Why do organisations that are not employment agencies need to consider the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
Who is an "agency worker" for the purposes of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
What rights do agency workers have under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 from the first day of their assignment?
Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, who is responsible for ensuring that agency workers have access to collective facilities and job vacancies from day one of the assignment?
What rights do agency workers have under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 after the 12-week qualifying period?
Under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, who is responsible for ensuring that agency workers have the same basic terms and conditions as a comparable direct recruit?
Do self-employed people have rights under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
Are workers who are supplied by an in-house staff bank covered by the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
In what way are agency workers' maternity rights enhanced by the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
How is the 12-week qualifying period under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 calculated?
What counts as a week for the purposes of the 12-week qualifying period under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
How long a break between assignments can an agency worker take without bringing continuity of service to an end for the purposes of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
Does an agency worker lose his or her entitlement to additional rights under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 if he or she changes role within the organisation after the 12-week qualifying period?
Can an employer limit the use of agency workers to assignments of less than 12 weeks, to avoid the impact of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
Can an employer move agency workers around different connected hirers to prevent their being entitled to additional rights after 12 weeks?
For the purposes of the 12-week qualifying period under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/93), continuity is broken if a move to a different part of the organisation amounts to a change in the identity of the hirer. For the identity of the hirer to change, there would have to be a move to a part of the organisation with a separate legal identity, such as a separate limited company.
However, where the most likely explanation for the move to a connected hirer with a separate legal identity is to avoid the impact of the Regulations, the arrangement is likely to fall foul of the anti-avoidance provisions under reg.9. For the anti-avoidance provisions to bite in these circumstances, the agency worker must have:
- completed two or more assignments with the hirer;
- completed one or more assignments with the hirer and one or more earlier assignments with hirers connected to the hirer; or
- worked in more than two roles during an assignment and have had at least two previous changes of role.
Hirers are connected if one hirer has direct or indirect control of the other, or a third person has direct or indirect control of both.
The Regulations specifically provide that a tribunal should look at the number of times an agency worker has returned to work in the same role with the hirer and connected hirers in assessing the explanation for the structure of assignments. If the tribunal considers that the structure of assignments falls within the anti-avoidance provisions, the agency worker will be treated as having completed the qualifying period from the time that he or she would have completed the period if it were not for the structure of the assignments.
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Can an employer move agency workers around different roles in the organisation to prevent their being entitled to additional rights after 12 weeks?
How is the 12-week qualifying period under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 calculated for agency workers who are already working on an assignment for a hiring employer on 1 October 2011?
What information must an employer that hires agency workers provide to the agency to comply with the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
How should a hiring employer respond if it receives a request from an agency worker for information under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010?
Do the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 give agency workers the right to claim unfair dismissal?