Agency Workers Regulations 2010

Thanks to Sian McKinley of Cloisters for preparing this case summary

Do the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 apply to agency workers placed with an end user indefinitely?

No, holds the EAT in Moran v (1) Ideal Cleaning Services Ltd; (2) Celanese Acetate Ltd.

The Claimants were employed by the first Respondent and placed with the second Respondent. They had worked for the second Respondent for between 6 and 25 years until they were made redundant. They argued that the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 applied to them so as to entitle them as agency workers to the same basic working and employment conditions as if they had been recruited by the second respondent directly.

The employment tribunal dismissed their claims and this was upheld by the EAT on the following basis:
 

• the Regulations only apply to workers supplied by a temporary work agency to work temporarily for the end user
• the concept of “temporary” in the Regulations means not permanent. A permanent contract is one which is indefinite whereas a temporary contract will be terminable upon a condition being satisfied
• the arrangements under which the Claimants worked were indefinite in duration and therefore permanent
• the Claimants therefore fell outside the scope of the Regulations.