Recruitment & Employment

Meet your employment agency regulatory duties

Employment agencies and employment businesses face sector-specific regulation on top of the universal workplace-safety spine. The Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct Regulations 2003 set conduct standards for every agency. The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 give temporary workers equal treatment after a 12-week qualifying period. And if you supply workers to agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering or associated food processing and packaging, you need a gangmasters licence.

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This guide covers the sector-specific regulation that sits on top of the universal workplace-safety spine. The Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct Regulations 2003 set the framework for how you operate — whether you find permanent placements (an employment agency) or supply temporary workers (an employment business). The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 give temporary workers equal treatment rights after a qualifying period. And the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 requires a licence if you supply workers to certain regulated sectors — but not if you are a general recruitment agency.

The distinction between an employment agency (finding permanent or fixed-term work for job-seekers, where the worker is employed by the hirer) and an employment business (supplying temporary workers, where the worker has a contract with the employment business) matters because each has different duties under the Act and the Conduct Regulations. Work through the sections below to identify and meet each duty.

A. Employment Agencies Act and Conduct Regulations

The Employment Agencies Act 1973 is the framework Act regulating both employment agencies and employment businesses. It bans charging most fees to work-seekers and underpins the detailed conduct standards in the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. The Conduct Regulations require you to agree and record terms with both work-seekers and hirers before providing services (regulations 14-15), prohibit withholding pay from temporary workers, restrict detrimental contractual terms, and require you to provide accurate information about assignments. Enforcement is by the Employment Agency Standards function of the Fair Work Agency, which can seek a prohibition order barring a person from running an agency for up to 10 years. The regime extends to England, Wales and Scotland. In Northern Ireland, employment agencies are regulated under separate legislation by the Employment Agency Inspectorate within the Department for the Economy.

B. Agency Workers Regulations 2010

If you are an employment business supplying temporary workers, the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 apply. These give agency workers the right to equal treatment — the same basic working and employment conditions as if they had been directly recruited by the hirer — after a 12-week qualifying period in the same role with the same hirer. Day-one rights (access to collective facilities and vacancy information) apply from the first day of an assignment. These rights apply across the UK — the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 in Great Britain and the equivalent Agency Workers Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2011 in Northern Ireland. Note that these duties apply to temporary workers supplied by an employment business, not to permanent placements made by an employment agency.

C. Gangmasters licensing

A licence under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 is required only if you supply workers to the regulated sectors — agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering, and the processing or packaging of any produce from those activities. If you are a general recruitment agency placing office workers, IT contractors, healthcare staff or workers in any other sector, you do not need a gangmasters licence. Licensing is administered by the Fair Work Agency (which took over from the GLAA on its abolition on 7 April 2026). Operating without a licence where one is required is a criminal offence — up to 10 years' imprisonment on conviction on indictment. The licensing requirement applies UK-wide.

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    1. Put your conduct framework in place

    Agree and record written terms with every work-seeker and hirer before you provide services. Make sure you do not charge prohibited fees to work-seekers. Set up your record-keeping to meet the Conduct Regulations' requirements, including the Key Information Document for temporary workers.

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    2. Meet your agency worker equal treatment duties

    If you supply temporary workers, set up systems to track the 12-week qualifying period and ensure equal treatment on pay, working hours, rest periods and annual leave after it is reached. Provide day-one access to collective facilities and vacancy information from the first assignment.

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    3. Check whether you need a gangmasters licence

    If you supply workers to agriculture, horticulture, shellfish gathering, or associated food processing and packaging, apply for a licence from the Fair Work Agency before you begin supplying. If you do not operate in these sectors, no licence is needed.

What to do next

With your conduct framework, agency worker equal treatment duties and any required gangmasters licence in place, confirm the whole picture with the employment agency compliance checklist. If you are not sure which guides apply to you, start from the router.

Official sources

Authoritative employment agency regulation guidance.