Agency workers

The majority of employers give temporary workers the same basic conditions as permanent hires from day one of their assignments, despite not having to do so until the worker has spent 12 weeks in the same role.

Under the Agency Workers Regulations, which came into force on 1 October 2011, temporary workers are entitled to some of the same conditions as permanent workers after 12 weeks working for the company in the “same role”, such as basic pay, annual leave, rest breaks and performance-linked bonuses.

Agency workers also acquire some rights from the first day of their appointment, such as the same access to job vacancies and collective facilities, as someone who had been directly recruited by the hirer.

However, the 2012 XpertHR agency workers survey found that 65% of employers are providing agency workers with the rights they are entitled to after 12 weeks from the first day of their assignments.

The survey gives a very different slant to agency workers than the survey from Eversheds, which found employers were circumventing the regulations (see Fact Service, issue 15).

And labour market data from the REC has suggested that the regulations have impacted recruitment behaviour in the UK.

The REC believes that employers are taking on more permanent staff, but fewer temporary workers, with regulations playing a part in the trend.

www.personneltoday.com/articles/2012/04/16/58475/most-employers-give-agency-workers-12-week-rights-from-day-one-report.html

www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2012/04/firms-replace-temps-with-permanent-hires.htm