AWR having 'little impact' on contracting

The professional end of the temporary labour market is not being disturbed by the Agency Workers Regulations, with only a “limited” impact so far, says a body of recruiters.

Following talks on the AWR with interim hirers, and its own members, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation reported “little or no” effect on professional contracting.

What Tom Hadley, a director at REC, called “encouraging” news was not presented as an excuse for agents to stop making clients aware of the regulations, however.

In fact, a number of end-users still have  “misconceptions” about what the AWR means and does not mean, both for their organisation and for temps on the job longer than 12 weeks.

Still, industry has developed a way to keep highly skilled temporary workers on the books at a single agency, rather than making them go through a number of providers.

In referring to the solution, known as the Swedish Derogation model, the REC says it is being seen as a “positive” response to the AWR, and cited its use in the IT sector.

In the coming months, client misconceptions need to be addressed and the general situation monitored though. The group believes it can’t “take for granted” contract recruiters’ reports of little or no impact from the October 1^st rules.