The Agency Workers Regulations- October 1st 2011
We have joint responsibilities. Information is the key to success and will ensure that we are all compliant.
Doing nothing or opting-out is not possible but this important piece of legislation is not to be feared and can be implemented and embraced easily and with minimal fuss.
White Knight Recruitment will ensure that we have proper systems in place and we will work with our clients and temps to get the correct information. We will ensure that the Agency Workers Regulations do not prevent our clients from using the best temporary staff when and where they need them.
October 1st 2011 is the day!
There are strict ‘anti-avoidance’ measures in place. The financial penalty for breach of the Regulations is costly but if we work together as a three way partnership – agency, temp and hirer, then we can and will be compliant!
The full Agency Workers Directive is available from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and concise Factsheets have been produced by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) which we are happy to forward to our clients and temporary staff on request.
Summary
• Temporary workers will have the right to equal treatment with regards to pay, holidays and working conditions once they have completed a 12 week qualifying period in the same job with the same hirer.
• From ‘Day One’ the temp will have the right to access collective facilities (on-site canteen or crèche, transport etc) and also the right to be informed by the hirer of relevant vacant posts with the hirer.
• Pregnant agency workers who have completed the qualifying period will have the right to be paid (by the agency) for ante-natal appointments and must be given ‘reasonable’ time to attend the appointment. If, because of Health and Safety reasons, the pregnant worker cannot continue in the same role then she must be offered alternative suitable work by the agency and if no work is available then she must be paid by the agency (not the hirer!) for what would have been the length of the original assignment.
Of course the AWR details are lengthy and complicated but the process can be simple and workable – we will work with you to ensure that this is the case! We will be contacting all our clients to ensure that we have all the correct information in place before 1st October – if you have any questions or concerns before this please don’t hesitate to contact us first.
