Five Steps to get ready for the new Agency Workers Regulations 1st October 2011.

Five Steps to get ready for the new Agency Workers Regulations 1st October 2011.



1) Tell all your employees about the legal changes, especially HR and managers. The new regulations mean that after twelve weeks an agency worker should be treated the same as an employer that has been directly recruited by that company. These things include holiday leave, pay and bonuses and duration of working time. Part-time workers and temporary staff who take a break during the assignments also qualify for the rights. For example if a worker took a break for up to six weeks then came back on the job only another six weeks will go by before that worker can claim full rights.



You need to take into consideration that from 1st October 2011 when these new regulations will come into affect that your costs could rise, whether it be more chairs in the canteen or a bigger car park, for temporary staff to park. Managers that manage temp staff on a regular basis will need to be told that when agency staff are kept on longer than what they planned, costs will rise because employers will be responsible for paying holiday pay, within in this pensions, sickness or parenting pay is NOT included.



2) When taking on temporary staff make sure they are completely necessary, but if you hire staff seasonally or to help cope with shirt term sickness then this cannot be avoided. But if you find yourself calling temporary staff in regularly because you are regularly under staffed or to save on overtime these new regulations may mean that you aren’t saving money.



You need to consider the advantages and disadvantages when deciding on whether your business will benefit from using temporary staff, for example the extra training and admin costs and pros- flexibility. The regulations ONLY apply when to workers that come through and agency, self employed who provide your business with services don’t qualify for the new rights nor to managed service contract workers (for example contract cleaners)



3) From 1st October 2011 you are legally responsible for making sure your temporary staff are getting access to all the facilities at work from their FIRST day of work. You need to make sure you tell agency workers that they are able to use the canteen, car park and other facilities such as the children’s crèche. Also make sure that you inform all temporary staff of job vacancies because they have the right to know about internal positions. If you DON’T comply with these rules then you could be liable to legal action.



4) For longer temporary contracts make sure you send your terms and conditions to the job agencies you use so they can match tem to make sure your temps are getting equal treatment from week twelve. The conditions you need to offer to the temporary staff is the same as those that are offered to permanent employees. If this seems like your costs are going to suffer then maybe consider introducing a qualifying period for permanent staff. Pregnant agency workers are also entitled to attend anti-natal classes WITH pay. Make sure your terms and conditions are up to date all the time and whenever there is changes they are copied in the contracts for temporary staff that have reached the twelve week requirement.



5) You need to make sure that you are wary of anti-avoidance rules for agency workers regulations.; the regulations say that "there is nothing to prevent an agency worker being released after say 11 weeks or for assignments of 12 weeks to be the usual practice of any hirer." But if a firm is constantly hiring and rehiring staff at the eleven week period that deliberately deprives them of their entitlements it won’t go down well at an employment tribunal.