New agreement signed for blue-collar temporary agency workers

In December 2002, a new collective agreement covering 10,000 blue-collar temporary agency workers was signed by the Swedish Service Employers' Association and trade unions affiliated to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO). The agreement increases the guaranteed minimum monthly wage and improves the position of newly recruited workers, as well as dealing with matters such as the geographical area within which workers can be expected to work and the use of fixed-term contracts.

A new collective agreement on pay for about 10,000 blue-collar workers in the temporary agency work sector was signed on 11 December 2002, by the Swedish Service Employers' Association (Tjänsteföretagens Arbetsgivarförbund) and trade unions affiliated to the Swedish Trade Union Confederation (Landsorganisationen, LO). The new agreement runs from 1 November 2002 until 30 April 2004. The accord will be provisional and not regarded as formally concluded until all the trade unions involved have signed.

Guarantee wage

The level of the 'guarantee wage'- the minimum income that workers should be guaranteed every month, even if they have not been assigned to any work that month - was an important issue in the negotiations. The parties agreed that the guarantee wage should be increased immediately to 90% of the ordinary wage after a continuous period of employment of three months. During the first three months of employment the guarantee pay will be 85%. From 31 April 2004, the guarantee wage will stand at 90% from the first day of employment. If workers work a certain number of days, but not all working days during the month, their final monthly wage will be adjusted accordingly. The actual wage for temporary agency workers should be set according to the relevant pay agreement and in the light of the average income of a comparable group of employees in the user company. This is a basic principle achieved by LO in earlier negotiations (SE0011163N and SE0003127N).

The new agreement for LO temporary workers also contain rules on pay revision and overtime hours.

'Service area'

Another issue in the negotiations was if employed temporary agency workers should be obliged to work at user company workplaces which are far away from their home, or when transport links between their home and the user company's workplace are inadequate. The parties agreed that the possible geographical 'service area' within which the temporary agency worker should work should be noted on their employment card. In every individual case, the agency must consider what would constitute a normal travel or commuting distance, in the light of the area's transport facilities. A trade union may, after negotiations, cancel the right for a particular agency to decide the service area for the workers concerned. If an agreement cannot be reached, the municipality in question, or the three metropolitan areas of Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö, plus their suburbs, should be considered as service areas.

The bargaining parties also examined the issue of 'availability'- ie the extent to which temporary agency workers may leave their homes or otherwise not be contactable by the employer during periods when they are not booked for a job. The parties agreed that at the time of recruitment the issue of availability should be regulated in the employment contract, and that the employee's freedom of movement may not be limited more than necessary.

Form of employment

Earlier collective agreements for blue-collar temporary agency workers provides that they could be employed by an agency on a fixed-term contract on one occasion only - at the end of this term, the employment either came to an end or was transformed into open-ended employment. If the employment ceased, the employer could not employ the same person for another fixed term. This rule was established in order to a greater degree of security for workers in a relatively insecure and irregular business. However, some of the social partners considered that this rule was unreasonable as a person, having been employed once as a temporary agency worker, could never again return to the same agency for a new period of fixed-term employment.

The 2002 agreement will make matters easier for employees and give more opportunities for agencies to hire the same workers more than once, with breaks - eg for seasonal work. The employer and the employee may agree upon fixed-term employment, in writing, for up to six months. However, such contracts can be concluded for 12 months if this is accepted by the worker's trade union. A new fixed-term contract may be concluded 12 months after the expiry of the lase fixed-term contract, or earlier under the terms of a local agreement.

The parties also agreed to establish a working group of representatives, with a brief to come up with solutions to certain issues prior to the next bargaining round in 2004. For example, it should produce proposals on: the long-time development and further simplification of the collective agreement; addressing the problem of 'unserious' temporary work agencies; and the experience of working time cuts in other sectors and the possible consequences for temporary agency work.

Commentary

There are separate collective agreements for the 50,000 or so white-collar temporary agency workers (SE0112101N). These agreements expire in 2004, at the same time as the new agreement for 10,000 blue-collar agency workers described above. The labour market for temporary agency workers is still rather small in Sweden, compared with the total workforce of more than 4 million employees. The temporary agency sector is hard to assess, with many small companies spread over the country and with workers belonging to all kinds of trade unions. Most of the temporary agency workers who are members of LO are hired out to user companies in industry. Lately, however, the use of agency workers in the building and catering sectors has increased. The issue of a possible system for authorising temporary work agencies has been discussed in earlier negotiations between the parties. The government is currently working on a proposal to register temporary work agencies. (Annika Berg, Arbetslivsinstitutet)