Recruitment professionals across the West Midlands are joining forces to fight against a Private Members Bill on agency work which is being debated in the House of Commons on Friday (February 22).

Agencies are calling on their local MPs to vote against the Bill arguing that the proposals will cost jobs and opportunities in the West Midlands region. The lobbying campaign is being mounted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the representative body for the UK’s private recruitment and staffing industry.

Ahead of Friday’s debate, Philip Delaloye, Chair of Directors for the REC’s West Midlands region, said: “Temporary workers provide vital help to West Midlands businesses and they should continue to be valued and well rewarded for their work. 

“However, equal treatment measures between temps and permanent workers would be almost impossible to work out in practice and would add a huge layer of bureaucracy for employers and agencies.  This in turn would limit job opportunities for thousands of workers in our region.

“The idea that all temporary workers are somehow exploited and underpaid is deeply flawed and out of touch with reality. And who better to counter these misconceptions than recruitment professionals in the frontline of the West Midlands labour market?”

REC members are making a huge contribution to the current debates in both Whitehall and Brussels by providing practical insights as recruitment professionals who deliver a service daily to both employers and workers. This show of strength from the recruitment industry in the West Midlands follows sustained trade union pressure for more regulation on the supply of agency workers.