Since 7th April 2026 the EAS was imported into the Fair Work Agency (FWA), so we now refer to EAS inspections as FWA inspections. However the FWA’s role to inspect employment agencies and employment businesses and investigate breaches of compliance rules remains as it was prior to April. Scope of FWA inspection Although scope of […]
As currently proposed the government plans to extend obligations on hirers to offer direct guaranteed hours contracts to agency workers after 12 weeks. ARC argues that the industry must push back on this. Read more here.
ARC are pleased to announce that the next meeting for members and guests will take place on 25th August 2026 at 2.30pm. For a change, this will be a Microsoft Teams meeting rather than face-to-face. The subject of the meeting will be: “AI for recruitment: What’s real? What’s hype? And what’s worth your time?” Whether or […]
On 2nd June, the government launched its consultation on guaranteed hours, officially (and confusingly) titled “Ending one-sided flexibility: reforms of zero hours and similar contracts.” Despite the zero-hours-sounding name, this targets all businesses that engage temporary or agency workers – not just those on zero hours contracts – with implementation due in 2027 and the […]
Yesterday Lawspeed held a face to face seminar to discuss the current consultation on modernising the agency work regulatory framework. Joined by two policy representatives from the Department of Business and Trade the meeting rapidly developed into a broader discussion. “We had anticipated strong comments, but the depth of feeling in the room was staggering” […]
Transfer fee restrictions – should they stay or should they go? No consideration of this subject can be complete without recognising the government’s plan to introduce guaranteed hours for supply workers, included in the Employment Rights Act 2025. Put simply if you supply a contractor to a client and there is a law in place […]
HMRC has warned of new fraudulent models emerging in the market, claiming to reduce employment costs through ‘tax credits’ offset through acquired third-party businesses. Disguised as payroll providers, intermediaries, umbrella solutions, or back-office providers, they assert to use tax credits to offset employment taxes such as PAYE and National Insurance by operating the payroll thereby, […]
The industry’s been rightly focused on the joint and several liability risks under Chapter 11 of the Finance Bill, but there’s another serious consequence baked into this legislation, and it’s flying under the radar. We’re talking about TUPE transfers. At first glance, it may not look like much. But for agencies who’ve historically used umbrella […]
Proposed changes to umbrella legislation, particularly the Joint and Several Liability (JSL) rules under Chapter 11, set for April 2026, are already reshaping behaviour across the recruitment supply chain. But while most conversations focus on PAYE and NICs liability, a quieter, more powerful risk is emerging: perception. Perception influences decisions long before legislation does, and […]
SSP Is Changing in 2026, And It’s Going to Hit Agencies Harder Than They Expect Most recruiters think of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) as background admin — inconvenient, yes, but predictable.April 2026 will challenge that assumption. Under the Employment Rights Bill, SSP rules are changing in ways that will affect every employer, including employment businesses […]
