{"id":10810,"date":"2016-12-12T15:55:18","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T15:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=10810"},"modified":"2016-12-12T15:55:18","modified_gmt":"2016-12-12T15:55:18","slug":"sacked-for-grieving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=10810","title":{"rendered":"Sacked for grieving"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing more difficult than losing a family member. Grieving takes time \u00e2\u20ac\u201c time for which most bosses will give their workers off from work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

But not so for Shaun Bate of Liverpool, whose sister recently passed away. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an agency worker and so does not enjoy many of the rights and entitlements that those who are classified as employees do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Like any grieving brother would, Bate asked for a week off from work and was granted the time. He returned to work and then took a day off the following week to attend his sister\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s funeral.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His boss assured him that taking time off would not be a problem.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bate was anticipating being put on a permanent contract in the new year, but just as he returned to work after the funeral, he was given the sack.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt came out of nowhere,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told the Liverpool Echo.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s horrible losing a job,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bPanic sets in when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got responsibilities. And at that time it was stress I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need so soon after my sister passed away.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bate has been working for agencies for years and highlighted how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all often the same.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI can count on one hand the number of times I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been treated decently through agency work,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Bate recounted how at one agency he worked, he was told he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get a permanent role in 12 weeks. But then after he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d worked for the agency for 10 weeks, he was told the permanent job was no longer available. To add insult to injury, he spent his last two weeks training recruits who would be replacing him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Common reality <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Unite regional secretary for the North West Mick Whitley said that stories like Bate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s are an all-too common reality for agency workers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bA story like this is yet another example of how agency workers are all too often treated as second class citizens by bad bosses using draconian methods to maximise profits,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bEmployment agencies which treat workers in such a way should be named and shamed.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The number of people working for agencies is expected to drastically rise in the next few years, according to a new report out last week<\/a> from the Resolution Foundation, which noted that more than 1m workers will be employed through agencies by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Agency work is spread fairly evenly throughout the country, with London and the South East having the greatest proportion of agency workers, followed by the North West.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Manufacturing is the industry which employs the highest share of agency workers at just over 4.1 per cent, with the transport, storage and communication sector also having a relatively high concentration of agency workers at 4 per cent.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although more men are agency workers than women, the number of women working for agencies is growing at a much faster rate.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re an ethnic minority, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re much more likely to be an agency worker \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an astonishing 8 per cent of the black, African and Caribbean workforce is in agency work, compared to only 2.2 per cent of those who identify as white.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Not only are agency workers often more likely to be exploited \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Sports Direct\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shocking treatment of agency workers<\/a> at its main warehouse in Shirebrook, exposed by Unite, is one such example \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but they are much more likely to get paid less.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Resolution Foundation found that the pay penalty for agency working amounts to a significant \u00c2\u0141430 a year.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This agency worker pay gap exists despite regulations which came into force in 2011 and were designed to ensure agency workers working alongside permanent employees would receive to equal pay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) have in the last few years been undermined by a loophole called the Swedish derogation<\/a> which allows agencies to opt out their workers from equal pay rules.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite along with the TUC have long argued that the loophole has been abused and must be closed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A TUC analysis found<\/a> that because of the loophole, some agency workers were getting paid \u00c2\u0141135 a week less than employees doing the exact same job.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAgency workers don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deserve to be treated like second-class citizens,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said TUC general secretary Frances O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Grady. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut they are often paid less than their permanent colleagues, even when they do exactly the same job.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs well as suffering a pay penalty, agency staff have fewer rights at work and are more vulnerable to exploitation.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need the government to toughen the law to create a level playing field for agency workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bToo many employers are getting away with treating them unfairly.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whitley agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

End exploitation call <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bHaving fewer rights and often paid less than their permanent colleagues, agency workers are getting a raw deal,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s high time the government took action and ended the exploitation of agency workers.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Whitley noted too that Unite has been successful representing agency workers, and he urged them to join.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had success negotiating deals for better pay and guaranteed hours, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also convinced many companies to switch agency workers to fixed-term contracts,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner echoed the call for effective legislation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDespite an ever growing litany of scandals emerging from the shadowy world of employment agencies, this government has set itself against protecting some of the most vulnerable workers in the country,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bCuts to enforcement bodies like the Employment Agency Standards Committee and the Health and Safety Executive have made a bad situation worse.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Tories need to rethink their agenda towards workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights and put in place legislation, and the means to enforce it, that protects people from exploitation,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut even if that does happen, we know from experience that workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 rights are worthless without strong and effective trade unions to back them up.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing more difficult than losing a family member. Grieving takes time \u00e2\u20ac\u201c time for which most bosses will give their workers off from work.   But not so for Shaun Bate of Liverpool, whose sister recently passed away. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an agency worker and so does not enjoy many of the rights and entitlements that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2922,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[534],"wps_subtitle":"Agency worker fired for going to funeral","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10810"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10811,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10810\/revisions\/10811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}