Agency Workers Regulations (AWR)

Agency Workers Regulations, the legislation, its purpose and how it effects you as a contractor

Andrew Fahey
Business Development Director

It is an interesting time in the contracting world with the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (the “AWR”), coming into force on 1st October 2011.

Over the last 10 years the contracting industry has been affected by some significant legislative changes and the introduction of the AWR is no exception.

As a leading provider of accountancy, tax advice and support services to freelance contractors, Brookson has a wealth of experience in the contracting world and a strong heritage of compliance.

Brookson is a strong advocate of compliance and stability within the temporary workforce and contractor marketplace and is fully committed to ensuring that things are done the correct way when it comes to you and the AWR.

Background to AWR

The AWR implements the European legislation on Agency Workers and came into force on 1st October 2011.

Since it was announced that the European legislation was to be implemented in the United Kingdom, there has been a lot of speculation as to how it would be brought into effect.

Indeed, since the AWR were agreed by parliament, there has been some discussion as to whether the coalition government would seek to undo the work of the previous Labour government in getting this law onto the statute books and perhaps relax some of the obligations on recruitment agencies and end clients. However, it was quickly confirmed by the coalition government that it had no power to amend the substance of the AWR as they were bound by the European legislation.

Much speculation surrounded the eagerly anticipated Guidance Notes which accompany the AWR and assist in their interpretation. Now that the final Guidance Notes have been released, our view is that they are helpful when considering the issue of pay and bonuses and are a useful starting point when first considering AWR. However, in our view the Guidance Notes have muddied the waters in terms of who is in and out of scope. As expected, the Guidance Notes do not make any significant changes to the interpretation of AWR.

The purpose of the AWR

The AWR has been introduced to protect 'vulnerable' workers by ensuring temporary agency workers are provided with equal treatment in terms of pay and other basic working and employment conditions as directly employed equivalent employees of the end client (referred to as “Hirers” in the AWR).