Assistant general secretary Tony Burke said the increase in the use of agency or temporary workers had lead to situations where some workers were working seven days a week, without holidays, proper training or full pay.

The proposed joint Amicus and BPIF Partnership at Work initiative has a series of clauses covering best practice in the use or employment of temporary or agency staff.

"This ensures that they will receive health and safety training, education in how to work machinery, holiday payment and that the employee also has a right to work in the UK," said Burke.

There has been an increase in the number of temporary workers used in fulfilment jobs in the magazine sector. "A number of large companies are increasingly using temporary staff, and we prefer to sit down with them and discuss why they are using them, and make sure they are being used properly," said Burke.

A dossier, Life on the Edge, has been published by the TUC to coincide with its conference, Working on the Edge.

For more information on illegal workers, see p39.

Results 2005 (2004)
- According to DTI figures, in 2002 there were 600,000 estimated temporary agency workers in the UK
- There is no right to equal treatment for agency workers in the UK
- The Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 regulate agency work in the UK