Agency workers to get same rights

Agency workers will enjoy the same basic conditions as directly employed staff from this October.

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010, which come into effect on October 1, will have "very significant implications for our sector", according to HVCA head of employment affairs Peter Rimmer.

Following a 12-week qualifying period, agency staff will enjoy the same working and employment conditions they would enjoy if directly employed by the hirer, so the HVCA and the Building Services Engineering Employment Agency Alliance have jointly produced a practical guide 'Hiring Agency Workers' that explains the detail of the regulations for contractors and employment businesses.

Max White of 1st Step Solutions (left) and Pete Curtis of Briggs and Forrester, members of the Hiring Agency Workers drafting group, with the results of their labours.

“In particular, the regulations will impose additional responsibilities on both the hirer of labour and the agency providing that labour to share relevant workforce information, and to reflect this obligation in the terms and conditions enjoyed by individual workers and inthe contractual arrangement between the agency and the hirer,” explained Mr Rimmer.

Key elements
He added that Agency Alliance members were being encouraged to use the guidance in explaining to their clients the key elements of the regulations.

The Hiring Agency Workers document was launched at the third annual general meeting of the Agency Alliance.

In introducing the event, independent chairman Lord O’Neill of Clackmannan confirmed that, during the past 12 months,the Agency Alliance “had been able to deliver on its promises in a number of key areas”.

Commitment
Real progress had been made towards the “key commitment” that will oblige Agency Alliance members to make a “tangible contribution” to the training efforts of the sector, he said.

It was also worth noting, said Lord O’Neill, that these achievements had been brought about via strategic working relationships which the Agency Alliance had developed, maintained and enhanced with other organisations across the sector.

“The status of the Building Services Engineering Employment Agency Alliance has been considerably enhanced, and it is playing a valuable and central role in representing the interests of the sector as a whole," said Lord O’Neill.

Copies of the Hiring Agency Workers guidance document are available free to HVCA and Agency Alliance members from HVCA Publications on 01768 860405 (hvcapublications@welpan.co.uk).