Another AWR expert reminds of contractors' rights

A second adviser to contractors’ recruitment agencies has moved to spell out their obligations under the AWR, implying awareness about the six-year-old framework is wanting.

Raffingers, a chartered tax firm, said in an update for staffing group APSCo that agency workers were still “very much unaware” of their rights under the 2011 regulations.

It follows guidance from Lawspeed, a legal adviser to agency body the Association of Recruitment Consultancies, to a contractor trying to secure equal treatment -- available from week 12 -- from week one.

Stipulated by the AWR’s Regulation 6, the entitlement to the same basic terms and conditions is a focus of the update by Raffingers, an adviser to the Association of Professional Staffing Companies.

“After the 12-week period,” the firm says, “workers are legally entitled to the same benefits as employees which are:

• The same wage as a permanent employee in that role
• Paid annual leave
• Auto enrolment
• Overtime and bonuses
• Rest breaks and rest periods
• Paid time for ante-natal reasons.”

The update then underlines the importance of recruiters ‘taking the lead’ (it is your responsibility as an agency to “let your candidates know their entitlements”).

It warns: “Individuals who meet the 12-week qualifying period, but are not compensated for the time worked, can go through a tribunal process where both the agency and the company will be responsible for remunerating the individual up to £5,000 and pay a penalty.”