IMA backs Agency Work Commission recommendations

The Interim Management Association (IMA) has backed the recommendations of the Agency Work Commission that would ensure that interim managers and other high-end flexible workers are not affected by the EU Agency Workers Directive.

The Agency Work Commission was set up to generate practical input from employers, professional recruiters and employment lawyers on how the EU Agency Workers Directive can best be implemented in the UK. The Commissionís report was presented recently to Employment Minister Pat McFadden.

Commenting on the recommendations, Paul Botting, Chair of the Interim Management Association, says: ìWe welcome the fact that the Agency Work Commission has highlighted specific issues facing the ëhigher endí of the interim and contract work market. High end flexible workers are not the type of individuals that the legislation is aiming to protect and we must find ways of avoiding unnecessary administration and uncertainty.

ìOne way of achieving this is to make it clear that the new regulations will not apply to Personal Service Companies (PSCs) as they are providers of business services and not engaged as workersî.

The REC has worked in co-operation with the Private Contractorís Group (PCG) in its ongoing lobbying campaign on the EU Directive and the PCG fed into the work of the Agency Work Commission.

Commenting on the recommendations, John Kell of the PCG says: It is vital that freelancers are not included in the scope of this Directive. There are approximately 1.4 million freelancers in the UK, and while they are not the workers this measure is intended to protect, many of them use agencies to find their clients. We fully support the REC's recommendation that the measure does not apply to those people who provide services to clients on a business-to-business basis.

ìGiven the difficult economic climate at present, the Government must ensure that businesses can continue to engage freelance suppliers with the ease and flexibility that makes them so valuable to the UK.
The Interim Management Association is part of the Recruitment & Employment Confederation. The report of the Agency Work Commission is the latest stage in an eight year campaign which the REC has led on the EU Agency Workers Directive. The next stage will be to feed into the Governmentís official consultation and to build on some of the key messages outlined in the Commission's report.
The REC represents all sectors of the UK recruitment industry and will continue to highlight specific issues facing the ëhigher endí of the interim and contract work market as well as the potential implications for less highly skilled job categories and for public sector temporary staffing.