Statutory Rights of Contract Workers under New AWR Guidance

As of October last year, the statutory rights of contract workers were improved with new AWR guidance. Previously contract workers did not have equal rights with full-time employees and now the law has mandated that if a contract worker is in place longer than 12 weeks, he or she is entitled to many of the same benefits as permanent employees. Even though these regulations have been in place for almost four months, many contract workers are still unclear as to what these new statutory rights mean to them individually.

If you are working through a contractor umbrella company then some of these new rules can be found on their respective websites. However, as a rule of thumb, the new statutory guidance requires employers to provide equal pay, working hours, breaks, overtime, training, holidays and access to collective facilities to contract workers who meet the time constraints. About the only areas where these rights will not be impacted is in terms of sick pay and/or maternity and paternity leave.

The key point to keep in mind is that these ‘rights’ don’t kick-in until the contract worker passes that 12 week milestone. This has left many workers fearful for the longevity of their employment because they feel that employers will be unwilling to extend their contracts in order to avoid ‘paying’ these benefits. Statistics have proven over the past four months that this is not the case and that many employers even intend to increase their contract/temporary workforce. Of course there may still be employers changing up their workforce every 12 weeks, but these are in the minority according to newly released data. Whether you are under an umbrella company such as pulseumbrella.com or on your own, you can find the information you need online that will set your mind at ease.