Please can anybody tell me if agency workers are now treated the same as full time employees by law? , I thought I read something on here a while ago.
I started working at a company some years ago, as an agency worker. Then taken on by the company as a temporary worker, after about three months I was then made a permanent employee. I have been an ongoing consistent worker there. In the event of redundancy.
Would I be entitled to claim redundancy money for the time I was there working through agency?
Would I be able to claim redundancy money for the time as a temporary worker for the company?
Sorry, I won’t name the company.
Any information, or input would be greatly appreciated
You’re not entitled to redundancy money because you must have agreed to become a permanent member of the companies staff, so for all intent and purpose you did not get laid off you quit the agency job.
Basically if you work at least 1 day a week over a 12 week period then you are entitled to some of the same things that the companies employees have. In Asda on the agency I got a card for the gate pass and entry for the doors after 12 weeks. I later got…a high viz vest with Asda print !!! (Ooh get me !). One of the other agencies got the same equivalent pay as the Asda drivers for a few weeks but then it got changed back before the agency owner was paid by Asda, he had paid his drivers though. I don’t know exactly what happened but the rumour was that Asda management consulted solicitors (that could be driver bs). As for me, basically the card was basically all I got and I still none the wiser as to what the score is !!! My agency lost the contract for Asda now, the other agency guy who lost out financially is still in there.
Thanks for your reply tachograph, I thought that may have been the case, however someone said recently that agency workers are now in par with employees , due to a recent change in the law/ or possible due change in the law.
At the moment I’m just trying to find facts out, so I know exactly where I stand to sort everything out.
Kerbdog:
Basically if you work at least 1 day a week over a 12 week period then you athey can rntitled to some of the same things that the companies employees have. In Asda on the agency I got a card for the gate pass and entry for the doors after 12 weeks. I later got…a high viz vest with Asda print !!! (Ooh get me !). One of the other agencies got the same equivalent pay as the Asda drivers for a few weeks but then it got changed back before the agency owner was paid by Asda, he had paid his drivers though. I don’t know exactly what happened but the rumour was that Asda management consulted solicitors (that could be driver bs). As for me, basically the card was basically all I got and I still none the wiser as to what the score is !!! My agency lost the contract for Asda now, the other agency guy who lost out financially is still in there.
Thanks for your input kerbdog, it’s a lot to sort out, & companies don’t like paying nowt if they can wiggle out of it ! !
Who pays you - the company or the agency you were at?
If it is the agency you never worked for the company so haven’t been made redundant.
If it is the company, the time you were there through the agency does not count as employment at the company because you weren’t working for them, you were working for the agency. You can claim for the time you were paid by the company, albeit as a temporary worker.
I don’t know if this helps but I have recently been through part of this.
I was with a big haulier, originally as a temporary worker, for ten months.
They then put me on a full time contract, which lasted for three months.
I was then made redundant and my redundancy package was based solely on my full time service.
The vital part here is the line on your contract which says when your employment is regarded as continuous from. Your agency time would not apply I assume because you had a contract with Andy’s Agency not Tony’s Trucks for example.
Who pays you - the company or the agency you were at?
If it is the agency you never worked for the company so haven’t been made redundant.
If it is the company, the time you were there through the agency does not count as employment at the company because you weren’t working for them, you were working for the agency. You can claim for the time you were paid by the company, albeit as a temporary worker.
Thanks Conor, I was paid as an agency worker , through the agency for about a year or just over. Then became a temporary employee to the company & paid by the company for a few months, before becoming a full employee to the company. Sorry if I didn’t make it clearer in the first instance, I struggle writing stuff like this. Thank you for your input.
nsmith1180:
I don’t know if this helps but I have recently been through part of this.
I was with a big haulier, originally as a temporary worker, for ten months.
They then put me on a full time contract, which lasted for three months.
I was then made redundant and my redundancy package was based solely on my full time service.
The vital part here is the line on your contract which says when your employment is regarded as continuous from. Your agency time would not apply I assume because you had a contract with Andy’s Agency not Tony’s Trucks for example.
Thanks nsmith, so …I’ll get nothing from the time working for the company as I was paid by the agency in the first instance.
But I can claim for the few months as a full time temporary worker of the company & paid by the company?
And claim as an employee for time after that.
