Most employers still unsure of Agency Workers Regulations impact

Posted Sep 4, 2011

The latest REC survey of employers suggests that, with under one month to go before the new rules go live, the majority of employers polled were either unaware of the Agency Workers Regulations (23%), or undecided (44%) about the changes they were going to make to their workforces ahead of the October 1st implementation date.

The monthly JobsOutlook survey, released by the REC, also found that 42% of employers were not planning on making any 'significant' changes to the way they use agency workers - a small drop from the 46% level recorded in the previous monthly survey.

23% of employers say that they are planning to make changes which would result in a decreased use of agency staff.

Interestingly, the number of employers who expect to actually increase the number of temporary staff they use over the coming year has actually gone up to 83%, compared to 80% in the July survey.

You can read an overview of what the new rules mean in practice in our guide to the AWR.

Latest AWR findings 'encouraging'

There are several ways one could interpret these latest findings. Tony Hadley, the Director of Policy and Professional Services at REC, said that the data was encouraging:

"The data on general hiring intentions is encouraging. Although some employers may see reducing agency use as an obvious short term option, the need for flexible staffing arrangements will outweigh concerns over the AWR in most sectors".

"With nearly a quarter of employers still unaware of the changes the Regulations will bring, and a further 44 percent still unsure of what measures to take, there is scope for one final concerted push to raise awareness and address common misconceptions."

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