First Q&A on Agency Workers Regulations guidance notes

First Q&A on Agency Workers Regulations guidance notes at forthcoming APSCo members meeting

March 31 2011

BIS to discuss AWR guidance notes at meeting

Recruiters will have their first opportunity to quiz the senior civil servants responsible for producing the guidance notes to the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) at a special meeting of the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) on March 31 2011. The meeting will be held at the headquarters of the British Medical Association in Central London.

Lisa Moses and Karen Wilshaw from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) will discuss the content of the guidance notes in detail and take questions from APSCo members.

APSCo has been working closely with BIS on the guidance notes since the publication of the AWR last year.

The members’ meeting will begin with an overview of the AWR and the process of developing the guidance notes by Samantha Hurley of Reviewpoint Consulting and Frances Lewis of Osborne Clarke, both of whom have been heavily involved in discussions with BIS.

Samantha Hurley designed the AWR toolkit for APSCo members, which was launched last month as a companion to the AWR guidance notes.

Ann Swain, Chief Executive of APSCo, comments: “The AWR is now firmly on end users’ radars and there is a growing thirst for information. This meeting will enable recruiters to take the education process significantly further.”

“The guidance notes for the AWR will be essential to helping recruiters and their clients comply with the Regulations. The notes have been in gestation for a long time and this meeting will be the first opportunity recruiters will have to put questions directly to the people responsible for drafting them.”

She adds: “Recruiters can add real value if they can demonstrate to their clients that they are ahead of the curve on the AWR. This meeting will provide the perfect opportunity for them to do just that.”

APSCo says that its AWR Toolkit, which will enable recruiters to make quick impact assessments, will sit alongside the guidance notes to ensure that the cost of complying with the Regulations is kept to a minimum.