Last reviewed: 4 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
TL;DR
- In Great Britain, a temp or contractor supplied by an employment business gets equal treatment on pay, working time, rest and annual leave after 12 continuous calendar weeks in the same role with the same hirer (Agency Workers Regulations 2010, reg. 7).
- Two rights apply from day one: access to the hirer's shared facilities, and being told about the hirer's permanent vacancies (regs. 12 and 13).
- Before agreeing terms, the employment business must give every new agency worker a Key Information Document (KID) explaining how they will be paid and what is deducted (Conduct Regulations 2003, reg. 13A).
- A temp-to-perm fee is only enforceable if the contract offers the client an extended hire period instead, and only within the "relevant period": 8 weeks after the last day worked, or 14 weeks after the first day, whichever ends later (reg. 10).
- Since 7 April 2026, the Fair Work Agency enforces the Conduct Regulations in Great Britain. Northern Ireland has separate rules.
Who this guide covers
This guide is for recruitment agencies that supply temps, contractors or interim managers who work under a client's direction: what the law calls an employment business. An agency that only introduces candidates for permanent jobs is an employment agency, and most of what follows does not apply to it. GOV.UK sets out the difference, and notes that a business doing both has to follow the rules for both.
The rules below apply in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland). The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 both extend to England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has its own texts, the Agency Workers Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005, enforced by the Employment Agency Inspectorate of the Department for the Economy.
Who counts as an agency worker
Under regulation 3 of the AWR, an agency worker is an individual supplied by a temporary work agency to work temporarily for, and under the supervision and direction of, a hirer, who has either a contract of employment with the agency or another contract to perform work personally. Being paid through an umbrella company or another intermediary does not, on its own, take someone out of scope.
The regulations exclude people whose contract makes the agency or the hirer a client or customer of a business they run. Whether a contractor working through their own limited company is covered therefore depends on the facts of each engagement. If your desk places many limited company contractors, take advice on how your contracts are set up rather than assuming everyone is in or out.
The 12-week qualifying period
What equal treatment means
After the qualifying period, the agency worker is entitled to the same basic working and employment conditions they would have had if the hirer had recruited them directly (AWR reg. 5). Regulation 6 limits this to terms relating to:
- pay;
- the duration of working time;
- night work;
- rest periods and rest breaks;
- annual leave.
"Pay" includes fees, commission, holiday pay and bonuses linked to the amount or quality of the work done. It excludes items such as occupational sick pay, pensions, redundancy pay and bonuses given for another reason, such as loyalty or long service.
How the 12 weeks are counted
Regulation 7 sets the qualifying period at 12 continuous calendar weeks in the same role with the same hirer, over one or more assignments. Three points catch agencies out:
- Any week counts if the person works in it, even for one day.
- Some breaks pause the clock instead of resetting it. A break of six calendar weeks or less for any reason, sickness or injury of up to 28 weeks, annual leave, jury service of up to 28 weeks and a planned workplace shutdown do not break continuity: the weeks before the break are carried forward.
- Pregnancy, maternity, adoption and paternity leave keep counting. For these breaks, the worker is treated as still working in the role for the intended or likely duration of the assignment, so the weeks count towards the 12 (GOV.UK).
- A new role with the same hirer restarts the count only if the work is substantively different and the agency has told the worker in writing what the new role involves.
Who is liable
Under regulation 14, the agency and the hirer are each liable for a breach of equal treatment to the extent they are responsible for it. The agency can avoid liability if it obtained, or took reasonable steps to obtain, information about the hirer's basic working and employment conditions, acted reasonably on it, and applied what it decided. In practice, that means asking clients for comparator information before week 12, in writing, and keeping the answer.
Day-one rights: facilities and permanent vacancies
Two rights apply during an assignment, from the first day, with no qualifying period:
- Collective facilities and amenities (reg. 12): canteen, childcare facilities and transport services, on the same terms as comparable staff unless a difference is objectively justified.
- Access to employment (reg. 13): the agency worker has "the right to be informed by the hirer of any relevant vacant posts with the hirer", to give them the same opportunity as comparable workers to find permanent employment. The hirer may do this through a general announcement in a suitable place in its establishment.
The duty sits with the hirer, not the agency, but it matters to you: your terms of business should deal with what happens if the client then hires your contractor (see the transfer fee section below).
A worker who believes a right under regulation 5, 12 or 13 has been breached can bring a complaint to an employment tribunal against the agency, the hirer or both (reg. 18).
The Key Information Document
Since 6 April 2020, regulation 13A of the Conduct Regulations requires an employment business to give every new agency worker a Key Information Document before agreeing terms with them. The government's guidance for employment businesses explains what is expected:
- Content. GOV.UK lists the minimum rate of pay the worker can expect, a sample payslip estimating take-home pay after deductions, who is paying them, any fees they pay and any benefits they are entitled to.
- Real numbers. The representative example must use actual figures, not only a description of the deductions.
- Format. It must be clearly labelled, explain its purpose at the top, and should not exceed two pages of A4.
- One per payment route. If you pay workers through PAYE, umbrella companies or their own limited company, you need a KID that matches the route each worker is actually engaged under. The government publishes example KIDs for PAYE, umbrella and personal service company workers.
