Government drops qualifying period for temps' annual leave
The qualifying period for a temporary or contract worker to be entitled to claim paid annual leave is to be dropped with effect from 25 October. The change will effectively mean that temporary workers can start accruing paid annual leave from day one of their contracts.
Alan Johnson, Minister for Employment Relations, said: "The Government has consulted widely on these amendments to the Working Time Regulations and is pleased to announce the changes which will bring them into line with the terms of the European Court of Justice judgement [from the case brought by BECTU].
"The new regulations will allow employers to introduce a system for the taking of leave to accrue during the first year of employment, at the rate of one-twelfth of the annual entitlement per month worked, rounded to the nearest half-day. This will not affect payment of any untaken leave at the end of an employment contract. It remains the case that employers and workers will be able to agree on arrangements for taking leave, in line with the notice periods set by the Regulations."
The ruling does not mean that workers will be able to take one month's paid annual leave at the start of their contract, however, if the employment ends during the first 13 weeks they will be able to claim for leave which has been accrued but not taken over that period.
A DTI spokesman added: "The Working Time Directive affects workers on fixed term contracts and temporary workers. For example, if a temp is on a monthly contract, employed by the agency, they have the entitlement to accrue leave from day one."
He sought to clarify the difference between this piece of legislation and the Fixed Term Work Directive (FTWD), which is due to be introduced in July 2002.
"The Government has consulted on all aspects of the implementation of the European Directive on Fixed Term Work and is currently still considering the responses received. No firm decisions have yet been taken.
"The DTI is committed to promoting fairness at work whilst ensuring flexibility for employers and employees. The consultation over this legislation asked for views on pay disparities between fixed term and permanent employees in order to help consider whether there might be a case for the introduction of specific UK legislation to cover such issues.
"The Government is currently also overhauling the Employment Agency regulations to give more protection and flexibility to over 500,000 temporary workers to help them move from temporary to permanent work more easily."
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Richard Powell, UKTECH