Since 1 October 2011, agency workers have had the right from day one in an assignment to access end-users’ collective facilities (canteens, crèche provisions, and so on) and to be told about permanent job vacancies. After 12 weeks in an assignment, they have the right to the same basic pay and working conditions as permanent employees in the same or a broadly similar role.
The regulations implement the EU directive on temporary agency work and in May 2011 employers received guidance on how they would work in practice. Agency workers’ advice is available on the DirectGov website.
The first agency worker became entitled to the same basic pay as employees pn Christmas Eve - 12 weeks from 1 October. The right includes overtime and shift payments, contractual holiday pay, and individual bonus or commission payments, but excludes contractual sick pay, pensions, maternity, notice or redundancy pay. The rights are not retrospective.
The main burden for pay compliance falls on agencies, but end-users can be liable for not providing agencies with comparator information. If agency workers put in a tribunal claim, agencies or hirers that are found to have deliberately broken the rules can face an additional award of compensation of up to £5,000 (the award can be split between the two respondents).
Employment law advice
Agency worker Q and A
Your questions answered on workers’ rights under the new regulations
No way round the agency worker rules
Agencies and their clients that deliberately try to avoid the new regulations could find themselves facing hefty tribunal compensation awards
Count down to the Agency Workers Regulations
With a month to go, employers should be calculating the true value of reward packages offered to agency staff
UK plays catch up on AWD
Why the agency workers directive is a damp squib in some parts of Europe
HR Talk: Agency Workers Regulations (September 2011)
Bridget Wood, partner at Blake Lapthorn, talks to Jill Evans about what employers need to do to comply with the Agency Workers Regulations, which came into effect from 1 October 2011.
Video: Agency Workers Regulations (May 2011)
Tom Hadley, director of policy and professional services at REC talks to PM about the Agency Workers Regulations
Agency workers count in information and consultation
A hidden clause in the AWR requires employers to tell employee reps about their temps before embarking on a Tupe transfer or a collective redundancy exercise
Will employers need to hatch new ways to employ agency staff?
The next 11 months will require some careful preparation, says Eversheds law firm
How should you respond to the new agency worker regulations?
The government estimates that the new rules could increase employer costs by up to £18 billion a year
New agency workers rules may not be the threat employers feared
Firms will still be able to use temps provided they adopt some new procedures
New protection for agency workers may not have helped BMW temps
It is not clear how far the directive would have helped the agency workers
Useful links
BIS - Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, for the government statement on the decision to go ahead with the regulations, and links to future sources of information
Latest news
Agency workers: A delicate balance
Feature from the December 2011 edition of People Management magazine
News focus - Agency workers regulations
Are the new rules, which came into force on 1 October, more trouble than they’re worth?
Half a million agency jobs 'threatened by new EU regulations'
Many employers could end temporary workers' contracts by Christmas...
Minister seeks Irish exemption from agency workers directive
Agency staff in Ireland could face a six-month wait for improved pay and conditions equal to their permanent colleagues under new proposals
Cameron seeks advice on diluting agency workers directive
The prime minister is looking at ways to dilute the agency workers regulations (AWR) mere weeks before it is due...
Glitches removed from agency workers regulations
The government has now corrected what it calls 'drafting errors' in the agency workers regulations, coming into force this October.
Employers still have misconceptions about agency workers rules
Confusion over benefits in kind, bonuses and role of recruitment agencies
Government confirms agency workers change
Business groups are disappointed with lack of help for employers
Rules on agency workers could mean employers shorten assignments
Firms will be reluctant to hire temps for more than 12 weeks
Agency workers directive to be held back until 2011
Right to request training also delayed for small businesses
Agency workers consultation launched
European proposals would ensure equal treatment for contract and agency staff after 12 weeks