The head of the Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate has told Recruiter that she was “not surprised” by level of infringements uncovered by recent raids in Exeter.

During the raids in January, enforcement officers from EAS, working alongside National Minimum Wage enforcement officers from the Inland Revenue,found the majority of employment agencies visited in Exeter were in breach of employment laws.

In a response to written questions from Recruiter, Paula Lovitt, head of EAS, said that Exeter was “fairly representative” of the rest of the country.

However, she added: “While the number of infringements found [in Exeter] was high, many of these breaches EAS considers to be low risk — such as technical breaches on terms and conditions or paperwork infringements.

“That is why we are reviewing all our guidance and will republish it on the Business Link website by the end of March to help agencies to comply.”

Lovitt also revealed that the three most common infringements found by EAS in its work are:

• Failure to pay workers for hours worked

• Non-compliance with workers’ terms and conditions

• Charging up-front fees in the entertainment and modelling sectors

Lovitt also said that EAS is currently looking at a compliance scheme specifically aimed at SMEs. This is would allow SME recruitment agencies to submit their terms and conditions to EAS for a compliance check. This would also provide them with guidance, and allow them to maintain an ongoing relationship with EAS to ensure they get regulatory updates in the future.

Lovitt said the scheme was an example of measures EAS was considering to better target its resources, while ensuring the greatest impact in terms of compliance.

In response to a question whether possible cuts in its budget could lead to an increase in infringements and to more vulnerable workers being exploited, Lovitt said EAS had spent the last year developing a high-risk matrix to target its resources on high-risk locations and high-risk agency sectors.

The government is currently carrying out a review of compliance and enforcement arrangements, and the future of the EAS, and indeed the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) looks uncertain. With budgets under pressure, one option likely to be on the table is a merger of the two bodies. (See 9 March issue of Recruiter.)