The Agency Workers Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 have now been published, completing implementation of the Agency Workers Regulations (“AWR”) across the United Kingdom. Unlike mainland UK, the Regulations will be introduced in Northern Ireland on 5th December 2011, the deadline for implementation required by the Directive. Given that the AWR represents one of the most […]
As private sector businesses explore solutions to the AWR is the public sector doing the same? No, not if the Department for Education position is an indicator, says Adrian Marlowe, chairman of the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (“ARC”). Now that the Agency Workers Regulations are in force, understandably both agencies’ and hirers’ minds are focused […]
The 1st of October 2011 saw three significant changes affecting employment relationships and the recruitment industry. The long awaited Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (“AWR”) are now in force, the National Minimum Wage has increased and we no longer have a default retirement age. For anyone who is not already fully aware of the AWR and […]
Autoclenz Limited v Belcher (2011) on the face of it conflicts with the ruling in James v Greenwich (2008) in that in Autoclenz the Court ruled that it is important to look behind the contracts at the actual circumstances, whereas the Court in James ruled that you should not look behind the contracts at the […]
The case of Hellewell and McArdle v Axa Services Ltd highlighted when an employee (or ex-employee) is not entitled to a bonus – the answer to this being when there is no contractual obligation to do so. The case was heard by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. Two former employees who had been dismissed for gross […]
The Court of Appeal has handed down its judgment in the case of Huitson v HMRC. This case concerned a contractor claimant who was arguing that the Treasury’s retrospective change to the taxation of foreign partnerships was an infringement of his Human Rights. Mr Huitson lived in the UK but provided his IT services through […]
The Agency Workers (Amendment) Regulations 2011 have been published and provide for three small but important amendments to the Agency Worker Regulations 2010 (“AWR”). These amendments relate to the definition of an agency worker, the Swedish Derogation and liability provision in the AWR and have been included to correct existing drafting errors and to address […]
The ruling of the Supreme Court last week reinforces the position that in determining the employment status of an individual, the courts will look beyond contractual terms to see the actual reality of the relationships between the parties. The case involved 20 claimants, all of whom were engaged by Autoclenz as valeters and issued with […]
A recent case (NHS Leeds v Mrs J Larner) heard in the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) pondered whether a worker, who is away on sickness absence, is entitled to holiday pay if they have not actually submitted a request for the holiday to be carried over before the pay year ends. It was determined that […]
The Department for Education has published final guidance for the application of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (“AWR”) on supply teachers and other teaching and support staff. It is available by clicking here The revised guidance provides some assistance in the question of ‘who is the hirer’ although it still leaves areas of uncertainty which the […]
