When does an agency worker get equal pay?

After completing 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, counted from the first day of work.

Does a Christmas shutdown reset the 12 weeks?

No. Workplace closures such as Christmas pause the clock rather than resetting it.

What must we provide from day one?

Access to shared facilities and services on the same terms as permanent staff, and information about vacancies. The worker also has worker's rights such as the National Minimum Wage from the start.

Can we avoid the 12-week rule by rotating workers?

The regulations include anti-avoidance provisions. Plan staffing on business needs rather than on resetting the clock.

Who pays holiday to an agency worker?

The agency, as the worker's employer or engager, but it needs accurate information from you to apply equal treatment after 12 weeks.

Agency staff: the 12-week rule and day-one rights

In short

Temporary staff from an agency can cover peaks, absences and projects without the commitments of permanent hiring. But the business that uses them, the hirer, has its own obligations under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, some from the first day and more once a qualifying period has passed. Hirers are sometimes surprised to learn that pay parity is not only the agency's problem. This guide sets out what applies when, how the qualifying period is counted and what to settle with the agency at the start.

Who counts as an agency worker

An agency worker has a contract with a temporary work agency but works temporarily under the supervision and direction of the hirer. The agency finds the work, pays the worker and holds the contract; the hirer directs the day-to-day work. Contractors genuinely in business on their own account and staff placed permanently are outside these rules.

Before an assignment starts, the agency must give the worker written information including the start date, the likely duration, the type of work, the location and hours, health and safety risks and required qualifications. It must also give a key information document setting out pay and who pays.

Source: gov.uk

Rights from the first day

From day one, agency workers have a worker's employment rights, including the National Minimum Wage for all hours worked. They also have the same rights as the hirer's permanent staff to use shared facilities and services, such as a canteen or food and drink machines, a workplace crèche or baby room, car parking and transport services between sites. They must also be told about vacancies in the hirer's business.

These day-one duties sit with the hirer, because only the hirer controls its facilities and vacancy information. A quick induction checklist that covers facilities access and where vacancies are advertised avoids accidental breaches.

Hirers also remain responsible for the workplace itself. Agency workers are entitled to the same health and safety protection as employees, and the hirer, which controls the site and the work, is best placed to provide induction, protective equipment and training for the specific tasks.

access to canteen, drinks and food facilities on the same terms
access to crèche or childcare facilities where offered
car parking and staff transport on the same terms
information about relevant vacancies
a safe workplace and the health and safety information for the role

Source: gov.uk

After 12 weeks: equal treatment

After 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer, an agency worker qualifies for the same basic working and employment conditions as someone recruited directly, including equal pay with a comparable permanent colleague and paid annual leave. Automatic pension enrolment rules also apply. In practice the agency pays, but it can only get the rate right with accurate information from the hirer about pay, holiday and working time for comparable staff.

Hirers should give the agency that information at the start of the assignment, not in week eleven, and keep it up to date when pay rates change.

Source: gov.uk · legislation.gov.uk

How the 12 weeks are counted

The 12-week qualifying period starts on the first day of work and does not have to be continuous. Some breaks pause the clock rather than reset it: breaks of six weeks or less, sickness or injury leave of up to 28 weeks, annual leave, workplace closures such as Christmas shutdowns or industrial action, and jury service. Pregnancy-related leave, adoption and paternity leave count towards the period.

The clock restarts if the worker moves to a different workplace, has a break of more than six weeks, or takes a substantively different role at the same hirer, meaning genuinely different work involving different skills, pay, location or hours. Structuring assignments purely to avoid the 12 weeks is addressed by anti-avoidance provisions in the regulations.

Source: gov.uk · legislation.gov.uk

What to agree with the agency

who tracks the 12-week period for each worker
comparator pay, holiday and hours information and how updates are sent
how the agency's charges change after 12 weeks
transfer fees if you want to take a worker on permanently
who handles right to work checks and when
how absence, holidays and breaks are recorded

Source: gov.uk

Finding an agency

If you need temporary staff, describe the roles, numbers and timing in our request form. It goes to exactly one staffing agency that buys it; before the agency receives your details, we email you its name, address and phone number. The request costs you nothing. Offrano checks that buyers are registered businesses, not whether they comply with employment law, so ask each agency how it handles the points above.