Following the announcement of the adoption of the EU directive on agency workers

Following the announcement of the adoption of the EU directive on agency workers please find below comments from Anthony Sakrouge, Head of Employment practice at Russell-Cooke Solicitors.

“The EU Directive that necessitated implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations was published in late 2008.  In fact, the first government consultation period closed as long ago as 31 July 2009.  Given this long lead in period, many employers who may or will be affected by these Regulations will have already taken steps to prepare.  

Employers who want to continue using temporary workers for more than 12 weeks at a time alongside employees performing similar roles (and this may be a surprisingly small number within the private sector), should pay particular attention to the anti-avoidance provisions in the Regulations. These provisions are intended to address a situation where a pattern of assignments is designed to deliberately deprive an agency worker of their entitlements.”