When AWR first came onto the scene there were major concerns that the legislation would have an adverse affect on umbrella company contractors and other temporary workers. It now appears that those fears were largely unwarranted.
The REC recently released results of a research survey of recruiters that showed that agencies were still seeing high demand for temps and contractors. In fact only around 15% of those surveyed said they had noticed a change in demand since the introduction of AWR at the beginning of October last year.
However, a worrying fact did emerge from the survey and that was that 40% of REC members were seemingly oblivious to AWR. Considering the amount of publicity about the regulations prior to their introduction, such a high percentage defies belief. Furthermore, 51% of recruitment agencies acknowledged its existence, but said it had not impacted the way its workers view temporary positions in any way at all.
The REC has been monitoring the effects of AWR on a monthly basis and last month it discovered that the Regulations are causing agencies to incur more costs and complete additional paperwork. Despite this, most recruiters say the temporary marketplace in the UK remains very much open for business and the predicted fall in demand has yet to materialise.
It will be interesting to see whether HMRC’s much heralded IR35 business test has any affect on the way contractors view their work status. AWR doesn’t appear to have had a startling impact; maybe the IR35 test will be nothing more than a storm in a teacup as well.
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Image: Storm in a teacup by BruceW.
