| EMPLOYMENT
AGENCIES ACT 1973 AND REGULATIONS
Introduction
This webpage
gives general guidance on the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and
regulations. It should not be regarded as an authoritative interpretation
of those provisions.
Copies
of the legislation are available from your nearest branch of The
Stationery Office (TSO) or through TSO Accredited Agents (see
Yellow Pages). Anyone operating or considering operating an employment
agency or employment business is strongly advised to obtain copies.
If you wish to know more please contact the Employment Agency
Standards Inspectorate.
The Employment
Agencies Act 1973 (as amended by the Employment Protection Act
1975 and the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994) sets minimum
standards of conduct for employment agencies and employment businesses
operating from premises in Great Britain.
All employment
agencies and employment businesses must comply with the provisions
of the Act and the regulations made under it. The provisions are
designed to protect the interests of job seekers and employers
using employment agency or employment business services.
An employment
tribunal may, on application by the Secretary of State, make an
order prohibiting a person from carrying on an employment agency
or employment business.
Who
the Act applies to
The Act applies
to employment agencies and employment businesses whether they
are carried on by commercial concerns for profit or by non-profit-making
bodies. This includes those that deal with au pairs and with freelance
or self-employed workers as well as those that deal only with
workers on a normal contract of employment.
Employment
agencies
Under the Act an 'employment agency' is defined as the business
of providing services (whether by the provision of information
or otherwise) for the purpose of finding workers employment with
employers or of supplying employers with workers for employment
by them. The Act thus applies to a wide range of agencies, from
the familiar recruitment agency, through a range of specialist
agencies to entertainment and model agents, the executive selection
functions of management consultants and executive search consultants.
Employment
businesses
The other kind of activity covered, the 'employment business',
is defined as the business of supplying people in the employment
of the person carrying on the business, to act for, and under
the control of, other people in any capacity.
This covers
the hiring out of workers on a temporary basis and is frequently
called 'temping'. It has long been associated with the supply
of temporary secretarial and other office staff, but has extended
into many other areas, including professional and industrial occupations.
The Act does
not extend to sub-contracting i.e. independent contractors undertaking
specific tasks using their own staff acting and remaining under
their direction and control.
Those
excluded from the scope of the Act
The following
are excluded from the scope of the Act:
- services
provided by university appointments boards and certain other
educational institutions, by local authorities, by trade unions,
employers' organisations and certain professional bodies for
their members or by charitable organisations.
- services
for qualified nurses and certified midwives (N.B. agencies supplying
these services are subject to licensing and control under the
Nurses Agencies Act 1957 (in England and Wales) and the Nurses
(Scotland) Act 1951. Licensing and enforcement are carried out
by local authorities);
- certain
services provided exclusively for ex-members of HM Forces or
for persons released from prisons or from other institutions;
- the hiring
out of workers as an ancillary to the letting out on hire of
an aircraft, vessel, vehicle, plant or equipment (for example
a chauffeur-driven car-hire service or the hire of construction
plant with an operator).
Fees
Employment
agencies and employment businesses are prohibited from charging
fees to workers for finding or seeking to find them jobs.
The exception
is the finding of jobs for performers and certain other workers
in the entertainment field and photographic or fashion models.
This exception is subject to certain limitations set out in regulations
(see the Employment Agencies Act 1973 (Charging Fees to Workers)
Regulations 1976 (SI 1976 No 714)).
An agency
which uses the services of an agent abroad in finding a post for
an au pair outside the United Kingdom is allowed to charge a fee
to the au pair for finding the position, but the fee must not
exceed £40 and cannot be charged until the au pair has accepted
the post offered (see the Employment Agencies Act 1973 (Charging
Fees to Au Pairs) Regulations 1981 (SI 1981 No 1481)).
The Act
does not regulate the fees charged to employers by employment
agencies and businesses or the rates paid by employment businesses
to workers employed by them.
Standards
of Conduct
Regulations
have been made by the Secretary of State under section 5 of the
Act for the conduct of employment agencies and businesses (see
the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations
1976 (SI 1976 No 715)). These set the standards to be met.
Employment
agencies
The following is a list of the principal duties and obligations
placed on employment agencies.
General
Employment agencies:
- must obtain
adequate information from employer and worker clients for the
purpose of selecting a suitable worker for a vacancy and vice
versa;
- must not
disclose information about employers and workers other than
for the purpose of finding people jobs or supplying employers
with workers, except with the written consent of the worker
or employer who gave the information or in certain other specified
circumstances;
- must make
enquiries to ensure that workers possess any necessary qualifications
required by law (such as a heavy-goods vehicle driving licence
in the case of a lorry driver or appropriate qualifications
in the case of a pharmacist or doctor);
- must ensure
that the worker and employer are aware of any conditions imposed
by law which must be satisfied by the worker or employer (such
as the need for a work permit or a variation of landing conditions
in the case of an overseas worker) and that the employment (whether
in the United Kingdom or abroad) will be legal;
- must not
offer workers financial benefit or benefit in kind to persuade
them to use their services;
- must not
approach a worker already placed by them in employment for a
fee with a view to arranging employment for the worker with
another employer (except with the agreement of the present employer).
