The government has opted to press on with controversial regulations that limit recruitment agencies' ability to charge temp to perm fees.

Employers have to pay the fees to recruitment agencies if they want to offer a temp a full-time job.

The new regulations, which will come into effect on 6 April next year, state:

• Agencies cannot charge a fee unless they give the client the alternative option of taking the temp on for a longer period of hire.

• They can charge a fee if the employer takes on the temp permanently or through another agency within an eight week period after the end of an assignment. The client must also have the option of keeping the worker on as a temp for an agreed period of time.

• Agencies can charge temp to third party fees within eight weeks after the end of the initial assignment. These apply if a client introduces a worker to another person, such as another agency, again provided they had an option of an extended hire period.

The industry's trade body, the REC, will publish a plain english guide to the regulations and stage a series of road shows to help agencies prepare for the changes.

Limited company contractors can opt out of the regulations, which will help the IT and interim manager recruitment markets.

And agencies that discover that temps are unsuitable for a job within three months of an introduction to a client must inform the hirer without delay.

This regulation is aimed to prevent incidents similar to the case of Amy Gehring, a supply teacher who was discovered to be unsuitable after warnings from the child protection agency.

REC managing director Gareth Osborne said: "We now need to make sure the industry is ready for the changes, which our road shows in conjunction with the DTI will help deliver."