We understand that the Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) can leave your head spinning so we thought it might be helpful to compile a very brief summary of what you need to know.
The first 12 weeks of an agency worker’s engagement
During the first 12 weeks, it’s business as normal.
We’ll take care of informing the agency worker about the amenities and facilities within the school.
The agency worker doesn’t need to be paid to scale or to receive any of their financial or in-kind benefits in line with the school’s employees.
After 12 weeks
The bulk of the AWR becomes applicable.
Agency workers will need to be paid to scale in maintained schools. In academies and free schools, agency teachers will need to be paid the same as a comparable teacher. We’ll take the responsibility of managing this.
Please bear in mind, if an agency worker has worked at your school for 12 weeks but only on a daily supply basis, it’s unlikely that AWR will be applicable. The worker will invariably be undertaking a substantially different role each time they come to your school and should not, therefore, be entitled to equality of pay under the AWR.
We’ll work with you from day 1 to make sure we meet the requirements of the AWR. We aim to be open and transparent in our approach and we’ll make sure that you are kept fully up-to-date, at regular intervals, with what’s going on.
We’ll take care of things and let you know if there is anything else we need from you. And remember, we’re here to help, so please get in touch if you have any queries.
