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Exemptions from "Agency workers regulations 2011"??


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I have been employed via an agency for the past 12 months. Recently i was made aware of the "Agency workers regulations act 2011" by a friend who is a union rep. According to him, after 12 weeks of continuous employment on the same assignment, i should be entitled to parity with the wages of company employees etc, as it stands, i am still only receiving minimum wage, whereas others in equivalent positions are receiving £2.50 per hour more for doing the same work. I contacted my agency to query this, and was told that they were, and i quote, "exempt from this legal ruling", but they were unwilling to clarify exactly what this exemption means. Following the advice i received from both ACAS and my friend, i wrote to them and requested my parity to be backdated from the time when i had been there continuously for 12 weeks, and if they were not able to grant this request due to exemption, then for them to explain what their exemption is. I have yet to receive an answer, either in writing or via telephone/email etc. I have searched online for a list of "exemptions", but have yet to find any, so can someone tell me what they are, or if the agency im working for are trying to decieve me. also, i should point out there is another worker there who has been working there continuously for 3 years and who is also interested in this, as he would be owed quite a substantial amount of money in back pay.

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A decent starting point is your contract with the agency. Do you get pay between assignments, according to that contract? That is the surest sign you are derogated out.

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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A decent starting point is your contract with the agency. Do you get pay between assignments, according to that contract? That is the surest sign you are derogated out.

 

no, i do not receive any pay when not working, and i have never received any kind of contract of employment. The only thing i have signed was a document confirming my bank details, which also incidentally stated my rate of pay would be £6.50 p/h for the first 4 weeks, rising to £8.50 p/h thereafter, as of today, i am only being paid £6.31 per hour.

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Ok, so that sounds like you have a case.

 

I do think you need to push for a contract of employment, this would help you a great deal!

 

If there are 2 of you, I might be inclined to get one solicitor to act for you both. It may be that a letter from a solicitor will be enough and you won't actually have to go to court.

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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Ok, so that sounds like you have a case.

 

I do think you need to push for a contract of employment, this would help you a great deal!

 

If there are 2 of you, I might be inclined to get one solicitor to act for you both. It may be that a letter from a solicitor will be enough and you won't actually have to go to court.

 

so, what "exemptions" are they trying to cite here?, or are they just trying it on?

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I've no idea - I'd say imaginary ones! They really need to give you more specific information.

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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According to him, after 12 weeks of continuous employment on the same assignment, i should be entitled to parity with the wages of company employees etc, as it stands, i am still only receiving minimum wage, whereas others in equivalent positions are receiving £2.50 per hour more for doing the same work.

 

I think there's a misunderstanding here:

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1873

 

 

  • The Agency workers directive gives equal treatment to those who have been with the hirer for 12 continuous weeks in a given job.
  • To establish the rights in the regulations the agency worker needs to be able to identify a comparator.

Agency workers are classed as "workers" rather than as employees. All workers, including agency workers, are entitled to certain rights which include:

 

  • paid annual leave
  • rest breaks and limits on working time
  • the National Minimum Wage
  • no unlawful deductions from wages
  • discrimination rights under the Equality Act 2010
  • health and safety at work.

The Agency workers regulations give agency workers the entitlement to the same or no less favourable treatment as comparable employees with respect to basic employment and working conditions, if and when they complete a qualifying period of 12 weeks in a particular job.

 

It doesn't talk about equal pay but equal treatment.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for Poundland"

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san_d, if you click the next page from that link you get

 

After a 12-week qualifying period, an agency worker will be entitled to the same basic conditions of employment as if they had been directly employed by the hirer on day one of the assignment, specifically:

 

  • pay - including any fee, bonus, commission, or holiday pay relating to the assignment. It does not include redundancy pay, contractual sick pay, and maternity, paternity or adoption pay
  • working time rights - for example, including any annual leave above what is required by law.

They do make it hard to find though!

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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I don't think that should be interpreted as the agency worker getting the same pay as the permanent. I am a temp in an office and each permanent worker has a different wage. How would you implement that? It wouldn't make economic sense to the employer to shell out more money because of the agency's cut.

 

The EU rules about temps say that after 12 weeks the company must hire the temp worker but the UK has opted out of this clause.

 

I think there's a grey area here but this would be the first time I see this happen.

"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for Poundland"

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you do need a comparator and that can be the lowest paid person in the job, yes

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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you do need a comparator and that can be the lowest paid person in the job, yes

 

Well, this is the comparitor i have, who works at the same depot:-

Job title:- booking clerk/administrator Rate of pay - £8.50 p/h (time and a half for overtime or weekends, triple time for nights) Working hours - 3 shift system (6-2/2-10/10-6), however this person mostly works 8-4 mon-fri, and is always given at least 2 days notice of any overtime, and is allowed to refuse. Holidays - 28 per year plus stat holidays other benefits - company uniform, company pension, expenses Time worked at company - 18 months
This is my situation:-
Job title - Booking clerk/administrator Rate of pay - £6.31 p/h (no overtime, weekend or night rate, any work i do is minimum wage only) Working hours - 3 shift system, although quite often required to do overtime at little to no notice (the company currently owes me for 20 hours overtime for which the agency say they will not pay me for due to the "assignment" not covering overtime) Holidays - stat holidays only, unpaid, other holidays accrued at a rate of 1 day per week worked after the first 6 months (again, holidays are unpaid). Other benefits - none. Time worked at company 12 months.
As i said in one of my earlier posts, one of the other guys who works at the depot for the same agency has worked there for the past 3 years, and has been on permanent nights the entire time, he has had written assurances of pay rises/promises of night rate pay on several occasions, however they have always failed to materialise. Edited by godpikachu
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I think we've already agreed with you that this is unfair. Now you need to push for the exact reason they think you are exempt and come back with an answer please :) Then we can advise further.

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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I think we've already agreed with you that this is unfair. Now you need to push for the exact reason they think you are exempt and come back with an answer please :) Then we can advise further.

 

well, i did speak to them yesterday morning and again they just said that they were "exempt". I asked them to state exactly why they believed they were exempt and to put said reasons in writing, and was told they would get back to me. as yet, nothing. the woman i spoke to sounded unsure and rather taken aback when i asked for this, almost as if she was just supplying a "stock" answer that usually works whenever the subject comes up.

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If that doesn't resolve it probably next stop court. That is always a gamble as I'd expect you to lose your job so it depends on how your local employment market is.

Never assume anyone on the internet is who they say they are. Only rely on advice from insured professionals you have paid for!

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Ok, so theye gotten back to me today, although by telephone, i did ask for their reasons to be put in writing (either by letter or email) but this request has been refused (says a lot dont it?) anyways, the reason they have given is thus:-

"The exemption is due to this being a national contract. Admins such as yourself are paid the same rate and are employed under the same conditions no matter where in the country they are employed"
This would be fine, were it not for the fact that employees who work direct for the company in the same job ARE paid a higher rate of pay and receive better benefits when on a company contract as opposed to an agency one. I suppose i had best start looking for someone to give me proper legal advice eh?
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