New Millennia Group Plc in association with AuraPortal International are proud sponsors of the AWR Summit hosted by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) on Thursday 5th May 2011 held at the Vinopolis, 1 Bank End, London, SE1 9BU.

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 ("the regulations") will come into force in England, Scotland and Wales on 01st October 2011.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation REC is currently working with The Dept. of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to develop the guidance to the Regulations which should be released in April 2011.

The Northern Ireland AWR Regulations 2011 will be in place by 1st December 2011. The Dept. of Employment and Learning (DELNI) are currently consulting on the NI regulations (these are almost identical to the England, Scotland and Wales regulations) and will produce separate guidance later this year.

The Regulations stem from the EU Temporary Workers Directive 2008 which enables agency workers the same pay rights and other working conditions as a hirer's own worker. Ultimately, the agency worker's employment status is not altered (i.e. they do not make an agency worker an employee of either the hirer or the agency). In other parts of the EU, this right to equal treatment is in effect from day one of an assignment, the UK has secured a derogation period of 12 weeks. This then means that the agency worker will only be entitled to equal treatment once he/she has successfully completed 12 weeks service in the same role with the same hirer (there are two exceptions, relating to access to the client's facilities and information on vacancies at the client which apply from day one of an assignment).

The Regulations also give pregnant agency workers new rights.

The Regulations will not apply to workers who are genuinely self-employed but agencies will have to assess whether a worker falls into this category. The guidance will set out the relevant criteria to assist agencies.

For REC Members these regulations are the most important legislation to affect the recruitment industry since the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations came into force in 2003. It is imperative the members and their clients are ready for the Regulations. The REC Legal Team has created a suite of documents which members can use to prepare themselves and their clients for the Regulations. In addition, members can attend workshops between April and September 2011 or can request bespoke training for their consultants.

For non REC members please contact our Business Development Team at New Millennia Group Plc for more information. Or alternatively, please use the New Millennia contact enquiry form.