Agency Workers Regulations: reassurance from REC

An early start for us all – but what a worthwhile one!

We welcomed Tom Hadley, Director of External Relations at the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, to talk to around 80 HR professionals from Peterborough businesses about the Agency Workers Regulations in October 2011.

The breakfast seminar was held in conjunction with Hegarty LLP solicitors with their employment law expert Martin Bloom giving a comprehensive overview of where companies are going to stand legally.

Tom then talked through the history of the introduction of the regulations right through to the lobbying that the REC did in the run up to the election.

After a spell of inactivity during the election campaign, the new coalition Government is now engaged in pinpointing the finer details of the regulations – and Tom and the REC are involved in those discussions.

Tom was keen to emphasise the reality of the new legislation. “Employers must remember that fundamentally a lot of things are going to remain the same. You can take on temporary workers when you need them and get rid of them when you want to.
“We are also pleased that about 70 per cent of what we have pushed for has been accepted as part of the regulations.”

We were pleased to hear Tom highlight the part agencies like ours will play over the coming months. It was also reassuring to hear him say that he felt the temporary market wouldn’t suffer despite the introduction of the regulations – one of the biggest industry fears.