Political Row Brewing Over the Agency Workers Regulations

 

If you have already read our whitepaper on the Agency Workers Regulation you will be aware of the costly and complicated minefield awaiting you when the Regulations become law on 1st October.

According to reports in the Daily Telegraph the Prime Minister secretly shares the frustrations of employers regarding this massive piece of legislation. He has gone behind the back of Vince Cable's department and commissioned legal advice from Martin Howe, QC. The Prime Minister is now apparently considering 3 options:

  1. Simply refusing to implement the Agency Workers Regulations. The Daily Telegraph describes this as the "Armageddon tactic". It could result in a multi million pound EU fine for the Government.
  2. To seek to water down and delay the implementation of the Regulations. Martin Howe has advised that Mr Cable's department have unnecessarily "gold plated" the Regulations in a number of respects.
  3. To seek to introduce new legislation in Parliament that would overrule the EU Directive on Agency Workers.

The Daily Telegraph reports a ground swell of opinion in Parliament against the Agency Worker Regulations. There is widespread recognition that the Regulations are going to be very expensive and complicated to implement for businesses. It has been estimated by the Department for Business that the Regulations will cost firms more than £1.8billion per year by giving more than one million workers the right to holidays, pay and other perks that they do not currently receive. The estimate is that a typical small business will have to pay an extra £2,493 per year. This will increase to £73,188 per year for large firms. There is a concern that this additional expense could help derail the UK's fragile economic recovery.

Daily Telegraph columnist, Benedict Brogan, comments that as No. 10 is looking for a "way out of the EU straitjacket" and "this is going to be one of the big issues of the Autumn".

Until further notice, the Agency Worker Regulations are set to become law on the 1st October 2011.

For more information on the above or for advice on any other employment issue please contact our employment department on 020 7354 3000 or e-mail employment@colmancoyle.com

Author Profile: David Malamatenios
Date published: 12/09/2011