Agency holiday rights - temp worker

rachela88

I have worked for an agency for 14 weeks now in the same company and same role.

Recently found out how they calculate holiday entitlement - they work out for average weekly hours (taking away any unpaid sickness or paid holiday) and then pay you this amount. ie, I have had 2 days sickness and 2 days paid holiday in 14 weeks, so even though I work Mon-Fri 9-5 instead of 35 hours I do every week, my average weekly hours is 33. So if I take a weeks holiday I only get paid for 33 hours - losing approx £20.

Done a lot of googling and this seems common practice for agencies.

It seems crazy as it disadvantages you if you take paid holiday - the next time you take holiday your average weekly hours go down, and so on and so on, each time getting lower and lower. I should add you don't accrue any holiday whilst off sick or on paid holiday.

Does this go against the regulations stating after being in the same role for 12 weeks agency staff should get the same basic rights as permanent? As they certainly don't get paid less if they take holiday.

rheme

Hi

I am currently working for a temp agency after being made redundant and your post is certainly food for thought. I will have to look into this.

Has your agency signed you up for the 'salary sacrifice scheme' this is where you salary is slightly reduced and you claim tax relief on lunches and travel costs. It gives you a slightly increased take home pay also the agency benefits by not paying as much N.I. contributions and some even take a cut of the tax benefit in administrations fees.

There is a programme about this practise on Radio 5 live at 9 pm tonight - something about agency workers may get chased for unpaid tax. Might be worth listening to if you have signed up for this scheme.

anamenottaken

rachela88 wrote: »

I have worked for an agency for 14 weeks now in the same company and same role.

Recently found out how they calculate holiday entitlement - they work out for average weekly hours (taking away any unpaid sickness or paid holiday) and then pay you this amount. ie, I have had 2 days sickness and 2 days paid holiday in 14 weeks, so even though I work Mon-Fri 9-5 instead of 35 hours I do every week, my average weekly hours is 33. So if I take a weeks holiday I only get paid for 33 hours - losing approx £20.

Done a lot of googling and this seems common practice for agencies.

It seems crazy as it disadvantages you if you take paid holiday - the next time you take holiday your average weekly hours go down, and so on and so on, each time getting lower and lower. I should add you don't accrue any holiday whilst off sick or on paid holiday.

Does this go against the regulations stating after being in the same role for 12 weeks agency staff should get the same basic rights as permanent? As they certainly don't get paid less if they take holiday.

It's certainly not how the agency I work through operates.

Certainly if you were to take a whole week off that would not enter into the calculations. Such weeks are ignored when working out average hours or average pay - as specified in the regulations.

You should accrue holiday time for every hour you work. Your pay when you take holiday should be calculated on the average rate per hour over the previous worked 12 weeks. That is not like working out your holiday time according to the previous 12 weeks' worked hours.

Which agency do you work through?

Regarding getting the same as directly employed staff - if you were employed directly as full-time staff, what would your entitlement be?

rachela88

rheme wrote: »

Hi

I am currently working for a temp agency after being made redundant and your post is certainly food for thought. I will have to look into this.

Has your agency signed you up for the 'salary sacrifice scheme' this is where you salary is slightly reduced and you claim tax relief on lunches and travel costs. It gives you a slightly increased take home pay also the agency benefits by not paying as much N.I. contributions and some even take a cut of the tax benefit in administrations fees.

There is a programme about this practise on Radio 5 live tonight - something about agency workers may get chased for unpaid tax. Might be worth listening to if you have signed up for this scheme.

We've recently found out about this and been told by the company we work at (not the agency) to opt out ASAP as its causing massive tax implications for people when going from temp to perm. The agency are also profiting from a nice £6.50 admin fee per person/per week - including from myself when I am not even taxed yet as I am under the yearly threshold.

rachela88

anamenottaken wrote: »

It's certainly not how the agency I work through operates.

Certainly if you were to take a whole week off that would not enter into the calculations. Such weeks are ignored when working out average hours or average pay - as specified in the regulations.

You should accrue holiday time for every hour you work. Your pay when you take holiday should be calculated on the average rate per hour over the previous worked 12 weeks. That is not like working out your holiday time according to the previous 12 weeks' worked hours.

Which agency do you work through?

Regarding getting the same as directly employed staff - if you were employed directly as full-time staff, what would your entitlement be?

I work for Spring Personnel - tried sending emails this weekend to Head Office and HR but both came back undelivered (copied and pasted the email address directly from their website!)

I imagine I will have to go through my branch to get some clarification but they don't fill me with a lot of confidence - always get our pay wrong etc.

It just seems so unfair. Why would anyone want to take holiday if they get paid less for it? Recently only just discovered that any holiday accrued is lost on 31 Dec if not used - something the agency never told us - the company I work at let me know!

I am so frustrated and feel like I have no rights. I bet the people who work at the agency get paid a normal wage when they take holiday!

anamenottaken

From their website,

All holiday entitlement must be taken during the course of the leave-year in which it accrues and none may be carried forward to the next year. The holiday year is detailed in your contract for services.

So check what your holiday year is. It may be that the company where you are assigned has a holiday year which is the same as the calendar year but that does not mean that your holiday year is the same. If the agency has not told you (in the written particulars) that it is from 1 January to 31 December then it will probably say that it runs from the start of your first assignment with them - so probably ending around mid- to late-July 2013.

Jinx

The part about losing holidays should be in your agency handbook, have a look. In any temp roles I have done I didnt lose days not taken by the 31st Dec as it was a 3, 6 or 12 month contract so I just took my hols within my contract term (perm staff had to take hols by 31st dec or lose them though) or was paid for any outstanding when I left.

ETA cross posted with above post!

rachela88

anamenottaken wrote: »

From their website,

So check what your holiday year is. It may be that the company where you are assigned has a holiday year which is the same as the calendar year but that does not mean that your holiday year is the same. If the agency has not told you (in the written particulars) that it is from 1 January to 31 December then it will probably say that it runs from the start of your first assignment with them - so probably ending around mid- to late-July 2013.

Oh it's definitely 31 Dec, we've had it confirmed. The agency should have been upfront about it but that's another issue.

I'm more concerned about losing out by taking holiday. Currently as it stands, I am going to end up losing my holiday entitlement and not taking it as I cannot afford to be paid less than if I had worked it - which I know is my decision - but one I feel forced into as holiday pay isn't simply your hourly wage.

Thanks for all the help so far!

rachela88

Jinx wrote: »

The part about losing holidays should be in your agency handbook, have a look. In any temp roles I have done I didnt lose days not taken by the 31st Dec as it was a 3, 6 or 12 month contract so I just took my hols within my contract term (perm staff had to take hols by 31st dec or lose them though) or was paid for any outstanding when I left.

ETA cross posted with above post!

Any holidays not taken by Dec 31 are lost. And you do not get paid for unused holiday.

anamenottaken

I also see they don't understand the Working Time Regulations. For example they say you are entitled to

A rest break of at least 20 minutes after working six consecutive hours.

my emphasis
That's not correct: workers are entitled to that break during the course of a shift expected to last over six hours. The Regulations say it is expected to be taken around the middle of the shift [eg lunch time during a 9 to 5 shift], not at the end.

anamenottaken

rachela88 wrote: »

Any holidays not taken by Dec 31 are lost. And you do not get paid for unused holiday.

If you actually ended working for them before the end of the year, they would have to pay you for any holiday accrued but not taken. That is the law.

Have you considered working for a different agency?

If money is very tight you could even take paid holiday from the current agency and then work through another one at the time of your holiday.