The government has relaxed rules on temporary cover for striking workers, but what should your business consider before hiring agency staff?
The natural outcome of persistent inflation is persistent industrial relations dispute. Each week it seems there’s a new walkout, go-slow, or ballot in yet another key sector, and as a result, industrial relations is back on the political agenda.
Last month, the government removed the ban on businesses using temporary worker agency staff to cover for striking staff.
The CBI has supported this reform for several years. It brings agency staff into line with the rules that apply across the rest of the labour market, where it has always been possible to hire temporary staff directly to provide cover during strikes.
Agency staff can support your business during strikes – here’s what to consider
The relaxation of the ban could help your business to continue to operate during strike action. This is clearly welcome, but you should think carefully before hiring agency staff to mitigate strike action:
- Check if there really are appropriate, qualified agency staff that can work for you. Tight labour market conditions and skills shortages extend across the economy.
- Engage with agencies (many actually opposed the lifting of restrictions) in advance to ensure that they are willing to provide staff
- Assess if this route for business continuity could harm the dispute further, or future relations with trade unions (many also opposed lifting of the restrictions)
- Consider any safety risk – public and workforce safety should never be compromised during strike action – and agency staff will be less familiar with your business, and perform their work during a period of high tension.
The government could introduce further measures to mitigate disruption from strikes
The relaxation on using temporary staff is not the only policy measure intended to mitigate the impact of strikes that the government – and the leadership candidates – are considering.
A pledge within the 2019 Conservative Party manifesto to introduce minimum-service-level (MSL) requirements (where a percenta
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