Internal documents suggest that low-paid temporary workers at DPD, a major UK courier business, may have missed out on entitlements to sick pay and pension contributions. The payments are reportedly absent from internal spreadsheets used to calculate the cost of employing thousands of temporary staff.
Experts suggest this absence could mean workers were not paid entitlements, were discouraged from taking sick days, or were removed from roles before pension contributions became due. Withholding these payments when due would reportedly breach employment law by recruitment agencies and contradict industry guidance.
DPD, which is wholly owned by France's La Poste and employs over 15,000 people, stated that its commercial arrangements with agencies allow them to fulfil statutory obligations. The company added that recruitment agencies are the primary employers of temporary workers and are responsible for statutory obligations like sick pay and pension contributions.
The discovery of this data coincides with the new Fair Work Agency, which launched on 7 April, examining how it will use its powers to enforce workers' rights.