As food manufacturers and hospitality operators plan to employ thousands of temporary staff to cope with an Olympic summer, Rafiq Chohan, managing director of recruitment specialist Goldteam, warns that ignorance of recruitment legislation can land employers in hot water.
Chohan explains: “With just over 100 days until the Olympics, employees are naturally looking to boost their teams with temporary labour to cope with what’s set to be a bumper summer for the UK. However, unwitting employers are putting themselves at risk of tribunal claims, negative PR and penalties for non-compliance with regulations – in particular the new Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) that came in to force in October.”
AWR gives temporary employees the same rights as permanent staff after 12 weeks of work in the same role, with the same employer, and in some cases increased employment rights from day one. The regulation covers everything from pay, rest periods and night work policies to annual leave, and gives additional rights to pregnant temporary workers.
Goldteam is concerned that the industry does not know enough about the legislation and is not taking the necessary precautions to protect themselves.
Chohan says: “With non-compliance resulting in hefty fines it’s vital for food manufacturers and hospitality operators to adhere to the regulation, but one of the questions we’re regularly asked is how to comply and how to manage AWR? And some organisations aren’t aware of the regulation.
“That’s where itemps comes in to its own. Our industry-leading technology, makes it easy for employers comply with regulation and saves them time and money. Designed to meet the unique challenges of the temporary labour market, the online system keeps track of the qualifying periods for each employee – making management of AWR easy.”
With a single click employers can see how many weeks an employee has worked and when their status is due to change. When they’ve reached their 12-week qualifying period, itemps automatically updates their status and adjusts their pay so employers don’t have to – cutting down on management time and ensuring compliance with AWR.
Goldteam champions compliance and understand the labour market so employers don’t have to. itemps is designed to take the hassle out of managing temporary staff while ensuring full compliance with AWR.
