The Association of Recruitment Consultancies (ARC) welcomes the announcement yesterday, 4th November 2013, by Jo Swinson, Minister for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs, confirming that the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate (EAS) is to be split with a new team of resources to be allocated to HMRC.
Adrian Marlowe, Chairman of the ARC, which has been representing recruitment businesses since 2009, said "the government's focus on protecting the most vulnerable agency workers who are paid the least is to be commended, and the switch of resources from the EAS to bolster those of HMRC in this area will help to ensure that those businesses that infringe basic payment rules are quickly dealt with. This can be nothing other than a positive step for those workers and for the overall reputation of the industry which has, particularly in the lower paid sectors, been damaged by the few that abuse the system."
"We also welcome retention of resources within the EAS to address complaints made against recruitment agencies. This impartial complaints facility is important to maintain a fair operating environment for all involved. We hope that this approach will also be reflected in a sensible body of rules to regulate the industry within the new regulations promised for next year, and that current iniquities, which, for example, allow RPO organisations to dictate unfair payment terms at the expense of small and medium sized business, will be eradicated."
