The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) is urging the government to recognise practical difficulties of implementing equal pay for agency workers after 12 weeks, after research revealed concerns and a possible surge of employment tribunals.

The survey of 300 recruiters, carried out by the REC has found that the majority of temporary assignments will be affected by the Temporary (Agency) Workers Directive, which will give the UK’s 1.2m temporary workers equal treatment as permanent workers after a 12-week period.

Almost half (48%) of respondents thought that the impact of equal pay would result in a 10% rise on the cost of filling a temporary position, largely due to the increased administrative burden.  Meanwhile, 57% of respondents saying that the average assignment usually goes beyond 12 weeks, which confirms that the legislation could have a significant impact on the cost of placing temporary staff.

Key concerns for recruiters include:

· Determining equal treatment – only 27% thought that identifying equal pay would be relatively straightforward with 35% saying that their clients would struggle to identify a comparable worker to determine equal treatment
· Risk of employment tribunal cases – 66% stated that the legislation will expose them to a greater risk.
· Data protection violation – 68% think that clients will be uncomfortable disclosing information about the salaries and pay bands of their staff
· Cutting out confusion – 34% would set the rate of equal pay at the beginning of assignments to avoid worrying about the 12-week benchmark
· Admin over placing – 43% thought extra costs would be incurred by consultants being diverted from making placements to chasing up equal pay information

The REC is holding its second Agency Summit today to give both employers and recruiters a chance to share their views and provide input into how equal treatment for agency workers can be applied in the UK. The event will culminate in the REC finalising its recommendations to the Government on the Directive, which has been developed through the REC’s Agency Work Commission.