Agency Workers Regulations laid before Parliament

The Draft Agency Workers Regulations 2010 regulations were laid before parliament on 21 January 2010. But the proposed date for their coming into force is not until 1st October 2011.

They government’s expectation is that the regulations will pass into law in the near future, and certainly before the end of the current Parliament.

As expected, the regulations aim to ensure that after 12 weeks in a given job agency workers will be entitled to equal treatment on basic working and employment conditions, including pay and holidays, as if they had been recruited directly by the hirer. In addition, from the first day of their assignment agency workers will be entitled to (i) information about vacancies in the hirer to give them the same opportunity as other workers to find permanent employment; (ii) equal access to on-site facilities such as child care and transport services; (iii) additional rights for new and expectant mothers including right to reasonable time off to attend ante-natal appointments and adjustments to working conditions and working hours.

The regulations need to be in place by October 2011 to ensure the UK’s compliance with the EC Directive 2008/104/EC of 19 November 2008 on temporary agency work.

But, with a general election due in the spring of 2010, there may be some uncertainty over whether they will indeed be implemented as proposed by this date, particularly if the outcome of the election leads to changes in the UK’s relationship with the European Union. It is perhaps significant that the CBI does not support the regulations, believing their introduction will hamper job creation.

The wording of the draft regulations is available at: www.berr.gov.uk

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