With full implementation of the Agency Workers Directive less than 20 months away, the REC has announced that it will issue new guidance to help recruiters, contractors and umbrella companies ensure their businesses are compliant in time for October 2011.
There has been widespread concern within the industry about the fall out of the new regulations and how they will affect the contractor / recruiter and contractor / client relationship. Many fear that paying clients will insist that contractors work PAYE regardless of their employment status while others think that IR35 will feature prominently when trying to determine whether someone is captured by the AWD or not.
Since the proposed regulations were published, the REC has been working tirelessly with BIS, the government and the recruitment community as a whole to ensure it’s members are ready for ‘A’ day. Over the next 12 months, it will conduct a series of workshops to promote client awareness and produce agency tool kits which will include, amongst other things, example contracts for both inside and outside AWD assignments.
The REC’s telephone service has already seen a recent surge in the number of enquiries from concerned recruiters. The online forums are also providing tangible evidence that both umbrella companies and limited company contractors are feeling equally as nervous about the road ahead.
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Image: 25/12/2006 (Day 25) – Minifig by Kaptain Kobold
