Using a Recruitment Agency to find Staff

Employers utilizing recruitment companies to discover momentary or long-term employees have specific obligations.

Recruitment companies that find personnel for other companies, but pay the staff themselves, are understood as ’em ployment services’.

If you take on workers through a work business, they are accountable for making sure the employees’ rights under working time and minimum wage rules.

Recruitment firms offering employees for farming, food processing, horticultural and shellfish-gathering markets are referred to as ‘gangmasters’ – if you utilize one, you require to ensure they are licensed gangmasters.

Employers’ obligations

As an employer, you’re accountable for:

– company employees’ health and security
– ensuring they have the same access to shared centers as other employees
– letting them understand about relevant job vacancies in your organization

However, you can stop supplying work to a company worker, as long as they’re not utilized by you.

Additional rights after 12 weeks

After 12 weeks in the same job, agency employees are entitled to the very same conditions as employees doing the same or similar work. This consists of:

– pay
– working time, pause and breaks
– night work
– annual leave
– time off for antenatal consultations for pregnant workers

For more details, see guidance on company worker regulations.

Transfer costs

Recruitment agencies can charge a transfer charge if you utilize an straight, or an employee is supplied to you through another recruitment company after their initial agreement. Recruitment companies must tell you in your agreement if they plan to charge you transfer costs.

When a firm employee begins deal with you, a recruitment agency can only charge a transfer charge if you take the worker on within either of the following durations, whichever ends later on:

– 8 weeks of completion of their last task with you
– 14 weeks of the start of their first assignment with you

If there has actually been a break of 42 days in between the worker’s tasks with you, the 14 weeks will begin from the start date of the most recent task.

The recruitment firm may also charge you a transfer cost if:

– you present a worker to a 3rd celebration who then utilizes them throughout this period
– you use an employee introduced to you by a recruitment firm before they have begun their project with you through the firm

Extended hire duration

If you employ an employee provided to you by a recruitment company, the company needs to use you an extended hire period rather of charging you a transfer charge. This suggests they would continue to provide the employee to you for a predetermined duration without changing the regards to the project. Once the predetermined duration ends, you would employ the worker directly with no transfer charge.

A recruitment agency may charge you a transfer fee if they present an employee to you and you employ them:

– before they begin resolve the recruitment company
– through a various firm, before they begin overcome the presenting recruitment firm

In both cases, the introducing firm must provide the option of a hire period rather of charging you a transfer charge. The terms of this hire duration need to be set out in your agreement with the recruitment firm.