Representatives from a range of businesses across Newcastle including Greggs, Allied Bakeries and the Shared Interest Society attended the two-hour breakfast meeting to hear about changes to the
Agency Worker Directive (AWD), which come into force in October.
Thus, a triangular relationship between the client (borrower), the temporary work agency (lender) and the temporary
agency worker is established (Purcell et al 2004).
Although commendable, the AWR is not suitable for all types of
agency worker and in the majority of instances, it will not have much impact on
agency workers as in most instances equal treatment is already present.
Introduced just before the 2010 General Election as the result of a deal between the Labour government and trade unions, the
Agency Worker Regulations came into force in October.
TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "The recent
agency worker regulations have improved working conditions for many
agency workers without causing job losses.
Q What is the legal status of an
agency worker? A The vast majority of people working through an employment agency will not have the legal status of being employees.
The regulations follow a simple concept - if an
agency worker is in an assignment for more than 12 weeks, they will be entitled to equal treatment in relation to pay and basic working conditions as they would have had if they were employed directly by the company.
If you are a pregnant
agency worker on an assignment, after completing the 12 week qualifying period you will be allowed paid time off to attend: antenatal medical appointments; antenatal classes.
It applies to individuals who are an
agency worker, hirers of
agency workers and organisations supplying
agency workers.
The
Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) comes into force in October and gives
agency workers the same rights as their permanent colleagues after 12 weeks in employment.
THE implementation date for the
Agency Worker Regulations will soon be upon us and the Government has now issued guidance on how they will work in practice.
Lindsay Judge, senior policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: "Demand for
agency workers grew significantly over the last five years - particularly among firms who use them as a core part of their business model and have become
agency worker reliant.