Temporary workers employed through recruitment agencies at DPD, a major UK courier company owned by French postal service La Poste, appear to have been excluded from sick pay and pension entitlements based on internal cost calculations reviewed by The Guardian.
The internal spreadsheets detailing costs for more than 3,000 temporary workers over two financial years included hourly wages, holiday pay, and employer national insurance contributions but contained no line items for sick pay or pension contributions. Employment law experts noted this raises concerns about whether workers were actually receiving statutory sick pay entitlements or whether they were being removed from roles before 12 weeks of service to circumvent mandatory pension contributions. Under current UK law, statutory sick pay applies from the first day of absence, while employer pension contributions become mandatory after 12 weeks of employment.
The absence of these costs from DPD’s charge rate calculations—the fees paid by brands to recruitment agencies for supplying temporary staff—prompted questions about whether recruitment agencies could profitably operate while meeting their legal obligations to workers. Industry guidance from the Association of Labour Providers states that labour users paying unrealistically low rates may be complicit in worker exploitation.
When presented with the documents, DPD stated that its commercial arrangements with agencies are structured to allow them to fulfill statutory obligations and are benchmarked against industry competitors. The company emphasized that recruitment agencies, not DPD itself, serve as primary employers under UK employment law and bear direct responsibility for statutory compliance including sick pay and pension contributions. DPD said it requires all agency partners to follow applicable employment legislation and continuously reviews supplier relationships.
The discovery emerges as the Fair Work Agency, established on 7 April, begins operations consolidating enforcement functions previously divided among multiple bodies including the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority and the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
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