New rules for agency workers
New rules came into force on 1 October 2011 that aim to improve workplace conditions for hundreds of thousands of temporary workers.
Broadly speaking, the Agency Workers Regulations will give agency workers the same pay and holiday entitlements as their full-time colleagues. Until now, temporary employees received an average of five fewer days holiday a year than permanent staff, and one in three said they were paid less for doing the same work as their full-time workmates. A Labour Force Survey had discovered a 32% pay gap between agency workers and the directly employed.
Agency temps will have the right to use all the facilities provided by their hirer (for example, the staff canteen and childcare) and to be advised of internal vacancies from the first day of their assignment. But they will have to be consistently employed for 12 weeks in the same role before being granted the same working hours, holidays, pay and maternity rights as full timers.
Any employer who tries to sidestep the new rules by moving their temps from one role to another so that they fail the 12-week requirement will face a fine of £5,000, which will also apply if a temporary worker is let go just before the end of their 12-week stint and then re-hired later.
It is hoped that employers will also see benefits in the form of increased productivity and skill levels from workers with greater job security.