Workers supplied by an agency may be entitled to rights under the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 even if they are employed on an indefinite term contract with the agency and have only ever worked for one client on a long-term basis.
The Agency Workers Regulations apply to a worker who "is supplied by a temporary work agency to work temporarily for and under the supervision and direction of a hirer". In Angard Staffing Solutions v Kocur, the EAT upheld an earlier decision that the focus is on the basis on which the worker is supplied to work for the end-user on each occasion; the overall length of time and the nature of the contract with the agency will not be determinative.
In this case the worker was supplied for a series of short fixed period assignments covering particular shifts, there was no guarantee that he would be called on to work from one week to the next, and there had been some periods of two to three weeks when he had not worked over the four years. He was therefore supplied on a temporary basis and covered by the Agency Workers Regulations.
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