A draft of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR), published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), was published this week and, despite being postponed until October 2011, employers have been warned not to get complacent.
Gordon Brown told representatives at this month’s Trade Union Congress (TUC) conference that the regulations would "go live" in the next few months. But the government has pushed back the AWR following calls from business and recruitment sectors that early implementation would be damaging to the ‘delicate economy’.
Under the draft regulations, agency workers will be able to access certain company benefits beyond basic pay after 12 weeks of service.
According to the BIS, the draft will cover matters including: "the definition of pay, holiday entitlement, duration of working time, the 12 weeks qualifying period, how the principle of ‘equal treatment’ should be established, liability for compliance with obligations under the Directive, and dispute resolution."
Derek Kelly, Legal and Technical Director of contractor umbrella organisation, Parasol Group, believes the government have made the right decision in postponing the regulations, but feels the BIS has missed a "massive point".
"Vulnerable agency workers, who fully deserve protection, are very much the minority, and there is a massive amount of workers, many of them very highly skilled, who choose agency work because it suits their lifestyle."
And Tom Hadley, Director of External Relations at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), added that new regulations will add unneeded burdens to struggling offices.
"Problems would arise if the definition of pay for the purposes of the directive is anything other than pay, such as the wider benefit packages. This will create a huge amount of administration concern because companies will have to pro-rata their benefits."
The government has already consulted over the main policy aspects of the AWR, with the final period of discussion set to take place in December this year.
