The Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) will come into force from 1st October 2011.  These new regulations revolve around equal pay and benefits to all temporary staff when on an assignment with you.

  The impact of the regulations will have a direct impact on how you employ your longer term temporary staff.  Whilst this is a big change in the relationship between a recruitment agency and its clients we believe that by working with you closely we can implement the changes seemlesly and with minimal disruption to your business.  A summary of the key points is listed below.

From day one of an assignment
Agency workers are entitled to be treated no less favourably than a comparable worker or employee in relation to access to collective facilities and amenities provided by you. This is not intended to extend to all benefits which you might provide to directly recruited workers or employees; rather, it applies to collective facilities provided by you either to workers or employees as a whole or to particular groups of workers or employees. These may include:

• a canteen or other similar facilities
• a workplace crèche
• transport services (e.g. in this context, local pick up and drop offs, transport between sites – but not company car allowances or season ticket loans)
• toilets/shower facilities
• staff common room
• waiting room
• mother and baby room
• prayer room
• food and drinks machines
• car parking

This is a non-exhaustive list and acts as an indication of which kind of facilities should be included. It applies to facilities provided by you and therefore these facilities will usually be on-site. However, for example, if a canteen is used on another site – or shared with another company – then this should also be available to agency workers.

All agency workers will be entitled to be provided with information about any relevant job vacancies within your Company that would be available to a comparable employee or worker. You can choose how to publicise vacancies, whether it is via the internet / intranet or on a notice board in a communal area. But the agency worker should know where and how to access this information.

After 12 weeks in the same job
After an agency worker completes a 12 week qualifying period with you in the same role, they will be entitled to have the same basic terms and conditions of employment as if they had been employed directly by your Company. They are:

• key elements of pay
• duration of working time e.g. if working is limited to a maximum of 48 hours a week
• night work
• rest periods
• rest breaks
• annual leave

In addition, pregnant agency workers who have completed the 12 week qualifying period will be entitled to paid time off for ante natal appointments.

The 12 week qualifying period is triggered by working in the same job with you for 12 calendar weeks. A calendar week in this context will comprise any period of seven days starting with the first day of an assignment. Calendar weeks will be accrued regardless of how many hours the worker does on a weekly basis. Therefore, even if the agency worker is on assignment for only a couple of hours a week, it will still count as a week and they will still be entitled to equal treatment after 12 calendar weeks calculated in this way.

Accrual of 12 week qualifying period
The qualifying period is not retrospective; an agency worker will only start to accrue the 12 weeks qualifying period after the Regulations come into force on 1 October 2011 even if the assignment started before 1 October 2011.  An agency worker can qualify for equal treatment after 12 weeks in the same role with you, regardless of whether they have been supplied by more than one agency over the course of that period of time.

There are of course cases in which the agency worker may not complete 12 consecutive weeks with your Company.  For a list of these please feel free to contact a member of staff.

In order for the 12 week qualifying period to be reset to zero, you must notify us that the work or duties have changed and this information must be passed to the agency worker.

You must notify us in writing when there is a new role that is substantively different to the workers current role and record details of the job requirements. Once we have received the new job role we must then provide a description of the new role in writing to the worker. We have to record details about the new vacancy and notify the agency worker, in writing, that their role has substantively changed and that the qualifying period will start again.

There are certain benefits that agency workers are not entitled to receive, regardless of how long they have been with you.  Some examples are listed below:

• occupational sick pay
• occupational pensions
• occupational maternity, paternity or adoption pay
• redundancy pay
• notice pay
• payment for time off for Trade Union duties
• guarantee payments as they apply to directly recruited staff if laid off
• advances in pay or loans
• expenses such as accommodation and travel expenses
• payments or rewards linked to financial participation schemes such as share ownership schemes, phantom share schemes
• overtime or similar payments where the agency worker has not fulfilled qualifying conditions required of someone directly recruited. For example, an agency worker would have to be doing work over and above standard hours to qualify for overtime, not just working a shift that permanent staff tend to work on an overtime basis
• the majority of benefits in kind (see reference to vouchers in stamps which have a monetary value and are included on previous page), given as an incentive or reward for long-service, for example, where Building Society staff may be given a reduced rate mortgage, employer funded training allowances
• any payments that require an eligibility period of employment / service, if not met by the agency worker (same treatment as if directly recruited) or if the agency worker is no longer on assignment when the bonus is paid (if the same applies to those directly recruited i.e. no longer working for the hirer)
• bonuses which are not directly linked to the contribution of the individual – e.g. a flat rate bonus that is given to all direct staff to encourage loyalty or long term service
• additional discretionary, non-contractual bonuses, as long as these payments are not made with such regularity that they have become custom and practice – see section above on bonuses and commission payments

The above information is an overview of how the new regulations will impact on your business, the information above is neither complete nor limited but provides an overview as to how you will be affected under the new legislation.  We aim to make the transition as seamless as we possibly can and will be available for any questions you may have regarding the new regulations so please feel free to contact a member of staff.