AWR Parity Assessment Requires A Term By Term Approach

A recent case has confirmed what we have always advised, that ensuring equal pay for agency workers under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 (AWR) requires a term by term assessment and cannot be based on the agency worker's overall remuneration package.

Some staffing companies take the view that the professional contractors they place on assignments with clients receive such high fees that they would not be able to claim that they are receiving less pay than a comparable permanent employee of the end user client and therefore bring a successful AWR claim that they should be paid more. Staffing companies will sometimes add that, although a comparator is entitled to a bonus based on personal performance, the comparator's salary and bonus totals less than the fees the staffing company pays to the contractors, and so they are not concerned about AWR claims from contractors. This is a dangerous approach to take as confirmed by the February 2018 case of Kocur v Angard