Alleged Downing Street review of Agency Workers Regulations causes media storm on eve of implementation
Since the Telegraph first broke the story that one of Prime Minister David Cameron’s No10 advisors commissioned an independent review of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR), contractors have been bombarded with conflicting news stories and disinformation about the future of AWR. Despite what appears to be a No 10 publicity stunt, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has since confirmed to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) that AWR will be implemented as originally planned on 1 October 2011. Unfortunately, Downing Street’s ill-advised political meddling may cause more harm than good. More…
Follow the story:
- The Telegraph first broke the story.
- The London Evening Standard revives the Institute of Director’s claim that the original Agency Workers Directive, on which AWR is based, was unnecessarily ‘gold plated’ by government.
- PCG urges restraint as confusion must be avoided at this crucial time prior to implementation. It confirms that the legislation may be reviewed in 2013.
- The Recruiter reports that REC received confirmation from BIS that implementation will proceed as planned.
“Agency Workers Regulations? Never heard of them”, say 51% of contractors
Over half of contractors have never heard of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR), even though the regulations, which come into force in less than a month, could impact on their contracting careers. This surprising degree of contractor ignorance of AWR was revealed in the latest ContractorCalculator survey. It also shows that 17% of umbrella company contractors believe that they can carry on as before once the regulations take effect, despite the fact that umbrella company contractors are automatically considered to be in-scope. The survey suggests that, rather than seeking independent legal counsel to review the ‘done deal’ of AWR, government should invest in more education and guidance. More…
UK labour market “incredibly resilient” as IT & engineering lead contract hiring growth
Contracting continued to grow in August, led by engineering and IT. According to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)/KPMG Report on Jobs, new client projects and organisations are hiring workers on a ‘temp to perm’ basis, because of economic uncertainty. “The UK jobs market is being incredibly resilient,” says REC Chief Executive Kevin Green. “Even with increasing job losses in the public sector and a new influx of school-leavers, it is performing much better than many predicted.” More…
Contractors stuck with tax admin burden, as HMRC is exempt from red tape ban
Despite government promises, contractors can expect no changes to their tax administration burden, as it has exempted HMRC from the ‘one in, one out’ government policy to cut red tape. This is Money’s Dan Atkinson reports that the decision by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to exempt “one of the biggest sources of red tape” has been criticised by both small business bodies and accounting professionals. More…
Digital, media, marketing and creative workers in demand: engineers and IT see falls
Digital, media, marketing and creative workers were in demand over the summer, against a backdrop of falling demand across most other sectors. This is according to August’s Reed Job Index, which showed slight falls in demand for workers in the core contracting disciplines of IT, telecoms and engineering; this is in contrast to what the REC/KPMG Report on Jobs reports (see above). It is no surprise that demand for public sector workers is half what it was when the Index was first launched in December 2009. More…
Financial IT contractor recruitment falls for second month running
IT contractor recruitment in the UK’s financial sector fell in August for the second month running, according to figures from employment screening firm Powerchex. Recruitment in the UK financial sector was depressed generally over the summer. Insurance was hardest hit, which has had a knock-on effect on IT contractor hiring. Despite the short-term falls, Powerchex’s figures confirm that IT contractor recruitment in the financial sector has leapt up by 75% compared to August 2010. More…
Significant falls in the value of the global IT market driven by public spending cuts
UK-based IT contractors won’t be surprised to hear that public sector spending cuts are mainly responsible for a 40% fall in the value of the global IT market. In an article for ComputerWeekly.com, Karl Flinders reports on the findings by IT analyst Ovum that the number of major deals in the last quarter has slumped by 20%, mainly due to the lack of big public sector projects. Europe took the lead in generating the most private sector deals over the last quarter, which is good news for the UK’s IT contractors. More…
Opportunities for online developers as new government digital director targets online innovation
IT contractors at the cutting edge of online and digital services delivery development may wish to dust down their CVs following the appointment of a new Digital Director to the Government Digital Services (GDS) Team. In an interview with Kathleen Hall published on ComputerWeekly.com, former Guardian technology head Mike Bracken explains his vision for transforming government digital services. He aims to bring on board new talent to the GDS team and has a multi-million pound budget for the ongoing development of the government portal, Directgov. More…
Contractors and freelancers have new online tool to target high growth firms
Contractors and freelancers seeking assignments with start-ups and high-growth firms have a new interactive online tool to help them identify target-rich city locations. Innovation promotion body NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) has created Geography of Growth, which pinpoints cities that include high-growth firms, which account for only 7% of all businesses. Aberdeen and Cardiff are currently the cities with the most high-growth firms. More…
Contractors in manufacturing likely to see contract growth, but not in every sector
Contractors specialising in the manufacturing sector will need to target their client sectors carefully, according to the latest Engineering Employers Federation (EEF)/BDO Manufacturing Outlook survey. In contrast to the Markit/CIPS Manufacturing PMI published last week, which showed UK manufacturing in decline, the EEF survey reveals that the sector’s output and orders are still growing. However the sector is starting to stratify, with some sectors doing better than others. More…
Contracting service provider launches new Agency Workers Regulations trading solutions
Parasol has announced the trading solutions it will offer contractors once the Agency Workers Regulations come into force from 1 October 2011. It will make available both Matched Permanent Pay and Swedish Derogation umbrella solutions, depending on contractors’ needs and circumstances. The firm has also said it will offer tailored employment and trading solutions to staffing businesses and clients. More…