Essential Information

Due to ever changing regulations, we like to keep you up to date with handy information that may affect your current or future Ambitek assignment.

Agency Worker Regulations

The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 form part of UK Labour Law. In a nutshell they tackle discrimination of people who work for Employment Agencies. They do this by stating that agency workers should be no less favourably treated in pay and working time than their full-time counterparts, who do the same work.

Below is a quick overview of how your Assignment may be affected by these regulations:-

DAY 1 RIGHTS

Access to Facilities & Amenities

• Canteen or Similar Facilities
• Workplace Crèche
• Transport Services
• Staff Common Rooms
• Mother & Baby Rooms
• Prayer Rooms
• Car Parking

Access to Job Vacancies

• Right to be informed by the Hirer to any relevant vacancies

WEEK 12 RIGHTS

After 12 weeks of service, Agency Workers will be entitled to the same basic employment conditions as their permanent counterparts who do undertake the same work these include:-

• Basic Pay
• Overtime Pay
• Shift Allowances
• Holiday Pay
• Rest Periods & Breaks
• Vouchers/Stamps given with a monetary value, e.g luncheon vouchers.
• Work/Performance Related Bonuses

AWR EXCLUSIONS

• Occupational Sick Pay
• Pensions
• Parental Leave
• Redundancy Payments
• Share Schemes
• Long Service Award Schemes
• Salary Sacrifice Schemes

PLEASE NOTE YOUR ASSIGNMENT MAY STILL BE CANCELLED AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE.

Further Information may be found following the link below.

Agency Workers Regulations

Auto Enrolment Pensions

AUTO ENROLMENT?

Dependant on size all Employers by the 01st April 2017 will have to offer their workers a chance to join a pension scheme. We will put our PAYE Agency Workers into a pension scheme after you have worked for 12 continuous weeks, this process is known as Automatic Enrolment.

CAN I BE AUTO ENROLLED?

You’ll be automatically enrolled if you’re:

• Above 22 Years of Age and Under State Pension Age
• Working in the UK
• Earning a Minimum of £9,440 a Year

If you’re not enrolled automatically you can still ask to be enrolled if you are between 16 to 75 years of age. Everyone who is enrolled will be entitled to receive employer contributions to their retirement pot, as long as you earn over £5,668 a year.

WHO WITH?

Ambitek will be using NEST for our Auto Pension Enrolment scheme.

NEST allows you to manage your Account online, you can log into your online account anytime to see exactly what’s being paid into your retirement pot, to update your personal details, change how much you want to contribute or tell them when you want to take your money out.

Please visit their website here for more information.

HOW MUCH WILL I GET IN MY PENSION FUND?

The law has set a minimum level for Employer contributions which is 1.00% until the 1st October 2017. The calculation example below is based on £14,000 per annum and uses the minimum contribution levels, contributions are calculated based on earnings between a lower and upper threshold.

The minimum contribution level for the current tax year is a total contribution of 2.00% (with at least 1.00% to be contributed by the Employer). The minimum contribution level is calculated based on pensionable pay between £5,824 and £42,385 per annum, anything above this amount isn't taken into account when working out how much contributions should be for that person.

Please click here to help work out your contributions.

WHAT IF I DON'T WANT TO BE AUTO-ENROLLED?

You can choose to opt out of the Auto Enrolment Pension scheme within one month of enrolment. If you decide to opt out, any money you’ve contributed with your Employer will be refunded. Deciding not to enrol means you’ll lose out on Employer contributions and tax relief that would have gone into your retirement pot.

Further Information may be found following the link below.

Department for Work & Pensions

Working Time Regulations & Holiday Pay

The Working Time Regulations is a Health and Safety Legislation which regulates the times that people in the UK may work. The regulations stipulate minimum rest breaks, daily rest, weekly rest and the maximum average working week.

The Working Time Regulations cover 3 main areas, firstly that no worker is allowed to work more than 48 hours per week, secondly that all workers have a mandatory right to receive a minimum of 28 days holidays per year and finally all workers are entitled to a 20 minute rest break if they work over 6 hours during any shift.

Below we have summarised where the regulations may affect your Assignment:-

REST ENTITLEMENT

All workers can choose to opt out of the 48 hour limit by completing and signing the Working Time Regulations Opt Out Form by emailing to or faxing to  0161 884 0569.

STATUTORY LEAVE

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, Agency Workers who normally work 5 days a week throughout the year are entitled to 28 days or 5.6 weeks paid leave during the year. Accrued leave must be taken during the holiday year which starts from April, no leave may be carried forward to the following year. Should an Agency Worker not work on a Public or Bank Holiday, the holiday will count towards the worker's annual leave entitlement.

As per Regulation 13 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, statutory holiday pay is based on a week’s pay. When engaged under Contract for Services, Ambitek has no obligation to offer work and the Agency Worker has no obligation to attend therefore no working week is guaranteed. In addition Agency Workers may be working on a variety of contracts resulting in different pay rates. As no set hours or pay rates are guaranteed, Sections 221 to 224 of the Employment Rights Act state if there is no set basic week's pay then the calculation for Annual Leave would be the average pay earned over a 12 week period.

How do we calculate your leave?

In a nutshell you are entitled to 12.07% Holiday Pay for all standard hours worked during the week. Therefore if you worked 40.00 Hours a week on a rate of £8.00 per hour the following calculations will apply:-

40.00 Hours x £8.00 = £320.00 Weekly Wage

12.07% of £320.00 = £38.63 Holiday Fund Accrued

If you are planning to take a Holiday please complete the Holiday Request Form and email to or fax to 0161 884 0569 within 7 days of taking your Holiday.

Further Information may be found following the link below.

Working Time Directive

THE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION SECTION WILL BE CONSTANTLY UPDATED SO YOU MAY BE NOTIFIED OF ANY CHANGES THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR ASSIGNMENT.