subject: EU legislation to Protect Agency Workers Becomes Effective in the UK in October 2011 [print this page] EU legislation to Protect Agency Workers Becomes Effective in the UK in October 2011
Copyright (c) 2011 Alison WithersAn EU law, the Agency Workers Directive, finally takes effect in the UK in October this year but employers and recruitment agencies have said that there is still some confusion about definitions and how it will work.This law is designed to protect workers who are believed to be vulnerable to exploitation and to give them some of the same employment conditions after 12 weeks of service as workers who are permanent. It covers pay (including shift and overtime allowances), working conditions and holidays, provided they are supervised and managed by their hirer. It does not cover the benefits permanent employees get, such as sick pay, pensions, redundancy pay. If agency workers are employed on a permanent basis by their umbrella company or agency or temporary work agency, have a permanent contract with the agency and receive pay in-between assignments and not by the hiring company they are not covered by the new regulations.They must make sure they take reasonable steps to find suitable employment for the worker and that it is offered to them as well as paying them during periods when they are not employed and not at less than the national minimum wage.Agency workers may not be only unskilled "blue collar" workers. They cover the full spectrum including those working in agriculture and food production to temporary secretarial staff, IT consultants and engineers.As businesses continue to try to control cash flow and costs in the aftermath of the 2008 Great Recession it is reasonable to suggest that they will take advantage of the flexibility of being able to hire people only when they really need them and reduce the overheads associated with employing staff permanently. The UK already employs more agency workers than anywhere else in the EU. Using temporary clerical, administrative and secretarial workers has long been a part of UK employment, and it is also common to employ IT and computer specialists on fixed contracts. The most recent employment report, for February 2011, indicated that the numbers of temporary workers had shown their greatest rise since 2007, particularly in the IT and computing sector. Many well-established specialist recruitment agencies exists that are experienced and skilled in sourcing the right staff in these skills for employers, but also more widely for farm, factory and driving contracts. Like the UK's Confederation of British Industry (CBI) the recruitment agency industry body, the REC, has been involved in consultation with the government over the introduction of the new regulations and on producing proper guidelines for agencies to understand what is involved. The REC has said that it does not believe the new regulations will have a significant impact on impact on the flexibility that temporary, contract and interim work provides to employers in all sectors of the UK economy. For the new rules to work smoothly after October 1, however, all parties will need to understand the new rules and who is actually responsible for ensuring they are correctly carried out.
