Draft AWR remains unclear, may affect contractors

The Agency Workers Regulations, although only intended to protect temporary workers from unfair treatment, may end up affecting contractors as well.

The draft document, released on Friday, lays out in its scope that contractors may be covered if they are hired through a Temporary Work Agency (TWA). The specifics of the contract with their hirer will determine their employment status and therefore their rights from that point forward.

“The key elements required for someone to be an agency worker are:

• there is a contract (an employment contract or an agreement to provide services personally) between the worker and a TWA;
• that worker is temporarily supplied to a hirer by the TWA; and
• when working on assignment the worker is subject to the supervision and direction of that hirer.

AND

• the individual in question is not in a business on their own account.”

Draft Agency Workers Regulations Guidance

“Simply putting earnings through a limited company would not in itself put individuals beyond the possible scope of the Regulations. Individuals may choose to do this for the sake of flexibility or for tax reasons. However, where the relationship between the individual, TWA and hirer remains, in essence, a tripartite relationship, and a hirer is not a client or customer of such individuals, they are likely to be in scope.”

The conclusions we can draw from this is if you work through an agency and are not directly hired by a company you may be entitled to equal treatment after twelve weeks of employment. It all depends on whether you are under the supervision and direction of the hirer or they are a client or customer of yours.

Source: http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/employment-matters/strategies/awd