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📋 Toolbox Talk · Employment Rights

Agency Workers:
Your Rights

What you get from day one, equal pay after 12 weeks, and how to get information if something's wrong.

📅 Last reviewed: October 2026📚 legislation.gov.uk · Citizens Advice · nidirect · GOV.UK🇬🇧 England, Wales & Scotland, with Northern Ireland differencesukworkrights.co.uk

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Day one

From your first day

Same access as the hirer's own staff to on-site facilities: staff canteen, food and drinks machines, showers, childcare and car parking.
The hirer must tell you about job vacancies where you work (unless only open to staff at risk of redundancy).

After 12 weeks

Equal pay and conditions

After 12 weeks in the same job with the same hirer: the same basic pay and conditions as people hired directly to do the same work.
Covers pay, working time, night work, rest periods and breaks, annual leave and paid time off for antenatal appointments.
Pay includes basic pay, holiday pay, overtime, shift allowances, unsociable hours premiums and bonuses linked to your own work.
Not included: company sick pay, pension contributions, maternity/paternity/adoption pay, redundancy pay, or loyalty bonuses.

⚠ Watch out

Equal pay starts after 12 weeks. It is not back-dated to week 1.

Counting

How the 12 weeks work

Any week in which you do some work counts.
A break of up to 6 weeks pauses the count if you go back to the same job.
A different job, even with the same hirer, starts the 12 weeks again.
GB: since 6 April 2020, a "pay between assignments" (Swedish derogation) contract no longer removes equal pay.

Paperwork

What you should get

GB: joined your agency on or after 6 April 2020? It must give you a written statement and a key information document explaining how your pay is calculated — before you start.
You can ask in writing: the hirer about day-one rights, the agency about equal pay after 12 weeks. They must reply within 28 days.
Right to work checks: if you are on a worker's contract with the agency, it only has to check you if you started on or after 1 October 2026. The firm you're placed with does not have to check you. They must never ask for your passwords.

If it goes wrong

Making a claim

Talk to the agency or hirer first.
GB: notify Acas before most tribunal claims. Time limit: 3 months less 1 day, or 6 months less 1 day where the act happened on or after 1 October 2026.
Workers who are not employees cannot claim unfair dismissal.

Northern Ireland is different

Same 12 weeks, different rules

Day one: access to collective facilities and job vacancies. The hirer can only refuse facilities if it can objectively justify it.
If you agree to a permanent contract that pays you between assignments (Swedish derogation), you do NOT get equal treatment on pay. GB abolished this in 2020; NI did not.
You do not need a comparable employee for equal treatment after 12 weeks.
A tribunal complaint must be made within 3 months of the breach. Tell the LRA first.

Common questions

Frequently asked questions

I moved to a different role at the same hirer. Do my weeks carry over?

No — a different job starts the 12 weeks again.

Does equal pay include the company pension?

No. Pension contributions, company sick pay and redundancy pay are not part of equal pay.

Who do I ask about canteen access?

The hirer — day-one rights are the hirer's.

Free rights guidance

Check your
agency worker rights

Get plain-English guidance on your rights and your employer's legal duties.

Acas

0300 123 1100

acas.org.uk

LRA (Northern Ireland)

03300 555 300

Labour Relations Agency

UKVI Resolution Centre

0300 790 6268

Online status problems

Citizens Advice / Advice NI

Free advice

citizensadvice.org.uk

UK Work Rights — Free guide

Agency Workers (England, Wales and Scotland)

ukworkrights.co.uk/guide-agency-workers-gb.html

General rights guidance only — not legal advice · © UK Work Rights Ltd · Company No. 17228507 · ICO Registration No. ZC239465 · Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ · hello@ukworkrights.co.uk
Published by UK Work Rights Ltd
Drafted with AI assistance, using official sources.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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