Legal Ease

Agency workers currently benefit from workplace discrimination protection and from statutory minimum rights, such as holidays, under the Working Time legislation and Statutory Sick Pay.

However, from October 2011, new legislation should finally come into force which will provide agency workers in the UK new rights and benefits. However, these regulations have been continually argued over and regularly postponed so more changes could emerge!

The new Regulations “WILL” cover:
Any worker who is not directly employed by your business, but supplied by an agency to work under a temporary arrangement, who is supervised by your business for a period of time. This will also include workers sourced via an intermediary such as some payroll services.

The Regulations “DO NOT” cover:
· Workers who are acting as professionals, such as doctors, accountants, lawyers, professional consultants or who those individuals who are genuinely self-employed and working through their own account.
· Those individuals who are engaged by companies providing a genuinely out-sourced service to your business.
· Permanent employees of the agency, an individual on a secondment from other organisations or temporary workers directly engaged by you.

The benefits that agency workers will receive from day one:
There are certain entitlements that agency workers will receive from the first day of the assignment, which are not subject to the 12 week qualifying period. These include:
· The right of pregnant agency workers to have time off for ante-natal clinics.
· The right to be informed about job vacancies within the hiring organisation.
· The right to the same amenities and facilities enjoyed by direct employees,including on-site canteens, child care facilities and transport schemes.

The benefits agency workers will receive after the twelve week qualifying period:
Agency workers will be entitled to the same basic working and employment conditions, as if they had been directly employed by the hiring organisation. This includes:
· Pay in line with direct employees
· Overtime and shift allowances
· Hours of work, rest and breaks
· Restrictions on night work
· Bonuses related to the quality or quantity of work done
· Company holiday entitlement above the statutory minimum
· Luncheon vouchers or similar voucher style rewards

There are exclusions to agency workers having equal treatment after 12 weeks, which includes the following:
· Any benefit which could encourage or reward loyalty or long service
· Bonus's which are not based on the individual's performance
· Financial participation schemes (such as company share options)
· Company sick pay above the statutory minimum
· Maternity, paternity or adoption leave in excess of statutory entitlement.
· Company pension scheme
· Redundancy payments
· Non monetary staff discount schemes
· Pay for time on Trade Union duties
· Salary sacrifice, company loan or advance of pay schemes

This introduction to the new Agency Worker Regulations only scratches the surface in terms of the regulations complexity. The guidance does not address some of the more challenging questions and the Employment Tribunal will be left to tackle the trickier issues – as usual !!

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Labels: Agency Workers Regulations 2011