Alan Kelly (Labour)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

On behalf of the Labour Party, I am delighted to introduce the Protection of Employees (Agency Workers)(No. 2) Bill. This is an exceptionally important Bill to provide for the protection of agency workers, to require the principle of equal treatment to be applied in respect of their employment, to make provision for the enforcement of their rights and to provide for connected matters. The EU has been working on a draft directive for the protection of agency workers since 2002. This has been blocked by a minority group, which disgracefully includes Ireland.

The main requirements of the proposed directive were as follows. An agency worker under the control of a client company should not have less favourable employment conditions than a similar permanent worker in the client company unless this can be objectively justified. The following employment conditions are set out in the directive: pay, working time, rest periods, holidays and holiday pay, work done by pregnant women and nursing mothers, children and young people and action taken to combat discrimination. The member country can avoid equal treatment only under very strict criteria. Client companies should give agency workers access to social services provided to permanent workers and agency workers must be informed of permanent vacancies in the client company.

The directive would have given agency workers of all strands the right to equal treatment with a comparable permanent employee on issues such as pay, working time and holidays, maternity rights and protection against discrimination. Many EU countries have already introduced measures giving agency workers equal rights in advance of the desired passing of the EU temporary agency work directive. The purpose of our Bill is similar. It is ultimately to protect agency workers, to require the principle of equal treatment to be applied in respect of their employment and to make provision for the enforcement of those rights. The Bill follows the draft directive in that it does not extend to agency workers who are paid continuously by an employment agency regardless as to whether they are on assignment with an end user.

The central concept to be defined is the issue of a comparable employee. An employee is a comparable employee relative to an agency worker if a collective agreement is in place or the end user for whom the agency worker works is the employer or an associated employer of that employee, or the employee is employed in the same industry or sector of employment as the relevant agency worker. Other stipulations are outlined in the Bill. Put simply, the basic rule set out here is that agency workers who have completed six weeks of continuous work or service with an end user or associated employer shall not, in respect of conditions of employment, be treated in a less favourable manner than a comparable employee.

The Bill also applies the pro rata principle. Where a comparable employee is entitled to receive pay or another benefit, an agency worker is entitled to receive not less than the proportion of that benefit that the number of his or her hours of work bears to the number of hours of work of that comparable employee. The Bill states that a ground is not an objective ground for refusing equal treatment unless it is based on considerations other than the status of the worker as an agency worker, the less favourable treatment which it involves for that worker is for the purpose of achieving a legitimate objective of the employee and such treatment is appropriate and necessary for that purpose.

The Bill also provides that an employer must inform an agency worker of vacancies which become available, to ensure he or she has the same opportunity to secure a position as an employee. The agency worker must be treated equally in a practical way when it comes to giving access to training opportunities, career development etc. The Bill prohibits the penalisation of agency workers who invoke its provisions.

Two additional features go beyond the terms of the draft EU directive. The Bill requires employment agencies operating in the State to maintain sufficient insurance for the payment of all obligations arising from or in contemplation of contracts with its agency workers and for the repatriation of agency workers in the event of insolvency. There is a provision for the prosecution of uninsured agencies, with fines and prison sentences if necessary. The Bill brings both agency workers and self-employed contractors within the framework of section 30 of the Industrial Relations Act 1946, which makes the terms and conditions set out in registered employment agreements binding on all persons working within a sector covered by such an agreement.

The effect of this provision is to include within the definition of workers covered by the terms of a registered employment agreement persons working either as contractors or as agency workers rather than employees if they are working for an end user who is party to or bound by a registered employment agreement relating to the conditions of employment of workers of a particular class, type or group, and the work being done is of a kind generally provided by workers of the class, type or group to which that registered employment agreement relates.

The Bill is necessary and I ask for the Seanad's support for it in order to prevent the exploitation of agency workers. Agency workers used only be involved in secretarial work etc. They were used as short-term temps to fill gaps in organisations etc. With expansion and the changing economy this all changed and we have seen the proliferation of agency workers in the hospitality industry, construction, health care etc. Agency workers became the norm in some sectors for filling jobs rather than hiring permanent replacements.

The pay and conditions of these workers are less than those of permanent workers, which means these agency workers are not getting bonuses, holiday pay, sick pay and a range of other entitlements many other workers get. This completely negates their rights even though they do the same work as their fellow employees and in some cases employers make excessive profits off their backs. We would even argue that this takes away a certain amount of their dignity and treats them as second class.

