Equal Treatment Rights for Agency Workers

[fishtank]

Equal Treatment Rights for Agency Workers

Agency Worker Regulations 2010


After 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer agency workers will have the right to:
• equal treatment on pay, holidays and working time
• improved pregnancy rights

The first day that an agency worker can qualify for equal treatment on pay, holidays and working time entitlements will be 24 December 2011.

Overview of the new rights

Who has rights?
• The AWR apply to all agencies when they supply agency workers to work on temporarily for a hirer. This includes agencies working in the private and public sector.

Establishing equal treatment on pay, holidays and working time
After the 12 week qualifying period, agency workers have the right to the same pay; holiday and working time entitlements as if they had been recruited directly by the hirer to do the same job. Agency workers only have the right to equal treatment on pay and conditions ordinarily contained in the contracts of the hirers’ employees or workers.


Equal treatment on pay
Agency workers have the right to the same pay as if recruited directly by the hirer to do the same job.

Pay includes hourly or weekly pay; salaries; piece rates; holiday pay; overtime pay; shift, unsocial hours and risk rates; and bonuses, and performance related pay connected to the individual’s work
But it does not include equal treatment on pensions; sick pay; maternity, paternity or adoption pay; bonuses linked to company performance or which reward loyalty or length of service; redundancy pay or expenses.

Equal treatment on holiday and working time entitlements
Agency workers have the right to the same holiday and working time entitlements as if recruited directly by the hirer to do the same job.

This includes the same:
• Annual leave and holiday pay, including entitlements above the statutory minimum
• Bank holidays, including rights to time off or enhanced pay
Agency workers also have the right to equal treatment on working time entitlements including on:
• Duration of working time, including travel time related to work and on-call pay
• Rest breaks
• Night work, including enhanced pay rates


Agency Workers on Permanent Contracts
Agency workers who have a contract of employment with an agency and who are paid between assignments will not be entitled to equal pay, even after 12 weeks on an assignment. They will however have a right to equal treatment on holiday and working time entitlements after completing the 12 week qualifying period.

Such agency workers must be paid at last 50% of the pay they received on their last assignment or the National Minimum Wage, whichever is the greater. They must also be paid for at least 4 weeks between assignments before being dismissed.

Such agency workers will qualify for statutory rights enjoyed by other employees, including for example, rights to notice, paid time off for trade union duties, unfair dismissal protection and statutory redundancy pay.

Qualifying for Equal Treatment
Agency workers qualify for equal treatment on pay, holidays and working time after 12 weeks in the same role for the same hirer.

The qualifying period will be broken and set to zero if the agency worker:
• starts a new role with the hirer involving substantively different work or duties and they are informed in writing by the agency about the new role or
• has a break of more than 6 weeks from work for the hirer, unless their absence is due to family related leave, sick leave, holidays, temporary cessation of work or industrial action
Where an agency worker’s absence is due to family related leave, they will continue to accrue service during their absence for as long as their assignment would have or was expected to last.
An agency worker will lose their equal treatment rights and need to qualify again if they are absent from work for more than 6 weeks or start a substantively different role with a hirer.

The Regulations contain anti-avoidance measures aimed at preventing agencies or hirers rotating agency workers either within a hirer’s organisation or between two or more hirers in order to avoid equal treatment obligations.

An agency worker will be deemed to have qualified for equal treatment if they are rotated to more than 2 different roles or on more than 2 assignments with the hirer (or an associated company) and the agency worker can show:
• they would have qualified for equal treatment if they had not been rotated and
• they were rotated because the hirer or the agency intended to prevent them for qualifying for equal treatment.

Equal access to collective facilities and amenities
From day one of an assignment, agency workers have the right to equal access to collective facilities and amenities provided by the hirer.

Collective facilities and amenities include staff canteens, child care facilities and transport services. They are not limited to facilities provided at the hirer’s workplace.

Agency workers must not be treated less favourably than comparable workers working for the hirer unless the hirer can objectively justify limiting an agency workers’ access to collective facilities.

Pregnancy rights
After completing the 12 week qualifying period, an agency worker has the right:
• to paid time off for ante natal appointments
• to be offered an alternative assignment or full pay for the length or expected length of the original assignment, where their assignment has ended for maternity related reasons.

Key Information rights
Union reps in recognised workplaces have the right to be provided with information by the employer about the number, location, and type of work being done by agency workers in their workplace. This should assist union reps to represent, organise and to bargain for a better deal at work for agency workers.

This section also summarises information rights which agency workers have under the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 which may assist reps in assessing whether agency workers are receiving their equal treatment rights.

Information and consultation rights
Agency workers also gain new rights for their union reps or workplace representatives to be consulted by agencies in relation to collective redundancies and TUPE transfers. The Agency Worker Regulations also extend general information and consultation rights to agency workers.

Enforcing equal treatment rights
New equal treatment rights will be principally enforced through Employment Tribunals.

While agencies will be primarily responsible for ensuring agency workers receive equal treatment on pay and holiday and working time entitlements, hirers will be liable in some circumstances. Hirers will be solely responsible for ensuring agency workers receive equal access to collective facilities and information about vacancies. Agencies are responsible for new pregnancy rights.

Agency workers will be entitled to at least 2 weeks’ pay in compensation for any breach of equal treatment rights and up to £5,000 compensation where the anti-avoidance provisions are breached.

[markadam1962]

So this is good news then? I have been on Angards books since 1st Oct been working at the same MC doing the same job. No breaks in service. Basically I want to know what I will be earning when I return to work next week I will expect to be paid more that £6.08PH

OR WILL I ??

[Verging]

Well I worked today - start of my 13th week and been told nothing. Think it all depends on whether RM/Angard are exempt from the AWR due to Angard being an "in-house" agency . They have said in a letter to the CWU they intend to give agency staff additional rights at 12 weeks but not specified which additional rights - see http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... 47&t=41806" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[markadam1962]

I wouldn't mind just going back to the pay I was earning before bloody Angard got involved.

Anyway to late to worry about it now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[Jeansybaby]

Sorry fishtank but Angard are an internal recruitment company so are not bound to this by law

[Verging]

Sorry fishtank but Angard are an internal recruitment company so are not bound to this by law

The words in the AWR are workers Likely to be exempt are ....... those working for an 'in-house' agency ... RM have already stated, in a letter to the CWU, we already have addtional benefits as a result of AWR and will gain addtional benefits at 12 weeks, They have not clarified what these are. Until I have some form of clarification on what benefits I will be getting I am sceptical as to whether they will give all benefits within the AWR. See link I posted above to another thread.

[POSTMAN]

http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/em ... s-guidance" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

‎'Those who are likely to be outside the scope of the Regulations include;' 'individuals working for in-house temporary staffing banks where a
company employs its temporary workers directly (and they only work for
that same business or service)'