Equality for Agency Staff Workers, but at what price?

As from 1 October The Agency Workers Regulations came into effect giving temporary staff the same basic rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks in the same employment. Although this is good news for agency staff in that it is a welcome improvement in working conditions, it does seem to go against the whole idea of the flexibility of using temps and inevitably will lead to higher costs for the employer. On the other hand, it does provide an opportunity to show the advantages of using freelance staff, who will not incur extra costs for an employer in the form of overtime, breaks, rest periods and holiday pay, to name a few.