Agency workers
Information
An agency worker is a person who has an agreement with an agency to work for another person. For example, a secretary may have an agreement with a secretarial agency to do work for an office while one of their employees is on leave. While agency workers do not have all the same employment rights as regular workers, since 5 December 2011 they have the right to equal treatment in basic working and employment conditions - see 'EU Directive on Temporary Agency Work' below. Agency worker also have certain rights under the following employment legislation:
- Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 to 2007
- Redundancy Payments Acts 1967 to 2007
- Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts 1973 to 2005
- Organisation of Working Time Act 1997
- Payment of Wages Act 1991
- Maternity Protection Acts 1994 and 2004
- Employment Equality Acts 1998-2008
It is important for the agency worker to know who is responsible for ensuring compliance with employment protection legislation - the agency or the firm for which he or she is working.
Who is considered the employer of the agency worker?
This depends on which rights the agency worker is seeking to enforce. Under the unfair dismissals legislation, the employer is the person for whom the employee actually works rather than the agency.
Compliance with health and safety requirements is also the responsibility of the person or organisation for whom the agency worker is actually working.
For the purposes of all other employment legislation, such as redundancy payments, the party liable to pay the wages of the employee (the employment agency or client company) will, normally, be considered to be the employer of the agency worker.
The Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2003 clarifies the social insurance position of agency workers. It provides that agency workers are insurably employed and the person who pays the wages is the employer for PRSI purposes.
Part-time agency workers
Under the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001, a part-time agency worker can only compare himself or herself to a comparable full-time employee who is also an agency worker.
Legislation that does not apply to agency workers
The Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003 applies to most employees on fixed-term contracts. However, it does not apply to agency workers.
EU Directive on Temporary Agency Work
The EU Directive on Temporary Agency Work 2008/104/EC (pdf) came into effect on 5 December 2011. It provides that all temporary agency workers must have equal treatment with regular workers from their first day at work in respect of:
- The duration of working time, rest periods, night work, annual leave and public holidays
- Pay
- Work done by pregnant women and nursing mothers, children and young people
- Action taken to combat discrimination on the grounds of sex, race or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, disabilities, age or sexual orientation.
Temporary agency workers must also have equal access to facilities such as childcare and must be informed of permanent employment opportunities.
The Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011(pdf) transposing this Directive into Irish legislation was published on 16 December 2011. It provides for the equal treatment for temporary agency workers as described above and defines pay for the purposes of legislation including basic pay, overtime premium and Sunday premium. When the Bill is enacted it will have retrospective effect to the transposition date of 5 December 2011.
You can find more detailed information in frequently
asked questions about the Directive on Temporary Agency Work (pdf) on the
website of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
Employment agencies
Currently, employment agencies in Ireland are regulated by the Employment Agency Act 1971. The Employment Agency Regulation Bill 2009 (pdf) was intended to replace the 1971 Act and strengthen the regulation of employment agencies. It proposed that employment agencies established in Ireland must have a licence granted by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to operate in Ireland. Employment agencies based outside Ireland would also be required to have such a licence unless they were already licensed in another EEA country.
The Bill’s proposals included:
- A code of practice to set out standards and practices for employment agencies to follow
- Prosecution of employment agencies from outside Ireland who fail to appear in court for offences under employment rights legislation
- Protection of whistleblowers
Further information
Information about the rights and entitlements of agency workers is available from:
Workplace Relations Customer Services
(formerly Information Services of the National Employment Rights Authority)
Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
O'Brien Road
Carlow
Ireland
Opening Hours: Mon. to Fri. 9.30am to 5pm
Tel: (059) 917 8990
Locall: 1890 80 80 90
Homepage: http://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/
Language
Related Documents
- Victimisation at work
Some employment legislation protects you from being victimised at work in Ireland. - Working part-time
A definition of what a part-time worker in Ireland is, an overview of part-time workers and explanation of the difference between a part-time worker and a casual worker. - Employment rights of part-time workers
Part-time workers in Ireland have seen their employment rights expanded since the passing of the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001. Find out more about the provisions contained in the Act.
Contact Us
If you have a question relating to this topic you can contact the Citizens Information Phone Service on 0761 07 4000 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm) or you can visit your local Citizens Information Centre.