Legal Status of Temporary Agency Workers in Great Britain

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Law - Civil / Private / Industrial / Labour, grade: A, University of Manchester (School of Law), course: Employment Law, language: English, abstract: The relatively recent case of James v London Borough of Greenwich, [2008] IRLR 302 has shaped English employment law surrounding the legal status of temporary agency workers. In recent years, there has been a shift in the attitudes surrounding the employment status of agency workers by the both the judiciary and Parliament.

This paper is aimed at critically assessing the implications of James in order to determine whether the current position benefits both the private recruitment industry and individuals who value flexibility in their working arrangements. This will be outlined only after a brief, but concise, summary of the legal position prior to the decision in James.