Bringing in agency workers can solve an urgent staffing problem, but it is not an off-the-shelf transfer of responsibility. The agency and hiring organisation have different duties, and the hirer controls much of the information and workplace access needed to get them right. This guide covers current rules in Great Britain under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, not proposed future changes.
Start by defining who is doing what
Before the assignment starts, record the role, location, hours, reporting line, expected duration and skills needed. Confirm which organisation will pay the worker, deal with absence and answer contractual queries. The agency should check suitability and right to work; the hirer still needs to decide whether the person can safely perform the actual job and how they will be managed on site.
Give the agency a realistic description rather than a generic job title. A warehouse operative who will use mechanical handling equipment, work nights or enter chilled storage needs a different briefing and competence check from someone picking light items on a day shift. Tell the agency about relevant qualifications, risks and controls before it selects a worker.
Name one manager to coordinate with the agency and one supervisor for the worker. That avoids gaps where each side assumes the other has covered an induction, pay comparator or change to the assignment.
Day one means facilities and vacancy information
From the first day of an assignment, an agency worker has the right to treatment no less favourable than a comparable directly engaged worker when accessing the hirer's collective facilities and amenities. Depending on what the hirer provides, that can include a canteen, toilets and showers, a staff room, prayer room, workplace crèche, vending facilities, car parking or transport between sites.
This is equal access, not automatic priority. If directly engaged staff join a waiting list for a crèche or limited parking space, the agency worker can generally be placed on the same basis. Different treatment may be permitted where it is objectively justified, but convenience, habit or an agency-only badge colour is not a sound substitute for a considered reason.
Agency workers must also be told about relevant vacancies that a comparable worker could see. Make sure they know where vacancies are advertised and can access that channel. A notice hidden on an employee-only intranet will not help if the temporary worker has no login. The hirer is liable for breaches of these day-one rights.
Track the 12-week qualifying period from the first day
After working in the same role with the same hirer for 12 calendar weeks, the worker qualifies for equal treatment in specified basic working and employment conditions. Count weeks in which work is performed, even if it is only part of a week. Do not wait until week 11 to identify the comparator, pay arrangements and annual-leave position.
A break does not always reset the clock. Some breaks pause it and the earlier weeks carry forward; others count towards continuity, including certain pregnancy, maternity, adoption and parental absences. A break of more than six calendar weeks may reset the clock unless a statutory continuity rule applies. A genuinely new role with the same hirer must be substantively different, and the agency should give written notice of the new role. Rotating labels or assignments to avoid qualification can trigger anti-avoidance consequences.
Keep a shared assignment record covering start date, role, location, hours, breaks and absences. Ask the agency about previous assignments with your organisation, including through another agency, because qualifying service may already have accrued.
Equal treatment after week 12 has defined boundaries
The qualifying rights cover the basic conditions that would ordinarily have applied had the worker been recruited directly to the same job. They include key elements of pay, duration of working time, night work, rest periods and breaks, and annual leave. Acas also explains the relevant antenatal and adoption-appointment rights.
Equal pay can include basic pay, overtime, shift allowances, commission and individual performance-related bonuses where the conditions are met. It does not automatically extend to every benefit. Acas lists exclusions including occupational sick pay, redundancy pay, company pension schemes, expenses and bonuses solely linked to company performance or long-term loyalty. Automatic enrolment duties sit with the agency as employer and are not created by the 12-week equal-treatment rule.
Use a real comparator where one exists or identify the terms that would apply to a direct recruit. Do not rely on a headline hourly rate alone. Check premiums, enhanced holiday, paid breaks and working patterns, then give the agency the information it needs to set the worker's terms. Liability for a week-12 breach can fall on the agency, the hirer or both according to responsibility.
Turn the comparator into a usable instruction for the agency.
HR + SAFETY's outsourced HR support can help identify the relevant terms, build a qualifying-period check and document what needs to change before equal-treatment rights apply.
Discuss an agency assignmentShare changes before they create an underpayment
Tell the agency promptly when a pay award, new shift premium, holiday increase or working-time arrangement affects comparable staff. A correct comparison at the start of week 13 can become wrong later. Supply enough detail to explain the rate and its effective date, including any performance conditions or reference periods.
Build a review into any assignment likely to last beyond eight weeks. Confirm accrued qualifying time, the proposed comparator, the elements included and who will communicate the outcome. If the worker raises a concern, investigate it with the agency rather than sending them back and forth. After qualification, workers can use statutory information-request routes to understand how their treatment was determined.
Induct and protect agency workers as people on your site
Health and safety should be agreed before supply, then delivered where the work happens. HSE says agencies and hirers must work closely so temporary and agency workers receive legal protection. The hirer is normally best placed to explain site hazards, emergency arrangements, safe systems, supervision and how to report defects, near misses or concerns.
Check competence rather than accepting a job title at face value. Provide task-specific information, instruction and training; confirm any equipment authorisation; and issue suitable PPE where required. Consider whether the person is new, young, pregnant, disabled or has another relevant need without making assumptions. Review the risk controls if the role, shift, equipment or work area changes.
A short assignment is not a reason for a shorter safety standard. In a Newcastle warehouse, for example, an experienced agency picker may still need local traffic-route rules, scanner training, manual-handling controls and a named supervisor before entering the work area.
A practical hirer checklist
- Describe the actual role, hours, location, competence and risk requirements to the agency.
- Assign a hirer contact and workplace supervisor before the worker arrives.
- Give equal day-one access to relevant collective facilities and vacancy information.
- Check earlier assignments and maintain an accurate 12-week qualifying record.
- Identify the direct-recruit terms, comparator and every relevant pay or leave element.
- Tell the agency promptly about pay awards, shift changes and altered working conditions.
- Deliver local induction, training, supervision and reporting arrangements.
- Investigate concerns jointly and keep the evidence supporting your decisions.
Use the agency relationship as a managed supply arrangement, not a hand-off. Give people proper day-one access, track qualifying service, share accurate terms before week 12 and connect the agency's checks with the induction and supervision delivered at your workplace.
This guide provides general information for UK employers. It is not legal advice and should not replace advice based on the facts of a specific matter.