There are between half a million and a million agency workers in the UK. For many like Joanna, it's a life-style choice. As a temp I'm not completely tied down by any real responsibility, so it may allow me to choose either temp work or even choose to be, a permanent personnel as well or within the same company. The UK has one of the most flexible labor markets in the world, mainly thanks to agency workers, but right now the law doesn't give them very much protections and that's why Europe has introduced to new proposals that would change all that. The question is, what is the price that those individuals have to pay for those opportunities? Lack of employment rights, job insecurity often economic insecurity. People find it very difficult to plan for the future to have access to mortgages if they're an agency worker. We believe that they deserve a bit more protection, a better framework of rights. The EU directive proposes to put agency workers in temporary work on a par with permanent employees on issues such as pay, working time and holidays, but it could leave companies picking up hefty bills. Our survey also demonstrates that employers are concerned because staffing costs are going to go up. They can't afford to pay more workers. They are likely to reduce the size of their workforce. We could see unemployment, we're likely to see greater economic uncertainty as a result of jobs lost through the directive. If this directive is approved, it'll still take at least a year before it's law here in the UK, but if it does go ahead, one worry is that more employers will be put off using agency staff, leaving British business with a far less flexible workforce. Marcia Hughes, BBC News.


英国有50万到100万临时工。对于许多像Joanna 的人，这是一种生活方式。 作为临时工，我不被任何责任完全束缚，所以我可以选择打零工或成为一家公司的永久员工。 英国有着世界上最灵活的劳力市场之一，这主要是由于许多临时工。但，现在对于他们法律给予不了太多保护，因而欧洲已提出新提案，要改变这一切。 问题是，个人得为这些机遇付多少代价？缺少工作权利，工作不安定，时常经济上无保证。人们发现如果是临时工，很难规划未来，不能得到抵押贷款。我们认为他们该有更多点保护，更好的权利体系。 欧盟指令建议从事临时工作的临时工和永久员工享有同等待遇，如报酬、工作时间和休假，但这可能使公司背负沉重的账务。 我们的调查也表明雇主们有顾虑，因为员工成本将上涨。他们付不起更多工人工资，可能缩减劳力规模。我们可能看到失业，可能看到由于该指令导致的失业而带来的更大的经济动荡。 如果本指令获得通过，还需要至少一年的时间才能成为英国法律，但如果不通过，是更多雇主会推诿雇佣临时工，降低英国行业劳动力灵活性。英国广播公司 Marcia Hughes 的报道。