LRD guides and handbook May 2019

Law at Work 2019 - the trade union guide to employment law

Chapter 2

The Conduct of Employment Agencies Regulations





[ch 2: page 59]

The conduct of employment agencies is regulated by the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (CEAEBR), as amended most recently in 2016. 





Under the CEAEBR, with minor exceptions (principally performers, models and professional sportspeople), it is unlawful for an agency to charge a worker to find them work. The regulations also limit the right of agencies to charge fees where a temp placed by the agency is offered a permanent job with the employer. 



Under the CEAEBR, it is unlawful for an agency to withhold pay if a worker cannot produce a time sheet, or because the hirer has not yet paid the agency. 





The regulations require the agency, before the assignment, to provide written terms to its workers covering the following:


• confirmation as to whether the agency worker is an employee of the agency;





• pay — amount and method of calculation;





• holiday entitlement; and





• other terms of employment, including notice.





Key Facts page for agency workers 


The government’s Good Work Plan includes a commitment to change the law to require all employment businesses to give every agency worker a Key Facts page recording the type of contract, minimum rate of pay, how they are to be paid, whether pay is to be via an intermediary company, any deductions or fees and an estimate of what the deductions mean for their take-home pay. The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate will be responsible for enforcing the obligation to provide this Key Facts Page.