The Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) are now in force (effective from 1st October 2011) ensuring that all agency workers doing the same job for a period of 12 consecutive weeks have equal access to basic employment and working conditions as those directly employed by the organisation.

Have you double checked your agency workers? Have any of them been working with you for a period of 12 weeks or more?

If so… ensure that they have access to the staff handbook, the intranet and any internal job vacancies and don’t forget to allow them access to any voluntary benefits such as discount gym membership from day one! And review their basic terms and conditions before week 12 as these will need to equal the terms made to a comparable role.
If not… you could be in breach of the regulations and you need to take some action -from the first day the agency worker joins you:

• give them access to collective facilities and amenities: such as the canteen, transport services (local pick up service, inter-site transport), staff rooms and food & drinks machines.
• ensure information on internal job vacancies is available.

After 12 weeks in the same job agency workers’ basic terms and conditions should be the same as if they were recruited directly by you, they include:

• basic pay, including holiday pay, overtime and bonuses linked to performance.
• duration of working time – for example not being expected to work more than 48 hours a week if those directly recruited are not.
• additional annual leave entitlement given to employees above the legal requirements.
• paid time off for antenatal appointments.

As a hirer of agency workers you are not obliged at any point to equal any occupational schemes, such as: sick pay, maternity, paternity and adoption pay. Nor are you required to offer advances in pay to agency workers, e.g. season ticket loans.

Insight HR can provide further guidance on the new regulation, for more information about AWR or our services contact us at info@insight-hr.co.uk or call us on 08448 79 76 79.