Amendments 'could still be made' to AWR

Employment Law & HR update 09/09/2011

The Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) could still be changed by the government, according to a new Telegraph report.

The report revealed that there is still time for the AWR - which are due to be introduced on 1 October this year - to be rethought.

The planned AWR would entitle agency workers to the same rights as permanent staff members who have been at the firm for 12 weeks or more, in terms of rest periods, holidays, pay and benefits.

The Telegraph revealed that the government has sought legal advice on the AWR, through which they found that some of the regulations may still be able to be removed.

A spokesman for Downing Street told the newspaper, “We are now looking at every part of employment law as part of the red tape challenge. We want to do everything we can to help employers and drive growth.”

Head of Regulatory Affairs at The Institute of Directors (IoD), Alexander Ehmann, welcomed the revelation, saying, “The IoD has long argued that vital improvements can be made by stripping away the unnecessary gold-plating in these regulations.

“We urge the government to look again at the advice that the IoD received from the European Commission in 2009, which stated that the rules only need apply to businesses with binding pay scales and collective agreements,” he added.

However, there is concern amongst legal experts that changes made to the planned AWR at such a late stage could prove both complicated and confusing for businesses.

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