Employment Agencies Act 1973

Employment Agencies Act 1973 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament and part of a wider body of UK agency worker law. It regulates the conduct of employment agencies which recruit and manage temporary and permanent labour. It applies to approximately 17,000 employment agencies operating in the UK. It was introduced by a private member's bill. [See House of Commons debates, 18 May 1973, 1851-1873, the Bill being on the initiative of Mr Kenneth Lewis (Rutland and Stamford). The Bill was subsequently amended, and debated in the House of Lords, 8 June 1973, 330-350]

History

Introduction

In its original form, the Act provided for a system of licensing. Each business which wanted to set up an employment agency was required to have a license which would be denied or revoked if set standards on no fee-charging, advertising, and information. The Act came at the same time as similar reforms around Europe, for instance, the German [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbeitnehmer%C3%BCberlassungsgesetz "Arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetz"] (Employee Hiring Law of 1972).

Regulations prescribing further detailed rules were implemented in 1976.

Amendments

In 1994, the Conservative government, in its deregulation drive, abolished the system of licenses with the Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994. Instead, enforcement of regulations would rely on the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, which can be reached on 0845 955 5105 or 020 7215 5980.

In 1999 the Employment Relations Act 1999 s.31 with Sch. 7 [Employment Relations Act 1999 [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1999/ukpga_19990026_en_18#sch7 s.7] ] empowering the Secretary of State to make further regulations affecting agencies and their workers.

In 2003 new Regulations were introduced, replacing those from 1976. The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 [see DBERR's [http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file45239.pdf guidance] on the Regulations] ] prohibit the charging of fees, except in a small number of mostly arts related professions (e.g. modelling). The additions made in 2003 were few, primarily relating to confidentiality of information and candidate qualification checks.

Provisions of the Act

ee also

* UK labour law
* UK agency worker law
* Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004
* Temporary and Agency Workers (Equal Treatment) Bill

;Historical
* "Adams v. Tanner", 244 US 590 (1917), a US Supreme Court case where a conservative bench, with liberal judges dissenting, decided that a Washington state law prohibiting employment agencies was "unconstitutional".
* Unemployment Convention, 1919, after the ILO's first Recommendation, this called for public employment agencies to be established with a monopoly
* Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Convention, 1933 (shelved)
* Fee-Charging Employment Agencies Convention (Revised), 1949
* Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (n.b. the UK never signed up to any of these ILO conventions)

Notes

External links

* [http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/legResults.aspx?LegType=All%20Primary&PageNumber=4&BrowseLetter=E&NavFrom=1&activeTextDocId=2305191 Employment Agencies Act 1973]
* [http://www.uk-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2003/20033319.htm The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003]

* Directgov site on [http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10027514 "what is an agency worker?"]
*DBERR's [http://www.berr.gov.uk/employment/employment-agencies/index.html website] for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate
* Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate [http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file23765.pdf guidance]