We have all heard the many cases where we were disgusted by tales of workers exploitation, including the case of Irish Ferries, the response of the IHF to the joint labour committees and the consequent issue we now have with the JLC system, and the unbelievable treatment of the GAMA workers. I would like to highlight the case of the Pakistani national who was forced to work for 60 hours a week for just €50 and was told if he complained he would lose his job. Anyone who engages in such exploitation should be named and shamed.

This is such a serious issue that the president of SIPTU, Jack O'Connor, has already said that any failure by the Government to deal with the issue of agency workers would jeopardise the future of social partnership and, knowing how passionate he is on this issue, I believe it will. He pointed to the current plight of agency workers as being comparable to slavery. The Labour Party stands firm with our colleagues in the trade union movement on this issue and I compliment unions on all their hard work in this area. SIPTU, through Patricia King and her colleagues, has been to the forefront in organising meetings on this issue around the country as part of its campaign to obtain a better deal for workers.

The founding philosophy of the Labour Party was always to promote and espouse equality. Equality is one of our defining components and I am pleased to say we have a track record in this area which continues today with this Bill. We are focusing on vulnerable workers, both migrant and Irish, who are being subjected to naked exploitation, including inferior pay and conditions. We demand an end to this. Why has the Government not acted on this matter to date? Why are we well behind almost every other country in Europe on this issue?

Let us look at what is happening among our friends in Europe. There are equal wage clauses in Holland, while in Portugal there is parity of pay between agency and permanent workers. Agency workers in Belgium must be paid the same wages as their full-time colleagues, and similar laws apply in Spain, Greece and Germany. In France, the pay of an agency worker is linked to the amount of money a post-probationary permanent employee with the same qualifications would earn in that post. French workers also get other compensations when their specific employment ceases. In addition, laws guaranteeing equal pay and treatment for agency workers have been put in place in most eastern European countries, including Poland, Romania, Slovenia, the Czech republic and Slovakia. Let us face it, even eastern European is ahead of us in this regard.

In fact, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Hungary are the only countries that still shamefully discriminate against agency workers, and they have not legislated for equal pay and conditions between these workers and permanent employees working side by side with them. Our country is a disgrace on this issue and our Government should be ashamed of itself.

If the Labour Party was in Government, this Bill would top of the list of priorities for us. That is what distinguishes our party from others. We will protect the dignity of workers and their rights to fair play. We would ensure an end to discrimination against workers by employers, and the consequent exploitation that comes with that would not be allowed to emerge under any circumstances. We will ensure equality and fair play. Equality of treatment and opportunity has been Labour's raison d'être since the party was founded in my home county of Tipperary in 1912.

People argue, incorrectly, that we do not require this legislation as we need to have flexibility of movement in the labour market in order to maintain high employment and protect the economy. This is a bogus argument, however, which encourages the bypassing of permanent workers and the hiring of more agency workers. It discourages training and skills development which help to boost labour productivity. How are we meant to build a knowledge and technology-led economy unless we provide these workers with the prospect of well paid employment with terms and conditions that show we as a country are willing to invest in their futures?

This Bill is about how we treat real people. It is about protecting the rights of some of the hardest working people in our country who are in a vulnerable situation. These people are among us every day. They get up early in the morning to do low-paid jobs and they are still working when we go to bed at night. They are on the margins of the labour market and work with little rights or protection. As a society, we collectively need to protect them.

This House, and the country at large, have a choice to make on this issue. We stand at the crossroads. We can either build a high-productivity economy, investing in people and productivity, where employees are treated with decency, or we can develop a low-pay, low-productivity economy with inequality at its base. In the Labour Party we know where we stand on this issue. Later, we will find out where all the other parties and individuals in this House stand as well.

Our party conference gave a commitment to the wider labour movement that we would move this Bill if the Government failed to act. The legislation is now before the House. Labour, the party of Connolly, Larkin and Johnson, is proposing a Bill that is fundamental to people's rights. It is fundamentally about providing equality of treatment for workers in our society. It is about giving all workers their dignity and it is about fair play. I am proud to move this Bill on behalf of the Labour Party and I commend it to the House.