AWR FEARS REALISED

First signs of a significant negative impact on temporary worker placements from the AWR have been revealed.

Research carried out by APSCo has shown that 29 per cent of recruiters believe end users are likely to terminate temp assignments early – before the 12-week qualifying period for equal rights with permanent colleagues elapses.

Due to the timing of the regulations APSCo believes January could see a high proportion of contractors out of work.

The poll was conducted among APSCo members who supply professional-level candidates in markets such as IT, banking & finance and engineering. More below...

Ann Swain, Chief Executive at APSCo, pictured, said: “The AWR is clearly having an impact, even at the professional end of the market. Contractors and temps in areas such as IT or banking usually earn more than permanent staff, but this is not true for all roles, particularly at the entry level, where the AWR may lead to increased costs.”

“The initial 12-week qualifying period expired at the end of December, so if these concerns are even close to being accurate, we could see tens of thousands of temporary workers jettisoned onto the labour market in January.”

She adds: “The majority of workers affected are likely to be young graduates. At a time when unemployment among young people has surpassed one million, any barrier to securing work has to be questioned.”

Phil Hutchinson, Operations Manager at g2 Recruitment, added: “Some clients have already begun the process of either terminating assignments as the 12-week qualifying period approaches. Others are looking to ‘buy people out’ of contracts, transfer them to fixed term contracts, and a few are looking to transfer them to full-time permanent positions.”

Despite the concern over hirers terminating assignments early, just 19 per cent of recruiters think that the AWR is contributing towards reduced demand for contractors and temps. 43 per cent of APSCo members, however, felt that the impact was likely to be greater once the first 12-week qualifying period ends.

Ann Swain says: “Even where temps and contractor are better paid, or outside the scope of the Regulations entirely, there is still a significant compliance burden for both hirers and recruiters. One of the main areas of concern is collecting pay comparison data. A lot of recruiters are saying that getting the information from hirers, which is crucial from a compliance perspective, is proving difficult.”