East Midlands’ recruitment agency Barker Ross has launched an agency health check – a free and confidential service to ensure employers are using agencies which comply with the law.

The initiative was introduced after Barker Ross found a number of companies engaging agencies which do not adhere to employment legislation.

Tim Sutcliffe, operations manager of Barker Ross’s industrial division, says: “I have come across a number of businesses in various industrial sectors including food preparation which are using agencies who do not, for example, hold a Gangmasters Licence.

“By using labour supplied by such agencies, the firms as well as the recruitment provider are leaving themselves wide open to prosecution.”

The Barker Ross Health Check, which also features a booklet containing a series of simple questions, covers issues such as holiday and sickness absence policies, training, statutory maternity, paternity and adoption pay, rest periods and payment of the minimum wage.