The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR) came into force on 1 October 2011. Employers who use agency temporary staff should ensure they have procedures in place to comply with the changes.
All agency workers are entitled, from the first day of their assignment, to information on any job vacancies and to make use of collective facilities and amenities available to comparable workers and employees. These may include staff canteens, childcare facilities, transport services (such as local pick-ups and drop-offs and transport between sites – but not company car allowances or season ticket loans), staff common rooms, prayer rooms and car parking.
Employers should ensure that agency workers know how to access information relating to job vacancies and are aware of all relevant facilities. This can be done either by providing details directly to the worker, as part of an induction pack, or by providing details to the employment agency to pass on to the agency worker as part of the information on the assignment.
Agency Workers Who Have Completed a 12-Week Qualifying Period
Once an agency worker has worked in the same job for the same hirer for a period of 12 calendar weeks, they will be entitled to the same basic employment and working conditions as if they had been recruited directly by the employer. The qualifying period is not retrospective: an agency worker only starts to accrue the 12-week qualifying period from 1 October, even if the assignment started before the AWR came into force. The first date on which an agency worker can complete the qualifying period is therefore 24 December 2011.
Once an agency worker has worked in the same job for the same hirer for a period of 12 calendar weeks, they will be entitled to the same basic employment and working conditions as if they had been recruited directly by the employer. The qualifying period is not retrospective: an agency worker only starts to accrue the 12-week qualifying period from 1 October, even if the assignment started before the AWR came into force. The first date on which an agency worker can complete the qualifying period is therefore 24 December 2011.
Because the working patterns of agency workers can be irregular, the AWR provide for a number of circumstances in which breaks do not prevent them from completing the qualifying period. Employers are therefore advised to study the rules for calculating this period in order to avoid errors.
Basic employment and working conditions include:
- basic pay;
- duration of working time;
- annual leave;
- night work; and
- rest breaks and rest periods.
The rights with regard to pay include:
- basic pay based on the annual salary the agency worker would have received if recruited directly – this will usually be converted into an hourly or daily rate, taking into account any pay increments the worker would have received;
- overtime payments – subject to the same requirements as if the worker had been recruited directly;
- payment for annual leave;
- bonus or commission payments linked to the amount and quality of work completed – e.g. achievement of sales targets;
- bonuses linked to personal performance or non-contractual payments that are made with such regularity that they are customary;
- vouchers or stamps which have a monetary value and can be exchanged for money, goods or services – e.g. luncheon vouchers and childcare vouchers but not salary sacrifice schemes; and
- paid time off for antenatal appointments.
Some payments may require those recruited directly to complete a period of service – e.g. enhanced entitlement to annual leave after 12 months. An agency worker will need to complete the same period of service to become eligible. Thisshould be calculated from the start of the 12-week qualifying period.
The rights with regard to pay do not include:
- occupational schemes – sick pay, maternity, paternity and adoption pay;
- redundancy and notice pay;
- payment for time off to carry out trade union duties;
- guarantee payments, as they apply to directly recruited staff if laid off;
- advances in pay – e.g. for season tickets;
- payments or rewards linked to financial participation schemes such as share ownership;
- the majority of benefits in kind – e.g. reduced-rate mortgages or employer-funded training allowances;
- bonuses where there is no recognition of a worker’s personal contribution, such as a flat rate bonus paid to the workforce to encourage loyalty or reward long service; and
- additional, non-contractual bonuses – as long as these payments are not made so often that they have become customary.
Agency workers will be covered by the new automatic pension enrolment which is being phased in between October 2012 and October 2016, depending on the size of the company.
To ensure equal treatment after 12 weeks’ service, employers who use agency workers should have in place proper job descriptions and pay structures for the rôles they perform. In addition, to facilitate calculation of the qualifying period, a record should be maintained showing the dates and hours worked, the location of their work and their job rôle. Employment agencies should be provided with information on the basic terms of comparable staff hired directly by the employer.
The AWR contain anti-avoidance provisions which prevent a series of assignments being structured so as to prevent an agency worker from completing the qualifying period. Breaks between assignments will not, therefore, necessarily prevent agency workers from gaining the same basic employment and working conditions as staff recruited directly.
The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills has published detailed guidance on the AWR, which can be found at http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/employment-matters/docs/a/11-949-agency-workers-regulations-guidance.pdf.
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