An ‘Agency Worker’ is someone who has an employment contract with an external organisation, referred to as an agency. Examples of agency workers can be Locum Doctors, Agency Nurses, Admin Staff and Specialist Roles.

As an agency worker you have a number of rights. Some of these rights apply from the first day you are engaged at the Trust . Other rights apply only after you have been working in the Trust for more than 12 weeks.

Rights that apply from day one include the right to be treated no less favourably than comparable employees and workers in relation to shared facilities and amenities. these may include for example:

• a canteen;
• a workplace crèche;
• transport to and from the workplace;
• a staff room;
• a prayer room; and
• car parking.

Agency workers also have the right from day one to be given access to the same information about relevant external vacancies as comparable employees and workers.

The right not to suffer a detriment for asserting rights under the Agency Worker Regulations also applies from day one.

After 12 weeks

Following the completion of a 12-week qualifying period, agency workers are entitled to the same basic working and employment conditions to which they would have been entitled had they been directly recruited by the Trust. This means equal treatment in relation to:

• pay;
• working time duration;
• night work;
• rest periods;
• rest breaks; and
• contractual annual leave