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Back to index of Nerve 13 - Winter 2008
Pros and
Cons of agency work
By Dave Routley
I am a support worker currently getting two to three days work a week from one of the countless care related agencies. I don't like the casualisation of labour; it doesn't mean it's okay to turn up late. I'm used to it though. My second job ended with a mass walkout after two weeks. Another agency had won the contract by bringing the wages down to £3.05 an hour.
Saying that, the agency job suits me quite well. Not having a routine makes it feel less like work and I like not knowing where I'll be next month. I don't have a family, car or mortgage. I meet lots of different people at work and encounter enough kindness and humour to maintain my faith in people. I get thrown into positions of responsibility not because I'm qualified, but because they trust me (unlike with the council). Most service users aren't that fussed who's paying the staff or how much money is being skimmed off in the process, or even how many 'health and safety' rules have to be broken, as long as the job gets done.
As for the down side; well I never expected a job for life and I've given up on starting a pension any time soon. I am being a burden on the council via housing benefit and I've taken back most of my income tax when I've had to sign on. Casualisation obviously creates dependency on the welfare state. I am angry at the bureaucracy and complications which result from moving in and out of work, getting in debt, applying for identical jobs with six different companies that pay different rates, filling in CRB forms all the bloody time, waiting for tax refunds. The last agency I worked for (BBT) kept forgetting to pay me and left me with a £100 bank charge. They denied responsibility because they were only a sub-contractor!
All in all, I like my work and the money's okay considering I've hardly trained. But I would maybe swap it for a piece of land and planning permission to build myself a house. At least I'd have something for my old age.
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