, a senior associate in the employment department at law firm Pinsent Masons, says retailers should soon start to think about how this might affect them. While it is not an immediate issue, agencies will already be crafting their contracts to take the upcoming legislation into account, and retailers will need to think about whether its impact could lead to them needing to reassess how they source staff.

While few retailers use agency staff on the shopfloor, you need to think about how other workers such as security staff, cleaners, and distribution centre staff are employed.

Rae says that this equal treatment principle will cover not only basic hourly pay, but also other benefits such as annual leave, bonuses and shift allowances. However, it does not stretch as far as pensions, maternity leave or redundancy rights.

He adds: “Pay in a sense is the easier part to get your head around, but it also includes bonuses, holiday pay, lunch vouchers, shift allowances, overtime pay, and not just the hourly rate.”

Rae says that retailers will need to share information on how they reward their own staff with any employment agencies that they use, otherwise they could make themselves liable for fines, rather than the agency, if workers are not properly treated.