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Recruiters will be committing an offence if they offer temporary workers assignments bundled with services on condition they must use or pay for those services. Changes to official regulations also state that temps can now withdraw from any such agency services, like transport and accommodation, without detriment to their job or prospects. Workers who wish to opt-out must give their agency notice of ten working days in relation to living accommodation, and five working days for all other services. More protections are afforded by the agency worker’s right to no longer pay a fee if the agent reveals information about them verbally, or in writing, after the first seven days of the contract. However, if the recruitment agency receives information that suggests a candidate may be unsuitable for the role to which they were assigned, then the agent must inform the client. The onus on the agent to notify the client has been extended even further, according to Roger Sinclair, legal consultant at Egos Ltd, who explained the effect of the changes. For a worker’s opt-out from the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations to be valid, he said the agency must also tell the client that the worker has opted out. But to temper the administrative burden, agents are no longer legally bound to provide written or detailed information to workers if their assignments last less than 5 days. This is good for such interims. Whereas the agent need only confirm proof of the worker’s identity and willingness to work (in writing) the interim can get to work also armed with just the basics - the start date, the client's name, business and the likely duration of the job. “If you hire out temporary workers for assignments of five working days or less, you will still have to provide written notification, but less information will be required,” the government said. “This will apply if you have previously supplied the essential employment details to the work-seeker and they have remained unchanged.” The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the industry watchdog, has embraced the rule change to such interim assignments, which came into effect from April 6. Anne Fairweather, the REC’s head of public policy said they have “long argued that requirements to provide written notification on very short-term assignments made no sense. “Workers and clients often received the information after the assignment had taken place. The government has now seen sense and the new rules mean that assignments of less the five days will be less bureaucratic.” Reflecting on the amendments, which also include the right for workers to have information published about them withdrawn, the REC added: “The tightening up of this legislation is a step in the right direction. Now we need to see these rules enforced”. Apr 11, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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