Agency Workers Regulation

The Agency Workers Directive (AWR) is a piece of EU legislation that will come into force in the UK by October 2011. The AWR is simple in concept but when you examine the detail, it has huge implications for recruitment businesses and their contractors, freelancers or temps who find work through them.

The aim behind the AWR is to protect vulnerable workers from exploitation and ensure they receive the same basic employment conditions as their permanent equivalents. So after just 12 weeks of service, agency workers will have the right to the same pay, working hours and holidays plus any other benefit on offer by the end client (such as the staff crèche or canteen).

How will this affect you as an agency?

Currently no one is 100% sure, as the finer details have not yet been published by the Government. Having said that, it is not a time to sit and wait. Agencies will definitely be at the forefront of this regulation so the compliance requirements will predominately lie with agencies.

Agencies should be at least starting to plan the processes, procedures and resources that will be required to capture that additional information from their clients.

So, in the event that an agency worker believes they are not being treated fairly, you as an agency are able to report back what an employee of the client receives, both in term of their pay and their benefits verses what the agency worker is currently receiving.

JSA will be keeping a close eye on the development of the AWR, so subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll keep you posted on this and other topics we feel are important. Subscribe here.

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