Thanks for your input, sorry to hear about your own redundancy, I do hope you have managed to get another job. It’s a really miserable, confusing position to be in through no fault of my own, there are quite a lot of us facing the same fate where I work , thanks again.
agency contracts are designed to be short term and without strings for the firm that the worker gets placed with. if a contract finishes that’s it there are no comebacks - you finish on the day that they say and you gets paid upto and including the day that you finish. there are no redundancy payments because of the nature of the employment — it’s short term meaning anything from 1 day upwards, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been wit ha firm via an agency when the agency pulls the plug that’s it end of…
i used to do a lot of work for them and my fone bill got some serious abuse on the days that i got told that was the end of the contract.
i know it seems unfair but it goes with the territory — if you’re permanent staff then you get allsorts of stuff like redundancy, pensions that sort of thing. the agency normally offer better rates because they aren’t having to fork out for these extras. agency rates tend to be around £1 per hour better where i live.
bonnie lass:
Thanks nsmith, so …I’ll get nothing from the time working for the company as I was paid by the agency in the first instance.
But I can claim for the few months as a full time temporary worker of the company & paid by the company?
And claim as an employee for time after that.
As I said, the important part is when your employment is regarded as continuous from.
Despite the fact that I had a contract when I was a temporary worker, my redundancy only took into account my full time service because I had a whole new contract when I went full time, rather than an amendment of my existing terms.
If your full time contract says you start date is when you first started with the company after leaving the agency, then you Temp time counts. If it says that your start date is the date you went full time, you are at the companies mercy.
I don’t know what company you are with, or where you are based but I was Surplus to Requirements at a certain big haulier with a lot of red Renaults. They didn’t owe me a penny because I had been there “officially” only three months, but they still gave me a grand. It appears a lot of the big ones work on a case of each year or part thereof.
foxy stars:
agency contracts are designed to be short term and without strings for the firm that the worker gets placed with. if a contract finishes that’s it there are no comebacks - you finish on the day that they say and you gets paid upto and including the day that you finish. there are no redundancy payments because of the nature of the employment — it’s short term meaning anything from 1 day upwards, it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been wit ha firm via an agency when the agency pulls the plug that’s it end of…
i used to do a lot of work for them and my fone bill got some serious abuse on the days that i got told that was the end of the contract.
i know it seems unfair but it goes with the territory — if you’re permanent staff then you get allsorts of stuff like redundancy, pensions that sort of thing. the agency normally offer better rates because they aren’t having to fork out for these extras. agency rates tend to be around £1 per hour better where i live.
Thanks for your input foxy stars, I’m a lot clearer from reading all the helpful advice from yourself and the other post’s. Your right it does seem unfair, especially when you have been there through ‘thick & thin’ with the company,& working your way up from the bottom of the ladder…well it’s soon going to be history! Thanks again.
bonnie lass:
Thanks nsmith, so …I’ll get nothing from the time working for the company as I was paid by the agency in the first instance.
But I can claim for the few months as a full time temporary worker of the company & paid by the company?
And claim as an employee for time after that.
As I said, the important part is when your employment is regarded as continuous from.
Despite the fact that I had a contract when I was a temporary worker, my redundancy only took into account my full time service because I had a whole new contract when I went full time, rather than an amendment of my existing terms.
If your full time contract says you start date is when you first started with the company after leaving the agency, then you Temp time counts. If it says that your start date is the date you went full time, you are at the companies mercy.
I don’t know what company you are with, or where you are based but I was Surplus to Requirements at a certain big haulier with a lot of red Renaults. They didn’t owe me a penny because I had been there “officially” only three months, but they still gave me a grand. It appears a lot of the big ones work on a case of each year or part thereof.
Thanks nsmith, I’m trying to find the contract details to check them through, and the dates on them, I have got numerous paperwork to get looking through, , have kept every bit of paper from work since I started there. Thanks for the pointer.
bonnie lass:
Thanks for your reply tachograph, I thought that may have been the case, however someone said recently that agency workers are now in par with employees , due to a recent change in the law/ or possible due change in the law.
At the moment I’m just trying to find facts out, so I know exactly where I stand to sort everything out.