Advertisements
Employment agencies:
- must make
it clear in advertisements and business letters that they are
employment agencies;
- who issue
an advertisement offering a service of information about jobs
must, if they have no authority from an employer to find workers
for such jobs, state this fact in the advertisement.
Fees
Employment agencies:
- must on
receipt of an application from an employer client, immediately
provide a clearly legible written statement of current terms
of business (unless this has previously have been given) including
a scale of fees, the circumstances in which rebates are payable
and the scale of such rebates or, if it is the case, a statement
that rebates are not payable;
- if allowed
to charge a worker a fee for finding or seeking to find him
or her employment, must, before providing this service, give
the worker a clearly legible written statement detailing current
terms of business;
- where proposing
to charge a worker a fee for services other than job finding,
must, before providing services, give the worker a clearly legible
written statement detailing the service and the proposed charge;
- must not
make the provision of job-finding services conditional upon
the worker using other services for which the agent is not prevented
by the Act from charging a fee.
Young
people under eighteen
Employment agencies:
- must not
introduce to an employer a young person who is attending, or
has just left school, unless they have made appropriate enquiries
to find out whether the young person has received vocational
guidance from the local careers service (this regulation does
not apply to employment outside school hours, if the young person
is still at school);
- before
arranging employment abroad for a young person, or employment
in the United Kingdom for a young person from abroad:
- must obtain
written consent directly from a parent or guardian;
- must make
appropriate enquiries to ensure that suitable accommodation
has been arranged at an appropriate price which is acceptable
to the young person; and
- must ensure
that, when the employment is for a fixed term, proper return-fare
arrangements are made to cover the possibility of the employment
not beginning or of it finishing during the first ten weeks.
Employment
abroad and employment of workers from abroad
Employment agencies:
- must obtain
satisfactory written testimony that any employment agent used
in another country is a suitable person and not prohibited by
the law of that country from acting as an agent;
- must not
arrange employment abroad for a worker with an employer who
has no business premises in the United Kingdom, unless satisfactory
written testimony has been obtained which states that the proposed
employment will not be detrimental to the worker's interests;
- must obtain
two character references for any worker from abroad for whom
it is proposed to arrange employment in the United Kingdom and
make them available to the employer before a contract of employment
s entered into. If this is impracticable in the time available,
the employer must be informed. (N.B. this regulation does not
apply to employment as a performer in the entertainment industry);
- must not
arrange employment for a worker coming to this country for a
job, or going to a job abroad, if the rate of repayment of any
advance of fare is one-eighth or more of the worker's basic
weekly pay, or the total amount to be repaid is more than three
weeks' pay in the job - an au pair arrangement must not be made
if there is a requirement to repay fares out of pocket money
payable by the host;
- except
in the case of urgent arrangements for fixed-term employment
of less than fourteen days, must ensure that both worker and
employer receive, before the worker's departure, a written statement
in a language they understand, giving specified details of the
employment or of the worker respectively.
Workers
accepting jobs abroad should study the written statement carefully
and ensure that they are clear about the terms and conditions
of the employment before departure.
Safeguarding
clients' money
Employment agencies:
- if they
receive money on behalf of a worker client, must pay it directly
to the worker within ten days of receipt or, if the worker has
requested the agent in writing to hold money received from employers
on the worker's behalf, must pay it into a special client account
operated in accordance with rules set out in the regulations;
- if an employer
and worker authorise them to draw up the contract between them
and payment is to be made through the agent, must ensure that
the contract is in writing in one document and that a copy is
supplied to both parties.
Records
Employment agencies:
- must maintain
certain records, including records of information about workers
and employers.
