This article will be useful reading for all temporary workers, agency workers, employment businesses and employment agencies, especially those who are new to ‘agency’ working.
What is an agency worker?
Agency workers work through an agency which finds them jobs. The firm who's hiring the worker pays a fee to the agency, and the agency pays the worker's wages. The employer is the agency, not the firm.
Advantages of agency work
You can:
Use it as a stepping stone to the job you want;
Use it as a way if entering or re-entering the job market;
Use it to work more flexibly to help balance domestic responsibilities;
Move jobs easily and with little or no notice;
Try out different kinds of work.
Legislative protection
As an agency worker, you are covered by national minimum wage legislation, working time legislation and health and safety and social security provisions. The main advantage of agency work, or temp work (which can also be a disadvantage) is its flexibility, both for the firms who hire and the workers. Flexibility means that, just as agency workers have the flexibility to take up and leave jobs at short notice, employers also have the flexibility to finish temporary work without being liable for unfair dismissal or redundancy pay (subject to the terms in the contract of employment).
There are important differences in the amount of protection afforded between temporary agency workers, and those who are hired on fixed-term contracts. If you're an agency worker, your contract is with the agency, which must pay you even if the hiring company hasn't paid them. However, if you sign a fixed-term contract with the hiring company, the agency isn't responsible for paying you, and you have different rights. Make sure you know what kind of contract you're signing so that you're clear about your employment status.
Your rights as an agency worker
Agency workers are usually considered to be ‘workers’, not ‘employees’. Workers’ main rights are:
Paid holiday, rest breaks and limits on working time;
No unlawful deductions from wages;
The National Minimum Wage;
Not to be discriminated against under any of the equality legislation.
If you’re an agency worker, you have the right to Maternity or Paternity Pay, but not Maternity or Paternity Leave. You can get Statutory Sick Pay if you’ve worked for the same agency for more than three months.
Agency workers can sometimes be classed as ‘employees’. For example, if they’ve worked for the same firm for many years and have been treated in the same way as an employee by that firm.
There are special rules for agency workers on paying tax and National Insurance contributions.
Comparison with permanent staff doing the same work
Agency workers may not get the same perks as permanent employees and may not get the same holiday allowance. You should check your contract to see what you might be entitled to, or talk to your agency. Unless you can show that you're being unlawfully discriminated against there's probably not much you can do if you are getting fewer benefits.
Rules governing agencies
Agencies are subject to a number of regulations. They:
Can’t charge you a fee for being associated with them;
Can’t make you use fee-paying services (e.g. CV writing) as a requirement for finding you work;
Can’t stop you from taking a permanent job with a company where you temped, and there are limits on the fees they can charge the company (sometimes called 'temp to perm' fees);
Have to give you written terms and conditions;
Can’t stop you registering with other agencies.
Finally, if they're an 'employment business' - a temp agency - they must pay you, even if they haven't been paid by the firm you work for.
If by chance you find some error of law or fact in any Net Lawman information page, do please tell us. We should also welcome your suggestions for new subjects for information pages. These notes:
Do not provide a complete or authoritative statement of the law;
Do not constitute legal advice by Net Lawman;
Do not create a contractual relationship;
Do not form part of any other advice, whether paid or free.
