Member Article

The final guidance makes the provisions and requirements in relation to pay between assignments clearer especially in relation to annual leave.  There has also been a minor change to remove one-off non-contractual bonus payments from the definition of pay.  Guidance for agency supply teachers has been removed and this will be the subject of a separate guidance to be published shortly.  Other than that there have been no changes of substance since the guidance was published in draft form. 

The aim of the guidance is to clarify and support the Agency Workers Regulations which come in to force on 1 October 2011 and will give agency workers the right to the same basic working employment conditions as a comparable direct recruit of the end user after 12 weeks on assignment.  The Guidance provides information on who will fall within the scope of the Regulations and contains specific examples that demonstrate how the Agency Workers Regulations will work in practice.  A key message is that a common sense approach should be taken.  It is, however, important to remember the guidance is not a statement of the law and it will be for the courts to determine how the regulations should be interpreted.