Agency Workers: Law and HR Best Practice
Event Review
JSB’s ‘Agency Contract and Interim Worker’s’ conference took place at the Grange Holborn Hotel on 31 January 2008. The day commenced with a keynote speech from Tom Hadley, Director of External Relations at the REC who offered his views on the temporary workers’ horizon and the current European developments. The REC has been working hard to improve measures for its members and achieve the best results possible for the temporary labour market and employers alike.
The day progressed with two comprehensive legal sessions from Sarah Howlett, Partner at McGrigors and Jonathan Maude, Partner at Manches on the employment status of agency and casual workers. The presentations provided an update on the different rights of ‘workers’ and ‘employees’ and both speakers gave a guide to understanding the current legal framework as well as much needed practical advice on the dos and don’ts of employing temporary labour.
Following on from the legal discussions, the day continued with a presentation on the tax implications for employing agency and contract staff by Alan Nolan, Director, KPMG, which also gave an insight into the managed services legislation. Next we heard from Howard Yearwood, Training and Diversity Manager, Acas who offered practical tips for dispute resolution and preventing tribunal claims in this difficult area.
After lunch it was interesting to hear a public sector perspective by Tim Anderson, HR Strategic Adviser, Lewisham Council who spoke of how the council has managed their agency project and the business case for strategy planning and having clear objectives. Tim’s presentation was followed by a very informative and helpful session from Andy Smith, Head of HR at Adecco on the resulting responsibilities of the end user and the agency and how best to divide up the respective roles and exercise best practice. Andy commented: “With careful and appropriate management, organisations can benefit from the flexibility offered by a third-party workforce without incurring unintended liability”.
The day ended with a panel session, which provided a much-needed forum for any company specific questions. Key advice from the day included the need to ensure agency workers do not become an integrated part of the workforce and that where possible it is best to keep office parties, staff restaurants and car parking spaces solely for employees. Overall the day was very informative and provided top tips and best practice advice for employing agency, contract and interim workers in the workplace. Alison Jago, Personnel Manager, Land Registry commented: “The conference exceeded my expectations and there was lots of highly useful information.” However with possible change on the horizon and the continuing discussions in Parliament and at European level, it is clear that whole area of law is still anything but certain.
Jo Mortlock
Conference Producer