According to research by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) are not to blame for the reduction in the use of temporary staff since the AWR came into force this time last year.
In fact, only 14 percent of the employers polled by the REC said that they had reduced their use of agency workers because of the AWR introduction, although 28 percent said that they had cut back on the use of temporary staff.
The main reason for this, however, was because of economic uncertainty, with 58 percent citing the wider economic climate for their decisions on staffing. The latest data from the REC shows that there has been something of a turnaround lately, with the outlook for agency workers brightening up.
However, the REC’s research does not tally with findings from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which found that more than 50 percent of the employers it surveyed had reduced their use of temps as a result of the AWR and that 8 per cent had stopped using agency staff altogether.
The CBI went so far as to say that the Regulations have cost businesses more than £1.5bn in their first year and has called on the Government to simplify the rules surrounding the 12-week qualifying period and streamline what they call the “highly complex” definition of pay under the AWR in a planned review next year.
While the REC has warned the Government that its review must be thorough, as, if not, it could lead to businesses having their time and energy wasted on a partial review that could interfere with the work of agencies and dampen the temporary labour market.