Automated Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) Solutions
The Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) came into force in October 2011 to protect the working and employment conditions of contractors, freelancers and temporary workers. The aim of the regulations is to ensure agency workers are treated fairly by the end clients, and receive the same pay, conditions and rights as the client’s employees. There are certain rights agency workers are entitled to from day one of a new assignment, and other rights they benefit from on completion of a 12-week qualifying period.
What are the rights of a UK agency worker?
From day 1:
From the first day of a new assignment, the end client is responsible for ensuring agency workers have access to facilities, such as parking, childcare and a canteen, as well as information regarding any relevant permanent vacancies.
After a 12-week qualifying period:
Any agency worker in the UK is entitled to the same basic pay and employment conditions as they would receive if they had been hired by the end client to do the same job. This includes:
- Equal pay – holiday pay, commission and bonuses etc.
- Equal working time – rest breaks, rest periods, night work and annual leave
How does Primo Payroll help you comply?
Compliance with any employment regulation brings an inevitable deluge of administrative tasks, but thankfully, Primo Payroll is on hand to help.
Tracking the 12-week qualifying period for agency workers is the most complex and time consuming part of compliance. Problems are often caused by the fact that the 12-week period does not have to be continuous, and any break in work can cause counters to reset or continue without taking account of the break.
To add to this complexity, the reason for the break must be taken into account. The 12-week qualification period must also be tracked for each placement separately, leaving you with an administrative headache.
Primo Payroll makes tracking the 12-week qualifying period easy. You can record the reason for a break in employment quickly and easily, and the software then tracks the period on your behalf. Once the 12-weeks are complete, the client specific holidays and pay rates are then automatically applied. Individual diaries are maintained for each contractor and automated reports are produced to help you set up new pay rates if necessary.
The 12-week qualifying period pauses, resets or continues as follows:
Get in touch
Try Primo Payroll for yourself or contact our friendly support team today to learn more about how our automated AWR software can help you.