The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) has said that the Agency Workers Directive should not be brought in until 2011 to prevent further financial burden on organisations.
According to the CIPD, the complexity of the legislation could not only restrict demand for agency workers but result in costs which businesses do not need during the recession.
Working with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the CIPD said more clarity is required on the definition of equal treatment to avoid undermining temporary contracts needed for a flexible labour market.
Kevin Green, the REC’s chief executive, said that there will be pressure from trade unions "to gold-plate the new regulations, but the government must be brave and avoid the kind of cost, bureaucracy and uncertainty that would have the perverse effect of limiting job opportunities".
The Trades Union Congress recently released a report which revealed that almost half of agency workers claimed they have received less holiday entitlement than directly-employed staff.
