Agency Workers - New Laws
New protection has been announced which will require local employment agencies to vet temps who work with vulnerable groups and some older bureaucratic burdens will be lifted from all agencies. Many local employers use agencies for the provision of staff.
Judith Ellery, a partner in our Employment Department, says “Agencies supplying temps to work with children, the elderly and the infirm will be required to carry out additional checks - including obtaining copies of relevant qualifications, two references, and a responsibility to take all reasonable steps to confirm that an individual is not unsuitable. If new, adverse information comes to light, they will have to withdraw the temporary worker or inform the employer if the worker has been supplied on a permanent basis. The new rules come into force in April and will affect the 500,000 people in the UK working through 17,000 agencies and employment businesses.
The measures also include:
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agencies placing actors, models and extras no longer being allowed to charge upfront fees before they find them work; |
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employment businesses no longer being able to withhold workers' pay purely because they cannot produce an authenticated timesheet; |
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agencies having to obtain information on any health and safety risks known to the hirer and the steps taken to prevent or control those risks; |
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limits on provisions that prevent temporary workers from taking up permanent jobs with hiring companies unless a fee (known as a 'temp to perm' fee') is first paid to the agency; and |
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provisions to allow limited company contractors, who are often highly paid and highly skilled, to opt out of being covered by the regulations but which prevent vulnerable workers being forced to do so.” |
For further information contact Judith Ellery or Paul Seath on (0117) 929 0451.