The Government is blowing hot and cold with the Agency Workers' Directive - a European Union initiative that aims to give agency workers some of the same rights as comparable permanent staff. Whenever the law comes into effect, you don’t need to worry if you book your relief staff with AWOL Recruitment. 

However, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation is urging delay. REC's September 2009 Report on Jobs showed that temporary and permanent placements are beginning to rise after nearly 18 months of decline.

REC Chief Executive Kevin Green says: 'The availability of a flexible labour force will be key for struggling businesses climbing out of a recession. Any early implementation of the directive could kill off these green shoots. REC will continue to lobby strongly on the delay of the implementation of this directive.’

What does the Directive say?

Under the Agency Workers Directive, agency workers will be entitled to equal pay compared with equivalent permanent workers after 12 weeks' work. However, this will not give them the same employment status as permanent employees.

RBS Mentor's Employment Law Update says that consultation has left some questions unanswered, including:

• With which comparable permanent employee can the agency worker compare him or herself to claim equality?
• Does 'equality' include shift, overtime and bonus payments or just basic pay?
• Could temporary workers employed directly by the employer be at a disadvantage as they will not have the same rights as agency workers to claim equality with permanent staff?

Mentor recommends actions to take, including an audit of your current use of agency staff.

In a discussion paper published in July 2009 the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) posed the question:  Who is responsible for protecting the rights of workers - the agency or the end-user?

Should you worry?

No!  At AWOL, we believe the buck stops with us and that it’s our responsibility to smooth the path through new employment law, whenever it is enacted.

You may be worried that you have to jump through more administrative hoops. But we promise you won't even notice when the law does change. In any case, fewer than half of agency workers take one position for 12 weeks.

Our relief chefs already enjoy enviable entitlements to sick pay and holiday allowance as permanent staff. This makes them happy and productive people to have around your kitchen. Call AWOL now on 015395 35777 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to find out why.