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Agency staff on short contracts to receive sick pay
07 July 2008
Agency employees on contracts of three months or less are to receive statutory sick pay (SSP) from October.
The SSP scheme exclusion of workers on the short-term contracts was removed in 2002, but not for agency workers.
To rectify this, the government has issued new regulations - the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatments) (Amendment) Regulations 2008.
The new laws will come in to force on October 27th this year and mean that agency workers will be eligible for SSP in the same way as other employees, whether they are directly or indirectly employed and regardless of the length of their contract.
Agency workers must still meet all other qualifying criteria, including being an employee for National Insurance purposes and absent for three days or more.
Under the regulations, employers must not treat fixed-term employees less favourably than permanent employees doing the same job.
Fixed-term employees therefore have the right to the same pay and conditions, the same or equivalent benefits packages, access to a company pension scheme and the right to be informed about permanent employment opportunities in the organisation.
