Agency Workers – the key questions

Changes are imminent which have the potential to add significant cost to businesses which supply or use agency workers to any significant extent.

Is your business ready for them? If you use or supply agency workers you need to plan ahead.

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR) come into effect on 1 October 2011, giving agency workers:

• the right to access the employer’s on-site facilities and internal vacancy lists from day one; and
• after 12 weeks, equal treatment on basic working and employment conditions with the hirer’s directly-employed staff, including pay.

You are probably looking forward to a well earned-summer break, confident you will have time after that to get your head round the technicalities of the AWR and their implications. If employment contracts need to be amended to mitigate the effects of the AWR, you might need to start the process sooner.

Should you be concerned? If you think your business might be affected as a user of agency workers, ask yourself these questions:

1. Are workers supplied to you by an external agency, but not on your own payroll?
2. Do they work under the direction and control of your staff?
3. Could their assignments last 12 weeks or more in aggregate, ignoring for this purpose any breaks of six weeks or less?

If your business supplies workers to clients, the questions are similar:

1. Do you pay the workers?
2. Do they work under the direction and control of your client’s staff?
3. Could their assignments last 12 weeks or more in aggregate, ignoring for this purpose any breaks of six weeks or less?

If you have answered any of these questions with a ‘Yes’, however tentative, you might have issues. It’s time to dig a little deeper – to really understand the AWR, their potential implications and your options.

To discuss how the AWR might impact on your business and to explore possible solutions call Turnstone Consultancy on 01229 615280 and speak to one of our HR Advisors.