The Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) have caused enough confusion and misinformation over the past few years without David Cameron stepping in to further muddy the waters just weeks before AWR comes into force on 1st October 2011.
Downing Street’s publicity stunt in allegedly conducting a last-minute AWR review (as reported in The Daily Telegraph, London Evening Standard and elsewhere) is not only too little, too late, but could also exacerbate the very situation it is trying to solve.
Whilst it is not surprising that some of the Prime Minister’s advisors have tried to derail AWR because of fears it might harm the UK’s fragile economic recovery, the timing and method of the review is, at best, irresponsible.
At worst, it could undermine much of the work completed by businesses to ensure adoption of the regulations is as smooth as possible. The UK’s agency sector alone has invested significant resources, including substantial sums of money, preparing for AWR. Last-minute uncertainty introduced by an ill-informed and politically motivated publicity stunt won’t help economic growth.
Fewer than half of contractors actually know about the regulations, according to our latest AWR survey. So perhaps government time and resources might have been better invested in finally completing the guidance for agency workers that is long overdue from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). That guidance might help clarify who is in scope and who is excluded.
And if Downing Street did want to be clever and help business, it might have been better off seeking counsel’s advice on what constitutes a ‘business undertaking’ according to the legislation, rather than trying to tinker at the 11th hour. That clarification would offer greater certainty to limited company contractors, and other workers seeking a trading option that keeps them out of AWR.
There is clearly a much greater educational role for government to play in the introduction of AWR, because our survey shows that 88% of contractors have been told nothing by their agencies and 90% of contractors have been told nothing by their clients. This could be because clients and agencies figure that workers unaware of their new rights won’t take action to claim them. Or it could be that clients and agencies are playing a waiting game to see whether changes will be made, as suggested by this Downing Street review. Of course, they could simply be awaiting the greater certainty that will arise from the case law once the legislation is live, but that’s a very expensive and damaging way for a government to leave the key drivers of its economy dangling in the wind for months or years.
Whatever the truth, our survey confirms that contractors and freelancers don’t want new rights: they just want to get on with their livelihoods and delivering their expert, knowledge-based services to clients. And they should be allowed to do so, because they’re an essential element in getting UK PLC back on its feet.
Misguided, politically motivated ‘assistance’ from Downing Street at this late stage won’t help contractors to achieve this goal. So, to borrow from the title of the classic political sitcom of the 1980s, when it comes to meddling with AWR, we say: “No, Prime Minister.”