Catherwood LibraryILR School

In moving to bring about compliance with European Union requirement that fixed-term workers be given the same rights as permanent employees, the British Government has become entangled in a heated debate. While business leaders are vehemently opposed to the added costs this initiative will impose, trade unions insist that the government has not gone far enough and is illegally excluding many of those fixed-term employees who are most open to exploitation. Although the Trades Union Congress objects to the legislation's suspected use of definitions of fixed-term workers that would exclude non-permanent teachers, adjunct faculty, and nurses, they strongly support the requirement that fixed-term workers receive compensation equivalent to those of permanent employees.