There always seems to be some loophole in laws that enable large employers to find ways around compliance and it seems that Tesco is the latest UK employer being called to task. In a recently published article in the Sunday Telegraph, it appears that Tesco admittedly met with their largest recruiter in order to discuss the ‘opt out’ clause in the new temporary workers’ law that became effective on 1 October of this year.
According to reports, Tesco discussed this new law with a company called Mainstream that provides truck drivers in Kent. The discussions centred on Mainstream asking their temporary workers to sign a waiver that would effectively have them opt out of the new agency workers’ law. These drivers would have been entitled to an additional £150 weekly if they hadn’t been asked to sign the waiver but unfortunately 400 truck drivers did indeed sign the contract.
Tesco admitted that several of their recruiters around the country have been able to have their agency workers sign the opt out clause which releases the store from following the new law. Now these workers have no rights to the same benefits as full time employees and the store is saved billions of pounds annually as a result. Is it legal? Apparently Tesco has broken no laws but there is some question of the ethics involved in what they did.
The point of the matter is that Tesco is not allowed, it seems, to ask temporary workers to opt out of their rights to better pay and benefits packages, but the recruitment companies are allowed to ask workers to sign the contract.
In meeting with recruiters to discuss this tactic, Tesco claims they have not violated UK law but the Trades Union Congress, TUC, believes that this is going to open a whole new can of worms and that there will now be tension between permanent and temporary workers who had virtually been tricked out of fair compensation.
