Governments final guidance on AWR now published

In the run up to the publication of the final guidance on AWR all of the industry’s member bodies have made vigorous representations to BIS, covering such issues as the ‘Swedish Derogation’, indemnity clauses and temporary worker banks in the public sector.

On Friday 6 May, after months of to-ing and fro-ing, the Government published its final guidance to help employers and the recruitment sector prepare for the introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations in October 2011.

But while the final detail of the new legislation has now been worked out, what hasn’t changed is the perception from some recruiters that they don’t need to worry about AWR until it’s implemented on 1st October. From both a funding and business perspective, this is simply wrong. The deadline for actively implementing AWR compliance is fast running out and lenders may well look to revise or restrict funding if there isn’t evidence of this compliance.

It certainly isn’t enough in my opinion to take as read second or third hand comments - by engaging with a lawyer formally you should then be able to rely on the added protection from their Professional Indemnity cover for the advice given.

I have heard many comments suggesting that where recruiters supply temporary workers to a recruitment intermediary – an RPO or second tier supplier – any liability through AWR should rest with that final link in the supply chain, i.e. the recruitment agency/RPO. Equally, others are saying that where the temporary worker is provided by an umbrella company, full liability under AWR should remain with the umbrella organisation.

Regardless of whichever of these is actually the case, our understanding at the Recruitment Finance Division is that all parties in the supply chain may very well be jointly liable under AWR and therefore should seek appropriate advice to protect against it. Ignorance will not be a viable defence!

I urge all recruiters to take professional advice on this issue; we’re working with our legal partners to organise events in May and June, attended by BIS, where they will explain the official guidance and we will report back on this in the next issue of Review.