hirer's own directly recruited temp workers and employees). There is a 12 week qualifying period, so genuine short-term agency temps will not qualify for this right. The 12 weeks do not have to be continuous; there can be breaks between assignments and absences on grounds of eg sickness or jury service. The corrections are:- · the definition of 'agency worker' in regulation 3 is changed from requiring the agency worker to have a contract with the agency which is either an employment contract or "any other contract to perform work and services personally for the agency" to "any other contract with the agency to perform work or services personally". The change clarifies that the worker does not need to be working for the agency itself; · the so-called 'Swedish Derogation' is clarified by removing another minor drafting error; and, · tweaking the statutory defence in regulation 14, enabling a work agency to avoid liability for breach of the Regulations by a hirer when the agency takes reasonable steps to obtain information about the hirer's terms and conditions. 14 September 2011 The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) received confirmation from government that, despite media reports of a high-level review, the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) will be coming into force on 1 October 2011 as planned. The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) officials advised the REC to inform its members that AWR implementation will go ahead as expected. Senior members of the department will also continue to meet with the REC over the coming months to monitor the impact of the new regulations. Commenting, Kevin Green, REC Chief Executive said: “Whilst we would have welcomed any moves to make life easier for our members, it was always unlikely that any changes would be made at this late stage. “We have written to the Prime Minister this week to emphasise the need to monitor the practical impact of the regulations on the industry, and we will continue to push for an early review. “Our other ongoing priority is to continue helping members to prepare, and to influence how employers respond by underlining the ongoing benefits of a flexible workforce." If your organisation hires temporary or casual staff through an agency, to cover busy periods, or as an additional resource on a more frequent basis then you need to know about the changes to the law about to come in to effect. New regulations will give agency workers the entitlement to the same treatment as other employees with respect to basic employment and working conditions, after they complete a qualifying period of 12 weeks in a particular job. These conditions include the same basic hourly pay rate, overtime, shift allowances, unsocial hours’ premiums, payments for difficult or dangerous duties, lunch vouchers, bonuses for the quality and quantity of work, rest breaks and annual leave allowance. Employment Tribunals can impose fines on employers found to have breached the new laws or not followed the detail of the new regulations. AGENCY WORKER REGULATIONS GOING AHEAD
CIPP Policy News Journal
09/10/2012, Page 204 of 234
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