Employment law change ‘will result in job losses’

Posted 10/01/2012

Changes to employment law are set to result in temporary workers losing their jobs, according to research by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo).Contracts will be terminated early due to the introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR), the body found, with a third of recruiters responding to a poll saying this will happen.Ann Swain, chief executive at APSCo, stated AWR is “clearly” having an effect on the job market.”Contractors and temps in areas such as IT or banking usually earn more than permanent staff, but this is not true for all roles, particularly at the entry level,” she said, adding this is because AWR may have led to increased costs.Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, recently described AWR as the best possible gift for temporary workers at Christmas.He claimed thousands of members of staff all over the country will benefit as a result of the introduction of AWR.