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Agency driver rule could slash openings

13th August 2009
Page 7
Page 7, 13th August 2009 — Agency driver rule could slash openings
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Rogerby EFSP4V

AN EU REGULATION designed to give agency drivers greater rights could, in fact, make it more difficult for hauliers to create employment for drivers.

Director of employment affairs at the Road Haulage Association Ruth Pott says the European agency worker directive — which will entitle agency drivers to the same pay as permanent workers after they have spent 12 weeks in a job – must not create 'more bureaucracy and red tape for employers and drivers': The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has closed its threemonth consultation on the proposed rules, which are due to be implemented in all Eli member states by December 2011.

According to REC Drivers, which represents the private driver recruitment industry: • The definition of pay in the regulation should he restricted to basic hourly rates.

• Temporary-to-permanent fees should not he tampered with.

• The directive should not be implemented until the last possible moment as flexible labour will be key when the recession ends. Pott adds: "There is a danger that the directive will put barriers up for employers and employees The more difficult you make it for employers to engage people in employment, the less likely they are to do it."

Robert Wilcox, managing director at Somerset-based Massey Wilcox Transport, says if a haulier has to hire agency drivers for several weeks then the best way to deal with the situation is to bring in another driver before the 12-week period has ended.


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