EAS complaints on the increase – are you at risk?
Employment Agency Standards (EAS) is responsible for the enforcement of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 (‘Conduct Regs’), and has reported an increase in complaints. Are you compliant with key elements of the regulations, and how would your business fair if inspected?
The most common issues where agencies run into problems are withholding payments from workers, where additional services are being provided, imposition of restrictions on agency workers taking up other work, and the quality and content of information obtained from hirers. More recently, a particular problem area is Key Information Documents (KIDs), whether due to KIDs not being issued at all, or not being compliant. This is something that can be picked up either in respect of a complaint or on a routine inspection.
Transfer fees are of course also an issue. If the contractual terms are not compliant with the Conduct Regs, they may not be enforceable.
Many businesses who have traditionally worked with PSC supply may feel that these regulations have less significance due to the prevalence of contractors opting out; however, the introduction of IR35 rules, and increased use of umbrella and PAYE may have had an impact on that position. It should also be remembered the opt outs have to be valid, to meet the requirements in the regulations, and not all regulations, in particular those relating to KIDs, are affected by an opt out.
With complaints on the increase and EAS growing its enforcement teams, now may be the time to revisit your compliance and get your house in order.
For more information on the key compliance requirements within the Conduct Regulations, and common issues that arise, we invite you to join us on our Webinar on Thursday 11 May at 11am, book your place now. Recordings of this will also be available, register your interest.
Don’t just get by, get ahead!
Theresa Mimnagh, Director, Lawspeed
Lawspeed group corporate clients benefit from immediate up to date advice on staff engagement and related regulation; employment status; client, IR35, PAYE and umbrella contract templates; contract review/negotiation; self-employment and CIS contract templates; trade membership and government representation; accreditation services and a state of the art digital contract management platform.
Theresa Mimnagh, Director LLB qualified as a solicitor* in February 2004 and previously worked in private practice as an employment lawyer. She joined Lawspeed in 2005 and leads Lawspeed’s client support and audit team.
Her specialisations are in employment law, recruitment law, employment status, IR35 and agency tax, data protection (GDPR), and employment contracts and policies. She leads our team of IR35 lawyers and is responsible for updating our contracts under our contract maintenance scheme. She also heads the employment law team and excels in supporting clients in employment related disputes.
Theresa also is our lead in training on key areas relevant to employment business, including IR35 and recruitment process, and was responsible for delivery of our 2019 programme of IR35 masterclasses and 2023 webinar series.