Agency worker liability for the hirer

In one of the first cases we have heard that has reached the Tribunal following the introduction of the Agency Worker Regulations in 2010, Stevens v Northolt High School, the tribunal found that the hirer or end user (a school) was liable to compensate the agency worker when, after 12 weeks service, she wasn’t paid the same rate as a comparable employee at the school. This has cost the school over £10,000.

You may recall that under the the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, after a 12 week qualifying period, an agency worker must, among other things, be paid the same as if they had been employed directly by the hirer to do the same job. If this isn’t done, to the extent that it’s their fault, the agency and the hirer can both be liable to pay compensation to the agency worker.

In this case the Tribunal found that the agency had taken reasonable steps to obtain information from the school about the salary of the their comparable employees. The school had failed to give the agency the required information, despite repeated requests to do so. The school was therefore solely liable for the salary underpayment.

Clearly the lesson from this case is that when an agency asks you for information you should provide it!