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Temporary staff would win enhanced employment rights under legislation introduced to parliament today.

Labour MP Paul Farrelly, introducing his private members bill into parliament, is calling for temporary workers to be given the same rights as full-time staff.

The bill, which is being proposed by Mr Farrelly and is backed by trade unions, aims to give agency staff the same basic wages and entitlement to holiday and sick pay as their permanent counterparts.

"This is important to make sure there is no further discrimination against workers supplied through employment agencies, that they enjoy the same pay and conditions as direct employees," Mr Farrelly told the Today programme.

"It's important for the Labour party and the trade unions as well because we want to be seen to be on the side of ordinary working people."

A European directive granting better employment rights for temporary workers has been blocked by the UK, Germany and Poland.

Speaking of this, Mr Farrelly said: "Sadly a European directive has been installed in Brussels for five years now and we think it's time that workers in this country enjoyed the same rights through legislation that other workers across Europe in different countries already enjoy."

Tom Hadley of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation rejected this view, however, warning that legislation would enforce time-consuming paperwork which would be "extremely counterproductive".

"If for every temporary assignment you have to sit there and work out the equivalents in pay and also benefits you would have a huge amount of bureaucracy that would be added," Mr Hadley told the same programme.

"It would actually limit the viability of temporary work and cut the opportunities that temporary work provides to millions of workers in this country."