- Updates. A revised KID is required when the facts in it change, for example a new deduction or a change of umbrella company, within five working days of the change once terms are agreed.
- No opt-out. A limited company contractor can opt out of most of the Conduct Regulations, but not out of the KID.
- Records. Keep evidence that the final KID was sent: the guidance says a saved email is enough, kept for at least 12 months after work-finding services last took place.
The KID does not replace the written terms of engagement. GOV.UK reminds employment businesses that workers must receive a key information document and written terms of engagement before you start looking for work for them.
Temp-to-perm: transfer fees under regulation 10
Clients often want to hire a good contractor directly. You can charge a transfer fee, but regulation 10 of the Conduct Regulations makes any such term unenforceable unless it meets two conditions.
1. The client must be offered an extended hire period instead of the fee. The contract must say that, instead of paying the fee, the client may elect for a hire period of a specified length during which you continue to supply the worker, on terms no less favourable than before. If you then fail to supply the worker for that whole period, the fee is unenforceable unless you are in no way at fault.
2. The fee can only be charged within the relevant period, which is whichever of these ends later:
- 8 weeks starting the day after the worker last worked for the client through you; or
- 14 weeks starting on the first day they worked for the client through you.
When counting the 14 weeks, any supply that happened before a gap of more than 42 days without work for that client is ignored.
The same limits apply to a fee charged when the client introduces the worker to a third party who hires them, or takes the worker on through another employment business. GOV.UK gives a worked example and warns that you cannot try to charge a transfer fee in any other situation, and that hirers can recover fees paid against the rules.
A limited company contractor who has validly opted out of the Conduct Regulations (reg. 32) is outside regulation 10, but the opt-out must be agreed before the introduction or supply, notified to the client, and cannot be made a condition of finding them work. It is not available at all for work with vulnerable people.
We explain how to write these clauses in our recruitment agency terms of business template.
Who enforces the rules since April 2026
The Fair Work Agency (FWA) began operating on 7 April 2026 and replaced the Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate. The government's KID guidance confirms that the FWA is responsible for enforcing regulation 13A, and its enforcement policy statement describes complaint investigations and proactive, targeted inspections of employment agencies and businesses in Great Britain. The FWA also licenses gangmasters: an agency supplying workers to agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering or food processing and packaging needs an FWA licence.
Note that the KID guidance itself still refers to the EAS; GOV.UK says the FWA will publish an updated version.
A compliance checklist for each new contractor
- Before terms are agreed: KID matching the payment route, then written terms of engagement.
- Before the start: information from the client about the role, dates, location, hours and any qualifications required.
- From day one: the client knows the contractor must hear about relevant vacancies.
- Before week 12: comparator information requested from the client, in writing.
- Every time something changes: revised KID within five working days, updated terms.
- In your client contract: transfer fee clause with the extended hire option and the 8- and 14-week limits.
Where Marvin fits
Compliance also means knowing, for every contractor, which client they are with and since when. In Marvin, each assignment in People holds the client, the start and end dates, the client day rate and the contractor's rate, and the client contacts allowed to sign timesheets. Contractors fill in a monthly timesheet in days and half-days, the client signs it from a secure link without an account, and Cash drafts the invoice. The whole loop is described in our guide to timesheet software for recruitment agencies, and the wider picture in contract and temp recruitment software.
Marvin does not produce Key Information Documents, calculate AWR qualifying periods, run PAYE or RTI payroll, decide IR35 status or record hourly timesheets: time is recorded in days and half-days, which suits contractors on a day rate rather than hourly temps. Those stay with your compliance process, your payroll provider and your advisers. You can share documents, such as an assignment contract, with the contractor in their People space. Before relying on Cash for invoicing, check with us how it fits your currency and VAT set-up.
Running a contract desk on a day rate? Book a demo and we will walk through one of your real assignments.
Frequently asked questions
When does an agency worker qualify for equal treatment?
After 12 continuous calendar weeks in the same role with the same hirer, under regulation 7 of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010. Any week in which the worker works, even for part of it, counts as a calendar week. Some breaks pause the clock instead of resetting it, for example a break of six calendar weeks or less.
Which rights does an agency worker have from day one?
From the first day of an assignment, an agency worker has the right to the same collective facilities and amenities as comparable staff (regulation 12) and the right to be told by the hirer about relevant vacant posts (regulation 13). Pay, working time, rest and annual leave on equal terms come after the 12-week qualifying period.
Who must give the Key Information Document, and when?
The employment business, before it agrees terms with a new agency worker (regulation 13A of the Conduct Regulations, in force since 6 April 2020). It explains how the worker will be paid, who pays them and which deductions and fees apply, with a representative example of take-home pay.
Can an agency charge a temp-to-perm fee?
Yes, under conditions. Under regulation 10 of the Conduct Regulations, the contract must give the hirer the option of an extended hire period instead of the fee, and no fee can be charged once the relevant period has ended: 8 weeks after the worker's last day, or 14 weeks after the first day of the supply if that ends later.
Who enforces these rules?
In Great Britain, the Fair Work Agency, which began operating on 7 April 2026 and replaced the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, enforces the Conduct Regulations, including the Key Information Document. Agency Workers Regulations rights are claimed by the worker at an employment tribunal. Northern Ireland has its own regulations and inspectorate.
