AWR – so what do we really know?
February 11, 2011 in AWR, Contractor News, Freelancing, Industry comment, Recruiter News
We at Parasol have been running an Agency Workers Regulations website for some time now and like to think we are reasonably close to developments. We work with over 2000 recruitment businesses so hear a lot about what is concerning staffing businesses big and small. We are also a founder member of the FCSA trade association whom are involved in the DBIS guidance workshops alongside the REC, CBI, TUC, APSCo and others. I’m not saying we are on the “inside”, no one is but I do like to think we are very close to the subject matter and can therefore provide a decent balanced view.
So, what do we know?
- Guidance will not be a silver bullet and is not law, the regulations are.
- Guidance will make things clearer though.
- The complexity of the UK flexible workforce industry is not recognised in the regulations, all temporary workers in all guises are basically vulnerable.
- There is definitely not one size fits all solution.
- It is an opportunity for recruiters to show added value to end-clients.
- Contractors/freelancers are largely unaware of implications.
- There are risk management and operational framework techniques available.
- It’s not the end of the world.
- A properly constituted employment services provider (umbrella as was) is already 8/10ths of the way to AWR compliance now.
- Shameless plug – Parasol are experts in the field of temp workforce management.
So what can Agencies expect to need to do and resolve with clients? Well, dialogue is important and bringing people up to speed. This is not on the basis of fear, it’s on the basis of understanding where an end-client sees the temporary workforce going for them. At worse case, the staffing business is going to need to collect some data about rates of pay from that end-client and in turn be prepared to pass that data on to providers that will largely mitigate the risks for the agency and the end-client. In addition, there may need to be conversations around margin, rates and tenure but is that really such a bad thing?
And what about swedish derogation I hear you cry as you unpack your meatballs and sofa. Well, there is certainly the basis of a compliant (I hate the word “outside”) AWR model and again I will make the point that the model is very close to what a professional provider (Parasol) does today. Adding the extra componets is not trivial but equally with a long term view, achievable.
Let’s not forget that the courts will be the judge of this new world and as we have seen in Germany (Union class cases) the need for a staffing business to engage with a professional provider is paramount.
Our AWR site has of course more details and do get in touch via this site or one of the others if you have any specific questions you would like answering. See you at an AWR seminar soon, we will be the ones with solutions, not gloom
by Rob Crossland
Stock up with tinned peaches and powdered eggs!
September 29, 2011 in AWR, Contractor News, Freelancing, Industry comment, Life, Recruiter News
It’s almost the 1st October and the end of the world is nigh! I have already sent the wife down to Morrisons to clear the shelves of tinned peaches and soup.
For those of you who have been blissfully unaware (e.g. not in recruitment or in the service industry that supports it) then 1st October sees the formal start of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) (and you can go here if you need the basics). In very simple terms it means a clock has started ticking, not as some might think, as precursor to doomsday but to the 12 weeks hence (24th of December!) where a vulnerable agency worker can potentially receive equal pay and conditions of a full time counterpart (if one exists). I may sound a bit cynical but the amount of work that has gone into preparing for this has been quite substantial and for the vast majority of Parasol and Clearsky users it won’t make any difference, it will be business as usual. As a very sensible and safe business we were already doing 90% of what the regulations require so most of our work has been in trying to educate and inform in a market which has very interesting views.
So the boring message is that it’s very much carry on as normal at Parasol House and Clearsky towers. We have shiny new payslips for Parasol employees and some changes in terminology but for contractors it won’t be much different. For Agencies, it’s just as dull, were open for business, a model of operation for all those interesting views and primarily a nil cost, no hassle approach to the legislation.
I suspect I will have to write some more as the dust settles in October and the first potential claims emerge (probably in Union backed environments) after December but in the meantime I shall put the peaches in the garage next to the peas that we bought in December 1999.
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