The Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) reports that its first campaign since launch in March 2009 has so far been successful.
Adrian Marlowe, chair of ARC said “the campaign we waged from June onwards to get the government to acknowledge the limitations set in the Agency Workers Directive and the dangers of an over implementation in the UK has produced significant results. The new draft legislation not only reflects the specific limitations set out in the Directive which the first consultation threatened to ignore, meaning that the plan to gold plate that we had urged all to warn about has been abandoned, but also, as everyone now knows, implementation is to be delayed. Further the government has extended the 2nd consultation beyond the original planned 1 month, reflecting the concern we had expressed strongly to government that a short 2nd consultation would be unfair. These are key wins for the industry.”
Adrian went on to say “However, the fact of the delay graphically demonstrates the government’s own recognition of the damage the legislation will have to job creation and the economy in the future, and it is certainly not now all a bed of roses. We must still ensure that the legislation does not over egg the pudding. Pay has not been limited to basic pay nor have all self employed or limited company contractors been specifically excluded. Whilst blanket exclusion could not reasonably have been achieved, given the potential for avoidance that such a measure would have introduced, we still await the promised government guidance that apparently is to provide some clarification. Although the new consultation is longer, it is still not as long as we had hoped for given the complexity of the issues”
ARC believes more work must be done also in additional areas. Adrian said “For example, the rules relating to agency workers who are mothers in our view encourage discrimination, rather than protect against it, and lump costs onto agencies unfairly. This has the effect of limiting flexibility for all and jeopardising work opportunities. The new cap on transfer fees presents a legal nightmare for those seeking to recover temp to temp and temp to perm fees. Once again, as with the gold plating issue, these are areas that have received no publicity, yet they require a full focus. This is absolutely no time for resting on laurels.”
For further information please contact Adrian Marlowe on 01273 236 236
