The Agency Workers Regulations

What effect will failing to plan for the Agency Workers Regulations have on the Waste Industry?

The Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) is the most significant piece of legislation to have ever impacted the temporary recruitment industry. The new legislation has increased the rights of temporary workers, entitling them to the same treatment as permanent members of staff within the organisation, including the same pay, working hours and holiday. The regulations work on a twelve week qualifying period, meaning that a temporary worker must be in the same role with the same hirer for twelve weeks before they can qualify for equal treatment.

While there is a lot of information being published on the AWR, there is a lot of confusion about how to deal with the regulations, meaning that a startling number of businesses are completely unaware of what the changes mean for them. With the legislative changes now implemented, and around 1.3 million agency workers in the UK, businesses will be struggling to come to terms with their new obligations, and, without proper planning, may find themselves in hot water.

Good approach

The waste sector employs a large number of temporary workers, meaning that failure to develop a good approach to the regulations could have a detrimental effect on the industry. The industry requires its workers to be trained and skilled towards their specific role, ranging from refuse collectors, to specialist drivers and sort line pickers. Without a plan for the regulations, businesses will be forced to release temporary staff before they reach the end of their twelve week qualifying period, or risk incurring costs for either equalling their pay rate or failing to comply. This will have a huge impact of the level of training a temporary worker will have, significantly reducing the quality and productivity of a businesss operations.

In a materials recycling facility (MRF) for instance, training a worker to reach a quality sort line picker level normally takes six to eight weeks, meaning that by the time a picker obtains a good level of performance, the manager will have to let them go. A constant flow of untrained workers entering the MRF could result in the picking line being staffed with largely unskilled pickers who have limited experience on the job, posing a huge risk to health and safety and to the quality of the MRFs operations.

It is essential that businesses within the sector that use a temporary workforce have implemented a strategy that complies with them. Those businesses that have an understanding of the regulations are already thinking displaying a wide range of methods that encompass what the regulations are trying to achieve, while still retaining flexible labour as a viable labour solution.

Forming a strong and reliable relationship with a recruiter is one of the most valuable things a business can do while the implementation of the AWR is approaching. Admittedly, the recruitment industry is going to have to work harder, and in a different way than before in order to tackle the regulations, however, tackling it head on rather than looking for ways to dodge it is the best approach to take.

It is clear that the regulations are not an attempt to hamper businesses in their approach to flexible labour, but more an attempt to ensure better rights for temporary workers. Good practice and professional advice will ensure that the changes need not have a huge impact on operations within the sector, as long as they are thought through and planned for carefully.