Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Agency workersEmployment lawHR practice

Agency Workers Regulations: five things employers need to know

by Laura Chamberlain 26 Aug 2011
by Laura Chamberlain 26 Aug 2011

On 1 October 2011 the Agency Workers Regulations will come into force, entitling agency workers to the same basic employment conditions as permanent recruits after 12 weeks in the same role.

With just over a month to go until the Regulations come in, is your organisation prepared for the changes? Here are five things you really need to know.

Is it just recruitment agencies that are responsible for complying with the Agency Workers Regulations?

Although agencies should take on a lot of the responsibility of compliance, employers that hire agency workers still have obligations under the Regulations. Hirers will need to give agencies information about their own employees’ employment conditions. Either the hirer or the agency, or both, could be held liable for a breach, depending on which a tribunal decides is responsible. Find out more about employer liability under the Regulations.







What is and is not included in the Regulations


Included



  • Basic pay.
  • Annual leave.
  • Rest breaks.
  • Bonuses linked to performance.
  • Access to job vacancies (day one).
  • Access to communal facilities (day one).

Not included



  • Genuinely self-employed workers.
  • Bonuses for loyalty or long service.
  • Occupational pensions or sick pay.
  • Financial participation schemes.

Under the Agency Workers Regulations will all rights be triggered after 12 weeks in the same role?

No, agency workers will also have some rights from day one of their assignments. They will have the right to access shared facilities and amenities that can be accessed by comparable employees working for the hirer, unless the employer can objectively justify not doing this. This means that agency workers will have the right to access facilities such as canteens, workplace crèches and transport services. Read more about agency workers’ day one rights.

If an agency worker moves to a new role within the same organisation after the 12-week qualifying period will they retain their rights under the Agency Workers Regulations?

The agency worker will retain the right to the same basic employment conditions as if they had continued in the same role after 12 weeks, unless the work or duties that make up the majority of the new role are substantively different. Read more about what constitutes a substantively different role.

Do self-employed people have rights under the Agency Workers Regulations?

In some cases, a self-employed worker will be considered to be an agency worker under the Regulations. Self-employed workers will not be covered by the Regulations if the agency or hirer is considered to be a “client or customer” of the self-employed person. If the individual, the hirer and the agency intend for the worker to be considered self-employed and not covered by the Regulations, there will need to be clear evidence in a written contract and in practice to this effect. Read more about self-employed workers under the Agency Workers Regulations.

If a worker is absent or has a break from the assignment, will the 12-week qualifying period be reset?

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Although some absences will have the effect of breaking service, certain breaks taken by the agency worker will only pause the time during which the worker accrues service during the qualification period. Breaks between assignments with the same organisation will pause the clock if they last for six weeks or less. Some other absences, such as sickness absence, jury service and annual leave, will also pause the clock. Find a full list of absences that will pause the qualification period here.

For full guidance on the above – along with further Agency Workers Regulations questions – see the FAQS on XpertHR.

Laura Chamberlain

previous post
HR moves: CEGA Group Services, Berwin Leighton Paisner, Wragge & Co
next post
Case of the week: South Tyneside Council v Ward

You may also like

Fire and rehire: the relocation question

22 May 2025

Minister defends Employment Rights Bill at Acas conference

16 May 2025

CBI chair Soames accuses ministers of not listening...

16 May 2025

EHRC bows to pressure and extends gender consultation

15 May 2025

Contract cleaner loses EAT race discrimination appeal

14 May 2025

Construction workers win compensation claim against defunct employer

9 May 2025

Zero-hours workers’ rights to be extended from beyond...

8 May 2025

Employment tribunal backlog up 23% in a year

7 May 2025

Ministers urged to outlaw misuse of NDAs

7 May 2025

Employment Rights Bill must be tightened to protect...

1 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+