A significant number of migrant workers come to the UK after being recruited by agencies. Agency workers currently have fewer rights at work than workers or employees who are employed directly by an employer. The issues affecting a large number of migrant workers stem from the poor terms and conditions that affect all agency workers including those from the UK.

Thanks to union campaigning, rights for agency workers have got better, with new rights since April 2004.

To find out more about agency worker rights:
Rights for Agency Workers

DirectGov website

To find out more about rights for Migrant Workers:
Migrant Worker Rights

Many of the tensions directed at migrant workers, for example - the perception that migrant workers undercut wages or put ‘native’ workers out of employment - are largely due to the working practices of agencies and employers themselves, and are not the fault of migrant or agency workers.

Ensuring better rights and conditions for agency workers will prevent unscrulpulous employers and agencies from exploiting workers.

TUC urges Government to agree new deal for agency workers

---