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MPs have voted in favour of a bill calling for equal rights for agency workers - but there are fears that it will result in unnecessary red tape and put jobs at risk. The rights of agency drivers and other temporary workers will come under scrutiny as the government promises to review the rules after MPs voted in favour of a bill promoting fair treatment. The Temporary and Agency Worker Bill, a private members' bill laid by Labour MP Andrew Miller, calls for the same pay and benefits for temporary  workers as their permanent counterparts. MPs voted 147 to 11 in favour of the bill at its second reading last week, but it requires another vote in the House of Commons and support in the House of Lords before it becomes law. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) deputy director general John Cridland said such legislation would make life very difficult for an agency driver working for a different haulier every day. The CBI believes the bill adds unnecessary red tape and agency drivers would be better served by more stringent enforcement of current regulations.

Cridland says that if the bill is successful it could put jobs at risk and harm the economy: "Temps already have extensive rights covering minimum wage, working time, paid holiday and health and safety. Enforcement of those existing rules, rather than the creation of new ones, is the best way to protect them." The bill, he adds,  would put agency jobs at risk because businesses will be deterred from using temporary workers because of the extra administrative burden. Ruth Pott, director of employment affairs at the Road Haulage Association, also questions who would benefit from the proposals. "Most agency drivers earn a higher hourly rate than their permanent counterparts and under employment rules they get holiday entitlement, their working hours are protected, they get sick pay and they are protected by health and safety legislation." She adds that a lot of people choose to be agency workers and for some it can be a way into a permanent role. "I'm concerned that such a bill would add a real administrative burden to employers," she says. "However, I don't think it is likely to get past the committee stage."

Anne Fairweather, head of public policy at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, says many agency drivers earn more per hour than their permanent counterparts. "Agency drivers are paid by the agency. Under this bill, even in a situation where the agency driver earns more, the agency would still have to fill out the paperwork to compare that rate to that of an employee - and that's just extra administration that's not needed." A Driver Hire spokesman says the bill would add complication to the placement of temps and could make it difficult for businesses to take on staff in the flexible way they do at present. He does however add that there should be a clampdown on rogue agencies. But the United Road Transport Union (URTU) believes the vote is good news and spokesman James Bower says: "Throughout the road haulage and distribution industry, agency workers work alongside full-time employees and it cannot be right that two people with the same skills doing the same work are treated differently. "URTU is therefore delighted by the message sent by Labour MPs to their government through their support for Andrew Miller's bill." Tony Woodley, joint general secretary of Unite, says: "Hopefully the vote has also quashed the idea of a commission to look into agency working. The evidence of the need for legislation now is overwhelming and we will not accept the promise of jam tomorrow."