Agency worker meaning

This Checklist sets out: the entitlements an agency worker will enjoy under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, SI 2010/93 (AWR 2010) (see: Rights under AWR 2010 below) the entitlements an agency worker may possess under other relevant legislation (see: Rights under other legislation below), and the specific exclusions that apply (see: Exclusions below) An agency worker could also potentially hold rights as an employee or as a worker, provided they fully satisfy the requirements of the relevant definition...

Although ministers insist the bill is “firmly pro-business and pro-worker”, the latest changes have yielded a final version that further ramps up the financial pressures on employers under the Labour government. Sanctions for employers who breach collective redundancy procedures will be doubled, and the Central Arbitration Committee will gain the power to levy fines on businesses that obstruct union access to the workplace. Statutory sick pay will apply to every single worker from the first day of illness, yet there is no indication of a revival of the rebate scheme the government once ran for small and medium-sized businesses and firms. A reduced payment is also presently available to individuals earning below the 2024 threshold of £116.75 per week. MPs are also expected to insert a right to a fortnight of bereavement leave for parents following a miscarriage when the ERB reaches its third reading in the House of Commons next week. On 5 March 2025, Dan Pollard, a partner at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, described the amendments as “brilliant...

Exchequer Solutions Ltd v HMRC [2024] UKUT 25 (TCC) Exchequer Solutions Ltd (ESL), an umbrella company active in the construction sector, entered into agreements with employment agencies to provide workers to clients, taking on the status of employer. Typically, a worker first approached an employment agency, which then secured a role with a construction firm. The agency would pass the worker to ESL, or to another party on an approved supplier list. ESL would then be the employer for the duration of the assignment. Many of ESL’s staff undertook short-term assignments before moving on to a new site. Workers were engaged by ESL under an overarching contract of employment, an arrangement intended to ensure each location counted as a temporary workplace. Treating each site as temporary meant that travel between home and work qualified as an allowable expense of employment, and would not be excluded as ordinary commuting under ITEPA 2003, s 338(2)...

In this issue: Commercial Competition and state aid Data protection and cybersecurity Financial services Energy Environment IP Life sciences TMT International trade Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Trackers and horizon scanners Commercial European Parliament IMCO invites Temu to discuss unsafe and illegal product sales The European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) has asked a Temu delegate to join a discussion on 16 April 2026, reflecting intensified scrutiny of leading online marketplaces over the presence of unsafe or illegal goods in the EU. This follows earlier appearances by Shein and AliExpress before IMCO. The committee is also reviewing how the European Commission applies and enforces rules on product safety, consumer protection and digital platforms across the single market. Members have urged more robust action to prevent illegal and unsafe products reaching the EU, including those offered via large online platforms, alongside better co-operation among...

Part 2 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017 (CASWA 2017) created Social Work England (SWE) as the regulator for social workers in England, replacing the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). The regulation of social workers was formally transferred to SWE from the Health and Social Care Professions Council in December 2019. SWE operates under the auspices and oversight of the Professional Standards Authority. As a result, the Professional Standards Agency is, in specified circumstances, able to refer a case to the High Court. See Practice Note: Professional Standards Authority. SWE was established to deliver a new and different approach to regulation. Accordingly, some variation can reasonably be expected between the approach of more established regulators and that of SWE. SWE aims to set the tone as a collaborative regulator, emphasising that it shares and reflects the values of those it regulates. On a practical level, for the fitness to practise process this translates into there being multiple opportunities for Registrants to engage at an early stage, together...

This Practice Note outlines the criteria an employer may apply when deciding how to engage an individual. It examines the main categories of employment status—employee, worker, and the self-employed or independent contractor—and also addresses employee shareholders, casual staff and those on zero hours arrangements, agency workers, apprentices, interns and volunteers. Employers should identify at the outset which status is intended—employee, worker or self-employed—as each attracts distinct rights and protections. Further, particular considerations arise where the engagement is casual or ‘zero hours’, or involves agency workers, apprentices, interns or volunteers. Employment status also determines how the individual is treated for tax purposes (see Practice Note: Employment status—why it matters). Errors can result in employment tribunal proceedings and exposure to tax liabilities. Ultimately, regardless of the label used, courts and tribunals will prioritise the true substance of the working relationship over the wording of any contract. Employee, worker, self-employed/independent contractor Employee shareholders Casual and ‘zero hours’ workers Agency workers Apprentices Interns and volunteers ...

This Practice Note examines the statutory right to paid time off for antenatal care for pregnant employees and agency workers This Practice Note considers the statutory entitlement under the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996). An employer—or, where relevant, a temporary work agency or hirer—must not unreasonably prevent a pregnant employee, or a pregnant agency worker, from taking time away from work to attend antenatal appointments for antenatal care. Such time off for antenatal appointments must be paid. There is also a distinct entitlement to unpaid time off during working hours to accompany a pregnant woman to an antenatal care appointment: see The right to time off to accompany to antenatal appointments, below. Comparable provisions apply for time off to attend adoption appointments—see Practice Note: Time off work for adoption appointments. Certain categories are excluded from these rights: share fishermen and fisherwomen and certain other mariners, as well as those employed in ‘police service’ (as defined). For a sample policy addressing time off for antenatal appointments, see...

[ Insert in para 6.1 of response form ET3: ] It is accepted that the Claimant is an agency worker with the First Respondent. It is accepted that she began an assignment with the Second Respondent on [ insert date ]...

Insert in para 8.2 of claim form ET1: Engaged by the First Respondent, a temporary work agency, the Claimant is an agency worker. He began assignment with the Second Respondent on [ insert date ]...

[ Insert in para 6.1 of response form ET3: ] It is accepted that the Claimant is an agency worker engaged by the First Respondent, a temporary employment agency, and he began an assignment with the Second Respondent on [ insert date ]...

The Employment Agencies Act 1973, together with the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, SI 2003/3319 (Conduct Regs 2003), regulate the private recruitment sector and establish minimum requirements for employment agencies and employment businesses trading from premises in Great Britain (ie England, Wales and Scotland). The Conduct Regs 2003 apply in circumstances where an employment agency or an employment business provides work-finding services to a work-seeker...

For further information on this topic in general, see: National minimum wage—Eligibility Employment-related statutory rates and limits table Minimum wage compliance checklist Deductions from wages Some of the statutory exceptions to the right to receive the national minimum wage are outlined below. This response concentrates on the scenarios where the point most commonly arises. Workers only Only ‘workers’ are entitled to be paid the national minimum wage—see our Practice Note: Worker status—Definition of ‘worker’. Agency workers who would otherwise fall outside the definition of a ‘worker’ because they have no contract with either the supplier or the recipient of their services are nevertheless entitled to the national minimum wage. Home workers who might not otherwise be ‘workers’ owing to an absence of any personal obligation in the contract to carry out the work themselves are likewise entitled to be paid the national minimum wage. The genuinely self-employed are not entitled to be paid the national minimum...