agency workers regulations and randstad cpe
Randstad welcomes any legislation that is designed to improve the lot of the 1.3m
agency workers in the UK; the better the package, the more people will be attracted
into temporary working as a lifestyle choice and that will be good for both us and
our clients. We do understand, however that the new regulations will generate uncertainty
and, in some cases, resistance if not communicated in an easily understood and timely
way.
When the regulations were made available, Randstad created an AWR Project Group
to examine and assess the likely impact of the regulations for our clients. Randstad’s
UK Legal Director, Ian Naylor, is part of the advisory group to the Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) which published a set of government guidelines
for UK employers in May 2011.
“Randstad sees its role as offering support and education, to use the company’s
knowledge and insight to generate open and honest dialogue, and to help clients
to work through legislative changes to arrive at tangible solutions.” Ian Naylor
- Randstad UK Legal Director
What Are Randstad CPE Doing?
Within Randstad CPE our Legal Manager and AWR Project Manager have been working
closely with the Marketing Team to prepare comprehensive information for all our
customers. The campaign to get in touch with our clients regarding the new regulations
began in March.
We have put a great deal in to ensuring that we are proactive so that we we're in
the best possible position to keep our candidates and clients informed and compliant.
We have carried out several client seminars and made a number of system changes
made to our pay and bill and database systems to ensure we can record the necessary
data to comply with legislation.
Randstad CPE have been preparing and organising our systems to accommodate this
new legislation smoothly. We have updated our systems and processes so we can track
all elements of AWR which include temporary staff tax status’s and start dates for
their assignments.
These updates will indicate to us which candidates fall in or out of scope of the
regulations as a defined “Agency Workers” Our dedicated AWR Compliance Assistant
will be monitoring this data and at the 9 week point of an assignment will contact
clients with “in scope” candidates for parity information relating to pay and basic
working conditions.
This information will then be stored on our systems and a letter confirming the
collected information will be sent to the client and the candidate. If the candidate
is paid via an umbrella company they will also be sent a communication providing
this information.
For any questions or support and advice on AWR email us at:
awr@randstadcpe.com