Agency Workers Regulations

What are the Agency Workers Regulations?

Put into place on the 1st of October 2011, AWR is a legislation that protects temporary workers who are employed through recruitment agencies and ensures that they are treated fairly and in the same way as any other permanent employee.

These types of workers include those who are supplied by temporary work agencies and those who are supplied by intermediaries, such as umbrella company contractors.

It does not include limited company contractors.

It gives agency workers more rights and prevents employers from taking advantage of these workers, such as paying them less than the minimum wage.

What rights do agency workers have under AWR?

AWR means that temporary workers are treated equally to permanent employees.

This means that after 12 weeks in a job, they:

• have full protection against any discriminative behaviour in the workplace
• are paid at least the National Minimum Wage (NMW)
• are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of annual leave
• have the same access to amenities as permanent staff, such as parking, recreational areas and a canteen

You start counting your 12-week qualifying period from day one on a job and this will pause for sick leave or breaks.

It’s worth noting that some benefits are not covered by AWR.

These include:

• Sick pay
• Maternity/paternity pay
• Salary advances
• Pension schemes
• Bonus schemes
• Company car
• Redundancy payments

Can an employer opt out of AWR?

Absolutely not! This is legislation put in place for the protection of workers, so all employers must adhere to these rules.

An employer might try to manipulate the AWR rules by rotating agency workers or assignments to stop them from reaching their 12-week qualifying period.

They will be fined up to £5,000 for doing this.

We hope you have found this page useful. If you have any further questions, our team of experts are available to answer any queries, so give us a call on 01206 591 000 or email jaime.thorpe@contractorumbrella.com.