Following several years of relentless lobbying by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) on behalf of the recruitment industry, the new Employment Agency Act (EAA) regulations will come into force on April 6th.
As part of the awareness raising campaign, the REC has set about an unprecedented programme of EAA Roadshows in conjunction with the DTI. To date, there have been 17 different regional events and the overall attendance has hit the 1200 mark. Based on the member feedback from the different events, one of the particular areas of concern are the possible implications of the regulations for on-line recruiters and job-boards which are excluded from the act.
Bill Shipton, Chair of the RECís Association of Online Recruiters (AOLR), explains that once the initial changes are in place though, the REC and AOLR will lobby for the DTI to press ahead with their review of the online recruitment sector.
ìThe DTI review of online recruiters is critical. This is one area where technology has outstripped regulation and although online recruiters currently fall within the regulations, the DTI knows it has a problem and is keen to find a solution. The Government has already acknowledged the important role that the online recruitment sector plays in the modern labour market but if the EAA regulations are left unchanged, they will have the effect of either driving online businesses offshore, or worse, out of business. We are confident, however, that we can reach a workable solution with the DTI.î
The RECís next big challenge will be to ensure the DTI keeps to its word and does review the online sector properly and does so in close partnership with the industry.
For further information, please contact the REC press office on 0207 618 9106
In on the act
REC leads the way on implementing new EAA regulations