More than £59,000 recovered in unpaid wages following action by the Fair Work Agency
Five workers received a combined reimbursement of more than £59,000 in unpaid wages following action by the Fair Work Agency ( FWA ).
The payment came following a complaint by the workers to our Employment Agency Compliance ( EAC ) team that they had not been paid for 19 days of work completed through an agency in May.
The FWA contacted the agency who said that payment had been withheld because the workers had left to work through another employment business and also advised that each worker had signed an agreement to opt out of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 (Conduct Regulations).
The Conduct Regulations are the legal rules that set the minimum standards for recruitment agencies and protect workers and hiring clients. Contractors who are working through their own limited company may choose to opt out of being protected under this regulation, and if this is the case, agencies must request a formal opt-out agreement for their own records.
After stating payment had been withheld because the five workers had opted out of the Conduct Regulations, the agency could not provide sufficient evidence of the hirer being notified of the opt-out agreements, as required by Regulation 32. As a result, the opt-outs were not valid and the Conduct Regulations continued to apply to the workers.