The Agency Workers Regulations 2010

UK Statutory Instrument 2010 No. 93 — creates 1 criminal offence.

1offences created

0recorded in force

0revoked

Made: 20 January 2010
In force from: 1 October 2011
Extent: Not stated
Subject: Corporate, financial services, company law, employment, charity, electoral and tax
Made under: European Communities Act 1972, Schedule 3 to, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations, which are made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 (c.68), and sections 15(1), (2) and (5), 82(3) of, and paragraphs 7, 8 and 15(1) of Schedule 3 to the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (c.37) implement (in England and Wales and Scotland and, in relation to some provisions, also Northern Ireland) Council Directive 2008/104/EC of 19th November 2008 on temporary agency work (OJ L 327, 5.12.2008, p.9). This Directive establishes a general framework for protection of temporary agency workers. The Regulations provide certain rights for temporary agency workers including in relation to basic working and employment conditions. Regulations 2 to 4 provide definitions, including those of ‘agency worker’ and ‘temporary work agency’. Regulation 5 provides a right for the agency worker to the same basic working and employment conditions as the agency worker would have been entitled to if they had been recruited directly by the hirer. Regulation 6 specifies that it is terms and conditions in the hirer relating to pay, the duration of working time, night work, rest periods, rest breaks and annual leave that are relevant. Regulation 7 makes provision for a qualifying period, and sets out the conditions which need to be met to qualify for the right provided for by regulation 5. Regulation 8 sets out the consequences that arise when an agency worker has completed the qualifying period. Regulation 9 sets out the circumstances in which an agency worker is to be treated as having completed the qualifying period and, where applicable, is to be treated as continuing to be entitled to those rights. Regulation 10 disapplies regulation 5, insofar as it relates to pay, where a permanent contract of employment is entered into between a temporary work agency and the agency worker. It provides a number of conditions that must be fulfilled in relation to the form and terms of the permanent contract and for a minimum amount of pay to be paid to the agency worker between assignments. Regulation 11 sets out how that minimum amount of pay is to be calculated. Regulations 12 and 13 give rights to agency workers in relation to access to collective facilities and amenities provided by the hirer, and access to employment with the hirer. Regulation 14 deals with issues of liability. Agency workers are involved in a triangular relationship involving the temporary work agency and hirer. This regulation provides that the temporary work agency and hirer can both be liable to the extent that they are responsible for a breach of regulation 5, and sets out the circumstances in which a temporary work agency is not responsible for a breach of that regulation. Regulation 14 also provides that the hirer is liable for breaches of regulations 12 and 13. Regulation 15 makes provision in relation to restrictions on contracting out. Regulation 16 provides a right for the agency worker to receive information from the temporary work agency, or hirer as applicable, in relation to the rights and duties conferred by regulations 5, 12 and 13. Regulation 17 makes provision in relation to the right not to be unfairly dismissed or subjected to a detriment for a reason relating to these Regulations. Regulation 18 provides remedies for individuals, including compensation, by way of proceedings in employment tribunals. Regulation 18 includes provision for a minimum award of two weeks’ pay, and for an additional award of up to £5,000 where regulation 9 applies. Regulation 20 deals with the liability of employers and principals. Regulations 21 to 24 contain provisions which make the Regulations applicable to Crown employment, the armed services, the House of Lords, the House of Commons and the police service. Schedule 1 lists the particular provisions of these Regulations which extend to Northern Ireland. Schedule 2 contains consequential amendments to primary and secondary legislation (including in relation to disclosure of information about agency workers, collective bargaining and health and safety matters). An Impact Assessment report of the effect that these Regulations will have on the costs to business and a Transposition Note, showing how the Directive has been given effect by these Regulations, are available from the Employment Relations Directorate, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET. Copies of each have also been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

Offences created by this instrument

Contravention of The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 the instrument as a whole · Status not determined · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Agency Workers Regulations 2010 Commons · Written Statements · 19 October 2010 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)
The Agency Workers Regulations 2010, implementing the European Agency Workers Directive, were made by the previous Administration in January 2010 and are due to come into force in October 2011. The Government are aware of the different points of view that have been expressed by various stakeholders about certain aspects of these regulations and have been considering the way forward. The directive sets out the principle of equal treatment—that “the basic working and employment conditions of temporary agency workers shall be, for the duration of their assignment at a user undertaking, at least…
Employment Rights Bill (Second sitting) Commons · Public Bill Committees · 26 November 2024 · Greg Smith
Q Mr Carberry, if I can come to you, looking at those you represent, what is it in the Bill that you think is right, wrong or needs amendment? Neil Carberry: I will not repeat what Allen said about the aggregate cost of the Bill, but clearly it is an enormous piece of legislation, coming at a time when businesses—particularly consumer-facing businesses—have been through the pandemic, are carrying more debt and are struggling to drive the growth that the Government want. Among my members, as with many business organisations, the tone of the debate about the Bill was changed by the Budget.…
Employment Rights Bill (Fifth sitting) Commons · Public Bill Committees · 3 December 2024 · Justin Madders
I am grateful to the shadow Minister for intervening, but there is not a total lack of clarity. We have been clear all along, including when we were in opposition, that the reference period should be 12 weeks. However, we want to continue dialogue with businesses to ensure that we get the right answer to the question of how long the reference period should be for guaranteed hours. As we heard, it is an established period that has been used in the previous Government’s legislation, in the workers’ predictable terms and conditions provisions and under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010. It is…
Employment Rights Bill (Sixth sitting) Commons · Public Bill Committees · 3 December 2024 · Jon Pearce (High Peak) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 came into force in October 2011, under the leadership of David Cameron and the coalition, and there is similar wording in the agency worker regs. Regulation 9(4)(a) states that “the most likely explanation for the structure of the assignment, or assignments, mentioned in paragraph (3) is that H, or the temporary work agency supplying the agency worker to H, or, where applicable, H and one or more hirers connected to H, intended to prevent the agency worker from being entitled to, or from…
Employment Rights Bill (Twenty First sitting) Commons · Public Bill Committees · 16 January 2025 · Chris Law
I appreciate the comments that have been made in this short debate. Just to be clear, the new clause is about issues that are not currently protected under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and are often under-reported. I welcome the Minister’s comments about the fair work agency and the recent Low Pay Commission report, but I must ask about the timeframe. My suggestion—I will try to work with him on this—is that the timeframe be six months beyond the passing of the Bill, so that we can get decisions made. Perhaps the Secretary of State could let us know what kind of timeframe we are talking…
Implementing the Employment Rights Act: February Consultation Package Commons · Written Statements · 4 February 2026 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Kate Dearden)
This Government’s top priority is to grow the economy and improve living standards. We are clear that you cannot build a strong economy while having people in insecure work. For too long, employment law has failed to keep pace with fundamental changes in how, when and where we work. This has allowed some businesses to take advantage of loopholes in the current law via exploitative practices, fuelling a race to the bottom, undercutting responsible employers and eroding the living standards of working people. We are clear that unfair competition is bad for business, bad for workers and bad for…

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

Check the source

This instrument on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text, including amendments made since
Other instruments from 2010