Stay informed

Here you will find regular updates about new developments in our company and in the recruitment sector.

Unemployment rose by 118,000 to 2.68m in the three months to November - the highest figure since 1994

Pension reform is coming. The government is set to introduce compulsory
workplace pensions from 2012 and vast numbers of employers, from the largest to
the smallest, will be affected.

We wish our clients and candidates a good christmas and happy new year....

Come & join Direct for regular work good pay rates and local contracts

Do Not leave your Drivers CPC to the last minuete as prices are going up and there will become a bottle neck,

Congraulations to those who secured full time positions this week good luck and thanks for all of your hard work and commitment to Direct Response. XX

Congratulations to the employees who have secured  Full Time Positions this week. Good luck..

Drivers CPC

Don't leave it to the last minute to get your CPC training.

New Website I hope you enjoy browsing through our website, 

Are you Ready for the NEW AWR from the 1st of October 2011

New website makes job hunting easier

Our new website makes it easier and faster for job seekers to look for vacancies in their specific area. We provide many details including salary or wage rates and time-wasting searches through other types of media can be cut out. Check it out!

July 2011

Congratulations to those that have secured full time positions this week

well Done.

 AWR

The Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) and implementation of the Agency Workers Directive ithe core purpose is to align basic employment conditions such as pay & holiday entitlement starting from 1st October 2011.

Who comes under this scope This ruling applies to temporary work agencies includes employment business but also intermediaries which pay for, receive or forward payment for temporary workers. Umbrella companies and vendors are also captured by this definition They will not cover genuinely self-employed, limited company contractors, or managed service contractors.

Qualifying period:
Once an agency worker has completed 12 calendar weeks where they are doing the same job with the same customer, they will qualify under the new Regulations. It does not matter how many days (or hours) they work each week.

Equal Treatment

After the 12-week qualifying period has been completed, the agency worker becomes entitled to the same ‘basic working and employment conditions’ as if he had been recruited directly by the hirer to do the same job as an employee or worker.treatment consistent with that of a comparable employee or worker will be deemed to constitute compliance with the regulations

Equal pay will  include - Basic salary, bonuses or commission payments attributable to the quality of work carried out by the agency worker, shift allowance overtime payments holiday pay & Vouchers(providing they have fixed monetary value I. E Luncheon vouchers).

Equal pay does not include: Benefits in kind; childcare vouchers, pesion payments, occupational sick pay; redundancy pay notice advances & loans; share & option payments

Maternity paternity and adoption pay, loyalty bonuses or any bonus payments which are not directly attributable to the amount or quality of work performed by the worker. Guarantee payments expences; health /life assurance.

Definition of pay:
Under the Regulations, this means basic pay plus other contractual entitlements directly linked to the work undertaken by the agency worker whilst on assignment.
This means that the following items, for example, will be included: overtime, shift allowances, unsocial hours premiums and any benefits in kind which have a monetary face value and which are exchangeable for money/goods/services, such as luncheon vouchers

What is excluded

Excluded: some bonuses (see below), company sick pay, pensions, profit-sharing, share ownership schemes and maternity, paternity or adoption pay. Bonuses which are excluded are those which are not directly attributable to the amount or quality of work done but are paid for reasons such as encouraging worker’s loyalty or reward worker’s long-term service.

Holidays and Working time

Agency workers may expect parity on working time and holidays, but calculating this entitlement will be difficult where agency workers are working on short assignments for a number of different hirers.

Agency workers may equal treatment in these areas from ‘Day One’ rights, that is to say, the 12-week qualifying period does not apply. For example, if a job vacancy becomes available at the hirer’s organisation, it would need to be publicised in such a way that the agency worker could find out about the opportunity and submit an application as easily as their regular permanent colleagues.

Anti-avoidance:
Anti-avoidance provisions are being introduced to ensure that the Regulations are not abused, i.e by means of the agency worker being moved between different companies in same group. Tribunals can award up to £5,000 additional compensation for breaches of the provision.

National minimum wage to rise 2.5% to £6.08

30th Sep 2011, Source: BBC News Website

The national minimum wage for adults will increase by 15 pence from October 2011 to £6.08 an hour, the government has said.

The rate for apprentices will rise by 10p, for 16-17 year-olds by 4p and for 18-20 year-olds by 6p.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said the changes would help more than 890,000 of Britain's lowest-paid workers.

The LPC was unanimous in its recommendations "despite all the economic uncertainties" according to its chairman, David Norgrove.

The complete set of changes are:

• over-21s: up 15p (2.5%) to £6.08
• 18-20 year-olds: up 6p (1.2%) to £4.98
• 16-17 year-olds: up 4p (1.1%) to £3.68

apprentices: up 10p to (4%) £2.60.