Guidance notes on the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency
Work) Act 2012 (the "Act") were
published by the Department of Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation on
31 August 2012.
The notes are intended to assist agency workers, hirers of agency
workers and employment agencies to better understand the provisions
of the Act, which give agency workers an entitlement to the same
treatment as comparable employees with respect to basic employment
and working conditions (subject to some limitations), had they been
employed by the hirer under a contract at the same time.
Broadly, the guidance notes clarify the entitlements conferred by
the 2012 Act and the obligations and responsibilities for the
parties involved, and, in particular, confirm:
- to whom the Act does not apply (including independent contractors, placement services and managed service contracts);
- what is included in the definition of pay;
- what constitutes collective facilities in the workplace, and the grounds on which a hirer has objective justification to deny an agency worker access to such facilities.
The notes also confirm that the pay provisions of the Act are
retrospective, which means that agency workers who were on
assignment on 5 December 2011, are entitled to equal treatment in
relation to pay as and from that 5 December date. For those
agency workers who commenced employment after 5 December, the
provisions relating to pay take effect from the date of their
assignment.
In the main, the notes merely repeat the statutory provisions, and
fail to give practical examples, unlike their UK equivalent, the
Agency Workers Regulations Guidance Notes, which are far more
comprehensive and useful in terms of acting as a practical guide to
the interpretation of the legislation in the UK.
To access the guidance notes, please click here.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
