Shake-up of workers' rights could backfire, warns FPB

The FPB believes that small firms are likely to suffer because of a plan to extend the benefits enjoyed by full-time employees to temporary workers and another to encourage 'flexible working' by extending to employees who are parents with older children the right to request time off work.

Announcing the draft Queen's Speech in the House of Commons today, the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP, insisted that flexible working is "no obstacle" to business success, and revealed that the Government is to explore extending the right of employees to request time off work from parents with children who are aged under six, (or under 18 if they are disabled), and employees who are carers, to those with older children. Following a consultation exercise, the Prime Minister expects the changes to be in place by April 2009.

However, Mr Brown also backed a controversial proposal from the European Union (EU) that would give temporary workers the same rates of pay, holiday entitlement and other benefits as permanent employees. The FPB is calling on the Government to preserve both flexibility of the current temporary labour market, which makes it attractive to both employers and workers, and the right of employers to reject requests from staff to work fewer hours, based on sound business reasons.

"The temporary labour market has been relatively free of the bureaucracy that is such a burden for many businesses when they take on full-time staff," said the FPB's Media and PR Manager, Phil McCabe. "It is difficult to see how undermining this will reconcile with the move to allow millions of extra workers to ask for time off."

He added: "For many entrepreneurs, losing more key members of staff for periods would be a nightmare. Taking on agency staff to cover absences has often been a reasonable solution, as it suits all parties. Removing the incentive to employ temps on a part-time basis could leave many businesses with serious staffing problems."

The FPB is currently seeking members' views on the EU's Directive on Working Conditions of Temporary (Agency) Workers, which will be published in Referendum, the FPB's quarterly newsletter and ballot of members.