Following two government consultations on holiday pay in 2023 draft legislation has now been published to change the rules. The current law has been in place since the advent of the Working Time Regulations in 1998 but due to Brexit and the Supreme Court decision in Harpur v Brazel, which caused considerable confusion in practical terms, there has been a need for clarification particularly on the issue for temporary workers including agency workers.
Company insolvencies are reported by the Insolvency Service to be at their highest levels since the 2009 financial crisis. Recruitment businesses may be worried about the risk of hirer insolvency or financial difficulty. Where does a business stand if a hirer client is still trading but can’t or won’t pay, and are there steps that can be taken to improve the prospect of recovery?
The Employment Agency Standards (EAS) is a section of the Department of Business and Trade. It’s responsible for enforcing compliance with the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 (Conduct Regulations) and has extensive powers to ensure recruitment businesses operate within the law. It is currently increasing its inspections of recruitment businesses, here are some points to note.
‘Opt out’ refers to a pivotal choice made by both a limited company and the individual working through it when working with a contractor supply agency. In effect it’s an agreement that regulations designed to protect agency workers don’t apply to the contracts put in place. The regulations are the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (the “Conduct Regulations”), which impose various obligations on supply agencies to ensure that agency workers are not exploited.
IR35 is the common name given to tax legislation which affects how individuals working through PSCs or other intermediaries are taxed. The actual legislation can be found in Chapters 8 & 10 of Part 2 of the Income Tax earnings and pensions act 2003.
They are the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003, it is a bit of a mouthful so often shortened to the conduct regulations. They can also be known as the agency conduct regulations or the EAA regulations, this being because they flow from the employment agencies act of 1973.
There is an ongoing consultation on the regulation of the umbrella industry. Proposals within this could have a significant effect on an employment business’s operations and potential liabilities. These include proposals for mandatory due diligence, the transfer of umbrella tax debts and even employment businesses operating as the employer of umbrella workers for tax purposes.
The High Court has today ruled that the 2022 repeal of R.7 of the Conduct Regulations, which banned the supply of temporary workers to replace those on official strike action, was unlawful.
The name of the current consultation ‘Tackling non-compliance in the umbrella company market’ suggests that the subject is the regulation of umbrella companies. However, the proposals, if adopted, will directly impact the operations of recruitment supply businesses. Do recruitment businesses want more rules and risks?
At the beginning of June, the government published the long-awaited consultation on the regulation of the umbrella industry. However, there is concern that the proposals target employment businesses and hirers rather than umbrella companies, which could negatively affect a vibrant recruitment and contractor supply industry.
