The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 SI 2010/93 came into force on 1 October, giving effect (eventually) to the 2008 EU directive on temporary agency work. The government has given in to the inevitable, albeit not gracefully – there is still talk of removing any "gold plating" of the EU requirements, for example by amending them to take one man service companies out of the scope of the regulations.

As reported last month and in brief, the Regulations give agency workers the right to equal treatment on basic working and employment conditions, including pay and holidays, as if they had been recruited directly by the hirer. Most of these rights apply after 12 weeks’ service but some, notably the right to access to the hirer’s facilities such as a canteen, transport between sites or a creche, and to access to information on permanent vacancies, apply from day one.

There has been a lot of coverage on the possible negative impact on the economy (see for example this report from Allen & Overy of 12 September 2011), but in the spirit of "it’s not all doom and gloom", here are a few points which may reduce the impact for individual employers Continue reading →