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IT contractors "should be excluded" from agency legislation

Published on Jun 23, 2009 |

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A leading recruitment body says that IT contractors should be excluded from the Agency Workers Directive, as they don't need the same protection as lower paid agency workers.

Contractors should be excluded

The Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) says that IT contractors should be exempt from the terms of the Agency Workers Directive, as they not only do they not need the protection afforded by the proposed legislation.

APSCo suggests that any limited or umbrella company contractors earning over three times the level of the national minimum wage should be excluded from the Directive. This would mean workers earning more than £17.40 per hour or £33,930 per year would be exempt.

Ann Swain, chief executive of APSCo, said:

"We feel that three times the National Minimum Wage is about the right income level for the exclusion. It would mean that about 90% of workers placed by APSCo members are outside the scope of the legislation. This would be a workable solution which would be easy to understand and enforce."

Bad for contractors, bad for clients

The association also points out that the proposed new rules will also make contractors less attractive to end clients, as 'employers' of workers included within the terms of the Act would be obliged to provide contractors with the same 'benefits' as permanent staff.

"The kind of business professionals placed by APSCo members are highly-skilled, highly-paid individuals who cannot be considered vulnerable workers. Their inclusion in this legislation would significantly add to the costs to end-users of using these workers, thereby damaging their employment prospects."

The Temporary Agency Workers' Directive is currently going through a 'consultation' process, but must be implemented in the UK by 2011.