After a 12 week period you have the same entitlement but via the agency ie pay, so if you work at the company via agency for a year then they take you on permanently it’s not on a continuous employment contract , I had this convocation with one of the lads where I am last week…
bonnie lass:
Thanks for your reply tachograph, I thought that may have been the case, however someone said recently that agency workers are now in par with employees , due to a recent change in the law/ or possible due change in the law.
At the moment I’m just trying to find facts out, so I know exactly where I stand to sort everything out.
After a 12 week period you have the same entitlement but via the agency ie pay, so if you work at the company via agency for a year then they take you on permanently it’s not on a continuous employment contract , I had this convocation with one of the lads where I am last week…
Thanks SYE-1, so although I won’t be able to claim redundancy from the time I worked through the agency, for 'future ’ reference , if I were to work through an agency, does this mean that I will get the same pay rate as a company employee after a twelve week period, & would holiday pay or anything else be applicable ? Looks like I will have to start all over again, so all information greatfully received, thank you for your input.
bonnie lass:
… so although I won’t be able to claim redundancy from the time I worked through the agency, for 'future ’ reference , if I were to work through an agency, does this mean that I will get the same pay rate as a company employee after a twelve week period, & would holiday pay or anything else be applicable ? Looks like I will have to start all over again, so all information greatfully received, thank you for your input.
That’s how the law is supposed to work, but the companies/agencies have found numerous ways of getting around it, primarily by insisting you either become a Ltd Co. yourself, or go through an umbrella company, so the twelve week rule will rarely, if ever, be of benefit to you.
you’re supposed to but it rarely if ever happens cos if you take a day off (except for normal downtime) on the agency then the agency has to fill the gap that’s been created cos that’s what their client wants, so they HAVE to put someone else in there or they lose the contract with that firm and when you come back from your days off chances are your contract will have gone elsewhere and then you’re back to square one…it really isn’t fair at all.
the 12 week rule if only it worked — they put all my money through a company called charminster construction - put simply they’re a clearing house for the agency and making sure that i get paid on time and stuff but when it comes to holidays and things, they’re non existent, if you want to take a holiday then you gotta make sure that you have an outstanding previous 4 weeks in wage terms so that you can cover the time you are on holiday plus (if you’re lucky enough to walk straight back into work) the 2 weeks that it takes before next payday — it’s harsh to say the least cos you gotta remember to do it right or else you’re gunna be signing on and there’s a 6 week wait for your paperwork to get processed and paid out — it’s not good either way.
the agency on the whole offer better rates to compensate for this rule, i’ve been in places where i was earning over £2 an hour more than the full time staff - i only found out cos they wanted to take me on and i said what you mean i gotta take a pay cut (their rates £5.75p/h) needless to say i refused the offer and continued with the agency, i was with that firm (bayliss distribution) for 2 years before they shut the site down.
i don’t use just one agency either - you gotta be with 5 or 6 just to try and give yourself some sort of guarantee that come monday morning you’re going to work.
bonnie lass:
… so although I won’t be able to claim redundancy from the time I worked through the agency, for 'future ’ reference , if I were to work through an agency, does this mean that I will get the same pay rate as a company employee after a twelve week period, & would holiday pay or anything else be applicable ? Looks like I will have to start all over again, so all information greatfully received, thank you for your input.
That’s how the law is supposed to work, but the companies/agencies have found numerous ways of getting around it, primarily by insisting you either become a Ltd Co. yourself, or go through an umbrella company, so the twelve week rule will rarely, if ever, be of benefit to you.
Thanks tallyman, it appears that there are lots of loop holes for the agencies to dive through, and probably the companies too! What is an umbrella scheme & how does it work please ? Also , what would be the benefits of being a self employed driver, how would this work, I don’t mean as an owner driver, only as driver & sorting out own book keeping, tax . Would it be better or not to do it that way?
Thanks foxy stars, it seems like a day’s work just to keep one step ahead of the agencies! , they certainly have pulled every rabbit out of the hat to make sure drivers loose out at every possible opportunity.
There is an element of uncertainty that goes with the agency work, & as you say, it’s a case of keeping on top of everything, like booking holidays time off etc, and pre forecasting where ever possible.
What the heck do you say to the agencies that phone you up with work when you’re already out driving for another agency? It’s bound to happen! Some won’t send any work your way if you are unavailable, or unwilling to break your neck just to get there at the drop of a hat, like a puppet on a string.