PCG welcomes opt-out clause in DTIís new agency regulations

The Professional Contractors Group (PCG) has welcomed the DTIís publication of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, the main provisions of which will come into force on 6 April 2004. The regulations could affect more than half a million people working through 17,000 agencies and employment businesses throughout Great Britain.

The measures include provisions to allow limited company contractors, who are often highly paid and highly skilled, to opt out of being covered by the regulations, whilst preventing vulnerable workers being forced to do so.

PCG spent two years campaigning for this opt out clause. In numerous meetings with the DTI, PCG co-founder and senior political adviser David Ramsden argued that professional IT consultants were not necessarily good at selling themselves, and should be free to pay agencies to market their skills. Furthermore, if limited liability freelance contractors were to be bound by the legislation as originally drafted, this could prove a disincentive to clients who might otherwise consider engaging freelance contractors.

Welcoming the publication of the new regulations, PCG chairman Simon Griffiths said, ìWe are delighted that our lobbying has, on this occasion, proved to be both worthwhile and effective. These regulations are clearly intended to protect work-seekers, particularly those who might be vulnerable, but they are not necessarily appropriate for self-employed freelance contractors. Freelancers have an increasingly valuable role to play in the UK economy, and it is important that their enterprise should not be stifled by the introduction of burdensome legislation.î