XpertHR conference on the Agency Workers Regulations

The XpertHR conference on the Agency Workers Regulations will provide delegates with a solid legal grounding in the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/93), which are due to come into force on 1st October 2011. The new Regulations will give agency workers equal treatment in basic employment conditions, including pay, working time and holiday, after 12 weeks with the same hiring company. During the conference, a panel of experts will discuss the possible responses to the legislation, the necessary steps to ensure compliance and managing the risk of claims. 

To help you make the most of the conference, we highlight just some of the material on this subject available on XpertHR - including frequently asked questions on agency workers, practical guidance in the form of a "how to" guide and a line manager briefing, and the latest relevant case reports. 

 

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The law on agency workers

Agency Workers Regulations 2010 This article explains the effect of the Regulations and assesses their likely impact. It also considers which aspects of the Regulations are most controversial and likely to be subject to legal challenge. 

Equal treatment for agency workers The XpertHR forthcoming law section provides guidance on the forthcoming right for agency workers to be afforded equal treatment with directly employed staff. 

Temporary Agency Work Directive adopted XpertHR looks, in brief, at the European Parliament's approval of the Directive, and the events that preceded it. 

EU Directive gives temporary agency workers new rights European Employment Review Editor, Mark Carley, examines the provisions of the Temporary Agency Workers Directive, and looks briefly at the history of efforts to protect temporary agency workers across the European Union. 

Agency Workers Directive: have the arguments just begun? Employment Law Bulletin consultant editor, Darren Newman, asks if the employer and union sides are really clear about the benefits to be excluded from the concept of equality in the Directive. 

HR to bypass Agency Workers Directive with internal temps HR professionals are preparing to sidestep the Agency Workers Directive by creating their own banks of temporary staff to recruit from, Personnel Today has learnt. 

Agency Workers Directive: rights on for temps Rarely has a single piece of legislation been as keenly debated as the Regulations to implement the Agency Workers Directive in the UK. Mark Hammerton of Eversheds analyses what the agency workers legislation will mean for employers. 

Run this saved search on the Agency Workers Directive for further articles on XpertHR relating to this subject. 

 

Practical guidance on employing agency workers

The XpertHR topic of the week series on the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 comprises:

  • an overview, looking at the type of organisations that will be affected by the Regulations, and the new rights to which agency workers will be entitled;
  • an explanation of the 12-week qualifying period, including how certain absences during an agency worker's assignment with a hirer will pause the qualifying period, whereas other absences will not;
  • a case study, looking at how, once the Regulations are in force, agency workers will accrue service entitling them to equal treatment with comparators employed by their hirer; and
  • FAQs, covering, among other things, the obligations that employers that use agency workers will have under the Regulations, and the rights to which agency workers will be entitled. 

Agency Workers Regulations: Employers’ 10 key questions answered With the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 due to come into force in October, Employers' Law summarises the main areas for employers to consider. 

The XpertHR line manager briefing section includes a Line manager briefing on agency temps, which looks at the law and best practice on managing agency temps. It aims to help managers understand their legal obligations when engaging agency temps and the possible employment law risks in such temporary arrangements. It also provides advice on liaising with employment agencies. 

How to employ agency temps as permanent members of staff The XpertHR "how to" section provides practical guidance on the issues to consider when an end-user company wishes to retain a temp as a permanent member of its staff. 

Temp to perm transfer fees - worked examples Following the implementation of the conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, there are restrictions on how "temp to perm" fees can be used, but the charging of transfer fees is not actually prevented. The XpertHR worked examples section demonstrates how the rules on temp to perm fees work in practice. Each XpertHR worked example sets out a scenario and the necessary action in the circumstances, and follows this with a concise explanation. 

Remember, if you come across any article on XpertHR that you want to draw to the attention of a colleague, every article has a link to the right of the screen enabling you to "email this item to a colleague". Click on the link, enter the email address of your colleague, and press send. Your colleague will receive the document in full, making this an ideal tool when delegating work. Alternatively, you can email the article to yourself as a reminder. 

 

Employment law manual: agency workers

The temporary workers and determining employment status sections of the XpertHR employment law manual explain the law relating to agency workers. It also alerts you to forthcoming changes to the law, via the Future developments subsection, a feature of all the employment law manual sections. 

 

Agency workers frequently asked questions

XpertHR's FAQs section provides answers to commonly asked questions on a wide range of topics. Questions on agency workers include:

We welcome suggestions for new FAQs from our subscribers, so if there's a question that you would like to see answered on the site, use the Suggest tab in the FAQs section to submit your idea. 

However, if you have a specific query and wish to receive an individual response to it within a short timeframe, you should make use of the Legal Advice section of the site (within Employment Law in the left-hand toolbar). You can telephone or email your question to be answered by a specialist employment lawyer. 

 

Surveys and benchmarking

Survey: Employers' use of employment agencies and recruitment agencies 2009 Employers' practices in using employment agencies and recruitment agencies are investigated in this 2009 IRS survey, which examines their reasons for using agencies and the criteria applied when selecting them, together with the most popular services, satisfaction levels and other factors. 

Employers' Use of Employment Agencies 2009 Subscribers to XpertHR Benchmarking can drill down into the complete benchmarking data from the 2009 survey on employment agencies and recruitment agencies to find out how their organisation compares. 

 

Agency workers case law

Keep up with the latest developments in employment case law and check key legal precedents. Case law on agency workers includes: 

For up-to-the-minute news on key cases that have not yet been reported elsewhere on XpertHR, see the XpertHR stop press section. 

 

External documents

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/93) are available on the OPSI website. 

The finalised Agency Workers Regulations guidance (PDF format, 3.35K) is available on the BIS website. 

The Temporary Agency Work Directive (PDF format, 59K) Refer to the wording of the Directive itself, which sets out the Government's legal obligations, on the European Union website. 

The previous Government's consultation document Implementation of the Agency Workers Directive: consultation on draft regulations (PDF format, 917K) is available on the BIS website together with its Response to consultation on draft regulations (PDF format, 250K). 

The previous Government's earlier consultation Employment agencies: implementation of the Agency Workers Directive: a consultation paper (PDF format, 733K) sought preliminary views on how to implement the Directive, and is available on the BIS website together with Agency Workers Directive consultation: summary of responses to consultation (PDF format, 139K).