Brabners Chaffe Street Legal Update
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6.12.2011
Consultation on Recruitment Agencies; Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 Employment relations minister Ed Davey announced last week that the Government will review the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 (the “Conduct Regulations”) next year. The proposal to consult on the rules that regulate recruitment agencies is in keeping with recent announcements proposing numerous reforms in order to deregulate and simplify employment law and to encourage recruitment in the current economic climate. It is estimated that around 2 million people access work through the recruitment sector. Despite this significant number and the importance of the recruitment sector in the jobs market, the rules relating to this are felt to be overly complex and restrict the freedom with which the process works. The introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations (“AWR”) in October, as well as the fact that the Conduct Regulations have not been formally reviewed since their implementation, mean it is felt that the time is right for consultation A recurring theme mentioned as a significant factor behind the need for consultation concerns the applicability of the Conduct Regulations and the difficulty of imposing a ‘one size fits all’ approach to regulation. On one hand, the Conduct Regulations need to protect agency workers and the vulnerabilities that such status brings, while on the other, avoiding the risk of excessive interference in business to business commercial relationships. The applicability of the Conduct Regulations to the latter is currently felt to be overly restrictive and burdensome for businesses, and the proposed deregulation would seek to address this point and reduce the processes required. The intention of trying to simplify and streamline the Conduct Regulations, seeks to promote and assist the main purposes and benefits behind the use of agencies and agency workers. These can be summarised as allowing employers easy access to suitable workers and security in their use of agency workers, facilitating flexible working arrangements and providing an entry route into recruitment for workers. This can be achieved against the backdrop of an effective regulatory regime in order to protect workers and retain professionalism and high standards in recruitment. The outcome of consultation therefore needs to strike the appropriate balance between regulating the recruitment sector to protect vulnerable workers while deregulating as necessary to avoid imposing excessive burdens on commercial relationships between businesses. Doing this effectively can maximise the benefits of a flexible workforce, therefore creating a competitive advantage to the economy by enabling companies to respond appropriately to a fluctuating market and giving individuals access to the jobs market.
This bulletin is for general guidance purposes only and should not be used for any other purpose.
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