Employment
businesses
The principal duties and obligations imposed on employment
businesses (temporary staff contractors) are as follows:
General
Employment businesses:
- before
entering into a contract with a hirer, must inform the hirer
of their current terms of business, including the procedure
if a worker supplied is unsatisfactory, any fee payable if the
hirer takes the worker into his or her direct employment and
whether workers supplied are employees of the employment business
or self-employed - a clearly legible written statement of these
terms must be sent to the hirer within twenty four hours of
the first worker supplied commencing work;
- must obtain
adequate information from a hirer about the work to enable a
suitable worker to be selected;
- must give
to a worker on entering their employment full details in writing
of the terms and conditions of employment, including whether
he or she is under contract of service or is self-employed,
the kind of work he or she may be supplied to do and the minimum
rates of pay for such work; subsequent changes agreed by the
worker must also be given to him or her in writing;
- must, before
supplying a worker to a hirer:
- give the
worker all available information about the nature of the hirer's
business, the kind of work and the hours and rate of pay applicable
and make appropriate enquiries to find out whether the worker
has any qualification which is required by law for the work
and that performance of the work (whether in the United Kingdom
or abroad) will not contravene the law;
- must not
prohibit or restrict their workers in any way from entering
the direct employment of a hirer and must not refuse to pay
a worker because they have not been paid by the hirer;
- must not
supply workers to a hirer as direct replacement for employees
who are in industrial dispute with the hirer, to do the work
normally performed by those employees;
- must not
supply to a hirer a worker who within the previous six months
was employed directly by the hirer (unless the latter consents
in writing);
- must not
approach workers in employment to induce them to enter their
employ for the purpose of being supplied to hirers.
Advertisements
Employment businesses:
- must make
clear in advertisements and business letters that they are employment
businesses;
- when quoting
rates of pay for workers to be supplied to hirers in an advertisement,
must also state the nature of the work, its location and the
minimum qualifications necessary to receive the rate of pay
quoted;
- when supplying
workers to hirers on a self-employed basis only, must state
this fact in any recruitment advertisement issued by them.
Work
abroad
Employment businesses:
- must not
supply a worker to a hirer abroad who has no business premises
in the United Kingdom unless satisfactory written testimony
has been obtained which states that the work will not be detrimental
to the worker's interests;
- must not
send a worker to a hirer abroad unless they have made arrangements
to pay the worker's return fare themselves when the job ends
or if the job does not commence, or else have obtained a written
undertaking from the hirer to do so - if a hirer defaults on
such an undertaking, the employment business must pay the return
fare;
- must supply
the worker and the hirer, before the worker departs, with a
written statement giving specified details of the work or of
the worker respectively.
Records
Employment businesses:
- must maintain
certain records, including records of information about workers
and employers.
Infringement
of the Act and regulations
Anyone who:
- contravenes
the prohibition on charging fees to workers;
- contravenes
or fails to comply with any of the regulations made to secure
the proper conduct of employment agencies and businesses;
- makes,
causes to be made, or knowingly allows false entries to be made
in any record or document that has to be kept under the Act
or regulations; or
- fails without
reasonable excuse to comply with a prohibition order
will be guilty
of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
£5,000.
In addition,
any person who obstructs an officer in carrying out any enforcement
functions will be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction
to a fine not exceeding £1,000.
Prohibition
Orders
An employment
tribunal may, on application by the Secretary of State, make an
order prohibiting a person (which includes a company) from carrying
on, or being concerned with the carrying on of, an employment
agency or employment business for up to 10 years on the grounds
that the person concerned is unsuitable because of misconduct
or any other sufficient reason.
A prohibition
order may:
- prohibit
a person from running an employment agency or business, or any
description of employment agency or business specified in the
order; or
- impose
certain conditions under which a person may be allowed to run
an employment agency or business.
Code
for Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate
The explanation
of the law on this web page and the information in the sections
which follow comprise our Code for the Employment Agency Standards
Inspectorate.
The enforcement
functions under the Act are carried out by visiting inspectors
employed by the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate. The
Act enables our inspectors to enter premises which they have reason
to believe are used for the purposes of an employment agency or
business. They have powers to inspect the premises and any records
or documents kept in accordance with the Act or regulations.
They may also
require the production of such information as they may reasonably
need to ascertain whether the Act and regulations are being complied
with or to enable the Secretary of State to exercise his functions
under the Act. All our inspectors carry official means of identification.
Our enforcement
policy includes investigating as a priority any complaint about
the conduct of an employment agency or employment business. Our
inspectors also follow up other information about possible misconduct
and undertake random checks.
If our inspectors
find evidence of breaches of the Act or regulations, the next
steps depend on the circumstances of the case. In the case of
minor infringements or where an agency is found for the first
time to be in breach of law, the usual step is for the inspectors
to explain the position and warn against further breaches. In
the more serious cases, this explanation will also be provided
in writing. The explanation will be in terms of obligatory requirements
because the specific nature of the Act and regulations leaves
no room for recommending actions which are not mandatory.
In the case
of an employment agency or employment business which is found
to have breached the law before, or which has caused serious harm
to its users through disregard for the protective provisions,
we may take the option of prosecution in a Magistrates' Court
or an application for a prohibition order.
If an employment
agency or employment business wishes to question any explanation
given by one of our inspectors or to make representations about
the application of the law, we will listen, seek legal advice
if necessary and advise appropriately. Such questions or representations
should first be sent to the Operations Manager at the Employment
Agency Inspectorate.
