Agency workers vs permanent workers pay.

spidersandsprinkles

Hello,

I am currently working for an organisation through an agency and had a query about the pay rates. The gov.uk website states:

After 12 weeks in the same job with the same hirer
If you qualify, you’re entitled to the same basic terms and conditions as if you had been recruited directly, including:

• basic pay, including holiday pay, overtime and bonuses linked to your performance

Currently, all the agency staff at the organisation are being paid about £1 less an hour than staff who were recruited directly and have brought it up with our superiors. We were told that they are hoping to change this but it could mean some staff will be lost.

By law, after 12 weeks, should we be getting the same pay?

Thanks

slenderkitten

yes it is true that after 12 weeks of employment that you have to be paid the same rate that someone who is in the same job gets paid. My problem with this law is that they could hire someone on minimum wage then get rid of them once 12 weeks comes up and re-hire someone else. which obviously is unfair and would be a disgusting practice wherever it arises.

RichardD1970

I've wondered about that and how it could be applied, as an employer can quite legally have two directly recruited people doing the same job but on different rates.

Claree__x

I'm an agency worker - have been for over 12 weeks and I'm pretty sure I'm earning less than everyone else in here but I'm sure I read that to enforce it I'd have to prove that the salary I want would be the same they'd give to a full time employee who was hired at the same time as I was with the same experience etc - pretty damn impossible to do.

slenderkitten

Claree__x wrote: »

I'm an agency worker - have been for over 12 weeks and I'm pretty sure I'm earning less than everyone else in here but I'm sure I read that to enforce it I'd have to prove that the salary I want would be the same they'd give to a full time employee who was hired at the same time as I was with the same experience etc - pretty damn impossible to do.

then your agency are also breaking the law, have you contacted acas to find out what you can do about it apart from what you already stated above?

Is there anyone there that will show you or give you a copy of their wage slip or some other document that says what their hourly rate is?

annie1975_2

I know places where people are working alongside each other,in permanent employment,doing the same job on different rates of pay...

somethingcorporate

annie1975 wrote: »

I know places where people are working alongside each other,in permanent employment,doing the same job on different rates of pay...

It's perfectly legitimate, as long as it is not done on a discriminatory basis.

In my company the pay bands can be tens of thousands of pounds different and more junior people (by grade) can be earning far more than their bosses who may be at the bottom of a higher (but overlapping) salary band.