TL;DR

Equal Treatment under the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) is a legal requirement in the UK that grants temporary agency workers the same basic working and employment conditions as comparable permanent employees, after 12 weeks in the same role with the same hirer. Conditions covered include pay, working hours, rest breaks, and annual leave. AWR came into force on 1 October 2011.

The 12-Week Qualifying Period

The right to equal treatment activates after an [agency worker](/glossary/agency-worker) has completed 12 continuous calendar weeks in the same role with the same hirer. Weeks count toward this threshold even when the worker takes annual leave, is ill, or is on jury service. The clock resets if the worker starts a substantively different role or takes a break of six weeks or more that is not for a protected reason.

Once the 12-week threshold is met, the agency worker is entitled to the same basic pay as a comparable permanent employee doing the same or broadly similar work. "Basic pay" includes hourly rates, shift allowances, and overtime rates at the same threshold. It does not include occupational sick pay, occupational maternity pay, pension contributions, or redundancy pay; those remain excluded from AWR equal treatment entitlements.

The regulations also create a Day 1 right, separate from the 12-week qualifying period. From the first day of an assignment, agency workers are entitled to access collective facilities at the hirer's site, such as canteens, childcare facilities, and car parking, and to be informed of permanent job vacancies. Hirers who restrict these Day 1 rights face direct legal exposure.

Why It Matters for Recruitment

AWR compliance is the [staffing agency](/glossary/staffing-agency)'s legal responsibility, but the hirer carries joint liability in practice. If an agency underpays a worker because the hirer failed to provide accurate comparator pay information, both parties can face tribunal claims. Hirers must respond to agency requests for pay comparison data honestly and promptly; failing to do so does not transfer liability away from the hirer.

For staffing agencies, AWR changes the commercial structure of long-term placements. A contractor placed on a 6-week booking costs one rate; the same contractor extending beyond 12 weeks costs more if the hirer's permanent staff doing similar work earn more. Agencies need to price this into extended assignment quotes and build review triggers into their booking systems so that the 12-week threshold never passes unnoticed.

The Swedish Derogation model, sometimes called "pay between assignments," was a contractual mechanism that allowed agencies to opt workers out of the pay element of AWR equal treatment. This model was abolished in April 2020. Any agency still using Swedish Derogation contracts is in breach of current regulations. Workers on those contracts are now entitled to back-pay claims.

In Practice

A light [industrial staffing](/glossary/industrial-staffing) agency places a warehouse picker at a distribution centre at GBP 11.50 per hour. Comparable permanent pickers at the same site earn GBP 13.20 per hour base, plus a shift allowance of GBP 0.80 per hour for evening shifts.

At week 12, the agency is required to match the GBP 13.20 base and the GBP 0.80 shift allowance for the same shifts. The agency's account manager requests the comparator information from the hirer's HR department at week 10. The hirer confirms the rates in writing. The agency adjusts the worker's pay from week 13 and invoices the hirer at the corresponding marked-up rate.

Had the agency failed to apply the uplift and the worker later raised a tribunal claim, the typical award would be the pay shortfall for the entire period since week 12, plus potential uplift of 25% if the tribunal found the failure was deliberate. On 60 hours per week at GBP 1.70 underpayment for 20 weeks: GBP 2,040 in back pay before any uplift.

Key Facts