Our
Service Standards
Complaints
about employment agencies and employment businesses
We will investigate complaints about the conduct of an employment
agency or employment business within the scope of the Act as a
matter of priority. If you wish to make a complaint please write
to, telephone, email or fax the Employment
Agency Standards Office. We will supply a simple form to help
you make your complaint if you need it.
We will give
you a written explanation of the result of the investigation.
If we cannot complete the investigation within 4 weeks we will
tell you what is happening.
Our
service to our customers
You can expect us to provide a helpful, courteous and efficient
service. Staff will identify themselves by name.
We want to
know what you think about us. We welcome comments on our service.
If something
has gone wrong with the way you have been treated or the way your
complaint about an employment agency or employment business has
been dealt with, please write to
Operations
Manager
Employment Agency Standards
Department of Trade and Industry
UG61
1 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0ET
If we owe
you an apology, we will give you one. We will explain what went
wrong and what we will do to put it right.
You may also
write at any time to an MP, who may decide to refer you complaint
to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration (the Ombudsman).
Consultation
From time to time we consult with representative bodies and trade
unions directly concerned with the employment agency or employment
business industry. Our aim is to discuss how best to deal with
compliance failures and other matters of mutual concern.
How
to get in touch with us:
Write to
Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate
Department of Trade and Industry
UG62
1 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0ET
E-mail
eas@dti.gsi.gov.uk
Helpline
0845 955 5105 (UK) All calls charged at local rates
+44 20 7215
5980 (International)
020 7215 6740
Minicom (text phone)
Fax
020 7215 2636 (UK)
+44 20 7215
2636 (International)
Appendix
- other legal requirements
Many additional
legal requirements in legislation other than the Employment Agencies
Act 1973 and regulations made under it apply to employment agencies
and employment businesses either specifically or as they apply
to businesses or employers generally. These include the specific
obligations placed on employment agencies and employment businesses
by legislation relating to discrimination in employment, viz:
Sex Discrimination
Act 1975 (as amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1986 and
Employment Act 1989). The legislation makes it unlawful for an
employment agency to discriminate against a person on the grounds
of sex or marriage in relation to the provision of its services.
The
Equal Opportunities Commission has produced a Code of Practice
on equal opportunity policies, procedures and practices in employment,
which is available from the Equal Opportunities Commission, Overseas
House, Quay Street, Manchester M3 3HN (tel: 0161 833 9244).
Race Relations
Act 1976. The legislation makes it unlawful for an employment
agency to discriminate against a person on the grounds of colour,
race, nationality or ethnic or national origins in relation to
the provision of its services. The Commission for Racial Equality's
Race Relations Code
of Practice for the elimination of racial discrimination and the
promotion of equal opportunity in employment includes responsibilities
and recommendations for employment agencies and employment businesses.
Copies are available from the Commission for Racial Equality,
Elliot House, 10-12 Allington Street, London SW1E 5EH (tel: 020
7828 7022).
Trade
Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 which,
generally, makes it unlawful to refuse access to employment on
grounds related to trade union membership. In particular, the
Act makes it unlawful for employment agencies to refuse to provide
their normal service to an applicant because of his trade union
membership or non-membership. Guidance booklet PL871
is obtainable from any office of the Employment Service
or from any regional office of the Advisory, Conciliation and
Arbitration Service (ACAS).
The
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) makes it unlawful
for employers to discriminate against disabled employees or job
applicants. Employers may have to make reasonable adjustments
to employment arrangements and the workplace. Disabled people
who have been discriminated against can complain to an employment
tribunal. ACAS can help conciliate. Employers with fewer than
15 employees are excluded. Further details are contained in booklet
DL170 DDA: What
employers need to know, which is available from the Disability
Rights Commission's (DRC) helpline, which can be phoned for the
cost of a local call on 08457 622633 (or 08457 622644 for textphone).
The DDA also
makes it unlawful for those providing goods, facilities, services
or premises to the public ("service providers") to discriminate
against disabled people. It applies to service providers of any
size. Service providers must not treat disabled people less favourably
for a reason related to their disability, and disabled people
who have been discriminated against can complain to the courts.
Since 1 October 1999, service providers have also had to make
reasonable adjustments to enable disabled people to use their
services. This may include: altering policies, practices or procedures
which exclude disabled people; providing auxiliary aids and services
or providing the service in a reasonable alternative way where
a physical feature prevents access. Further details are contained
in booklet DL150 DDA: What
service providers need to know, which is also available from
the DRC Helpline. From 1 October 2004, service providers will
have to consider making reasonable adjustments to the physical
features of their premises if they continue to prevent access
to services.
A finding
by a court or tribunal that any employment agency, employment
business or person concerned with carrying on an agency or business
is in breach of statutory obligations may give the Secretary of
State grounds for applying to an employment tribunal for a prohibition
order.
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