MP says well done to us

We have been basking in the glory of some lovely comments following the announcement that we had received the gold industry standard from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC).

Our MP Stewart Jackson has added his congratulations in a personal letter sent on House of Commons stationery,

Mr Jackson said: “The honour pays tribute to your continued success, professionalism and dedication to recruitment. It is excellent to see such success for a Peterborough business.”

He finished off by saying: “I commend you on the admirable work of Anne Corder Recruitment and I look forward to future achievements. Once again many congratulations.”

We’re one of only around 50 agencies in the entire country to hold the accreditation and it’s one we work hard to achieve – it gives all our clients and suppliers the confidence we are providing the very best service. Having it recognised by others is rather satisfying too!

We used our visit to the House of Commons (to pick up our silver Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice) as an opportunity to lobby our Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson about the Agency Workers’ Directive - again.

We are heavily involved with our industry body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation to ensure the introduction of the new legislation – now due in October 2011 - is managed in the most efficient way possible for agencies, clients and workers.

We have been speaking to Mr Jackson on a regular basis, discussing our concerns about the legislation and the effect it may have on the economy and unemployment.
He has visited our offices - but this time we saw him on his own turf in the House of Commons.

He has previously told us he agreed the directive appeared ‘unworkable’ and he seems to agree with our belief that while the principle of protecting ‘vulnerable’ agency workers remains admirable the effect on all agency workers and those who use them could prove disastrous.

He listened to our thoughts and assured us it was something he would continue to take an interest in.

We look forward to seeing some direct action from him on this as the new session of Parliament progresses.

MP Stewart Jackson pledges support

We believe passionately in what we do and in providing the very best service to our clients and candidates.

That’s why we’ve taken a stand against the new Agency Workers Directive – well before it reached – and was passed in – Europe.

And we’re delighted to say that we have the full backing of our MP Stewart Jackson.
On the surface the directive is a positive step – offering temporary workers equal treatment to their permanent counterparts.
In reality it could prove the death knell for a range of temporary roles in companies, charities and groups across the region as they struggle to meet the estimated 20 per cent increase in the cost of using temporary workers and to cover the administratve burden.

Unfortunately, the legislation is now set to be introduced – despite the best efforts of us, our trade body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and other agencies like us – with just the date to be fixed.

We’re asking it be pushed back until the last possible moment – October 2011.
Mr Jackson agrees.

We invited him to our office to discuss the directive and to urge him to support us.
After listening to our arguments he agreed the directive appeared ‘unworkable’ and said ‘we need to keep the pressure on the Government’.
He hinted that if the Conservatives were to win the next election, he would push for the directive to be ‘killed off – or least watered down’.

We’d be delighted if that were to happen though we feel it’s probably more realistic to fight for delaying the introduction of the legislation.

We’ve asked Mr Jackson to be in Parliament on the day it’s discussed to fight our corner.
I’ll keep you posted on future developments.

ACR lobbying Government over VAT changes

We work with a number of charities in the Greater Peterborough area, placing temporary staff with them. Those temps are invaluable - providing charities with the type of short term help which ensures they can deliver the best service possible to those who depend on them.
That is now under threat.
On April 1 the Government is withdrawing a concession which has been in place for 12 years. During that time, a number of sectors including charities, various parts of the public sector including health, care and education and some financial organisations have been exempt from paying VAT on the wages of temporary staff. That’s set to change.
And the knock on effects could be enormous.
Charities relying on temporary staff may find it impossible to justify the extra cost and so cut the amount of temps they use. With less staff the work the organisations can do will be affected.
Of course, with less call for temps, those workers will find themselves out of a job, boosting the current unemployment figure which already stands at more than two million. We work closely with the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and they’re saying around 150,000 temporary jobs could be affected by the change.
With all this in mind, we’ve been talking to our Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson in an effort to persuade him to take up the fight. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that our lobbying has done any good on this occasion and the legislation is still set to be introduced next week.
We’re working hard with various charities to ensure the necessary strategies are in place to deal with the change in the law.
But ultimately we’re going to keep talking to the right people in the hope the decision will be reversed.
If you want to further information please refer to our legal zone or contact us to get involved.