The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) have announced that they will be offering a series of practical workshops and tools to support and assist agencies and clients in preparation for the Agency Workers Directive, (AWD).
As well as working with Government on the official guidance for the new Agency Worker Regulations, they are developing a suite of practical tools to help recruiters implement the necessary changes and seize new opportunities.
The practical support includes; training workshops, specific research on client awareness through the REC’s Industry Research Unit, mentoring sessions for agencies and clients, model contracts and a comprehensive AWD Toolkit for agencies. Contractors who are still not clear about how the AWD may affect them could find these resources from the REC useful also.
Sam Strange, Director of Business Support within the REC’s Academy for Business says:
“In conjunction with the REC’s high-profile lobbying campaign, work has been going on behind the scenes to develop to kind of practical tools that will help recruiters get to grips with potentially complex regulations. As we shift into ‘implementation mode’, our priority is to help recruiters plan ahead and engage with their clients and workers. Implementing equal treatment measures will be a challenge.”
Also this week, an agency group announced that they were challenging the legality of part of the draft regulations to give agency workers similar rights as employees. According to the Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC), it would appear that the draft regulations contain important new aspects that were not raised in the consultation process.
Still a contentious issue, Independent Contractor Services will continue to report on any developments or news stories relating to the Agency Workers Directive.
