Fears over new UK ruling on temp worker rights

The game industry’s reliance on flexible contract workers could soon be compromised as new UK regulations aim to bolster temp worker rights.

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 will ensure that agency workers will get similar pay and rights as permanent staff if they work at the same company for twelve successive weeks.

The bill was backed today during the Queen’s Speech, and is due to come into force October 2011. Though the bill is intended to protect agency workers who fill in permanent positions across all sectors of business, industry group Tiga has been the first to suggest that the broad rule is not in tune with the start/stop nature of game development.

“This directive could have a significant impact on any developers who use temporary workers,” said Tiga CEO Richard Wilson. “It is crucially important that the UK maintains its labour market flexibility in order to compete successfully against overseas.”