Recruiters will be committing an offence if they offer temporary
workers assignments bundled with services on condition they must use or
pay for those services.
Changes to official regulations also state that temps can now withdraw
from any such agency services, like transport and accommodation,
without detriment to their job or prospects.
Workers who wish to opt-out must give their agency notice of ten
working days in relation to living accommodation, and five working days
for all other services.
More protections are afforded by the agency worker’s right to no longer
pay a fee if the agent reveals information about them verbally, or in
writing, after the first seven days of the contract.
However, if the recruitment agency receives information that suggests a
candidate may be unsuitable for the role to which they were assigned,
then the agent must inform the client.
The onus on the agent to notify the client has been extended even
further, according to Roger Sinclair, legal consultant at Egos Ltd, who
explained the effect of the changes.
For a worker’s opt-out from the Conduct of Employment Agencies and
Employment Business Regulations to be valid, he said the agency must
also tell the client that the worker has opted out.
But to temper the administrative burden, agents are no longer legally
bound to provide written or detailed information to workers if their
assignments last less than 5 days.
This is good for such freelance interims. Whereas the agent need only
confirm proof of the worker’s identity and willingness to work (in
writing) the interim can get to work also armed with just the basics -
the start date, the client's name, business and the likely duration of
the job.
“If you hire out temporary workers for assignments of five working days
or less, you will still have to provide written notification, but less
information will be required,” the government said.
“This will apply if you have previously supplied the essential
employment details to the work-seeker and they have remained unchanged.”
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation, the industry watchdog,
has embraced the rule change to such interim assignments, which came
into effect from April 6, 2008.
Anne Fairweather, the REC’s head of public policy said they have “long
argued that requirements to provide written notification on very
short-term assignments made no sense.
“Workers and clients often received the information after the
assignment had taken place. The government has now seen sense and the
new rules mean that assignments of less the five days will be less
bureaucratic.”
Reflecting on the amendments, which also include the right for workers
to have information published about them withdrawn, the REC added: “The
tightening up of this legislation is a step in the right direction. Now
we need to see these rules enforced”.
Apr 15, 2008
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