Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 1976
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
1976 No. 715
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES, ETC.
The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 19765thMay 1976
20thMay 1976
1stJuly 1976
ARRANGEMENT OF REGULATIONS
PART I
PRELIMINARY
1. Citation, commencement and interpretation.
PART II
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
2. General obligations.
3. Advertisements.
4. Fees.
5. Young persons.
6. Employment outside the United Kingdom and of workers from outside the United Kingdom.
7. Safeguarding clients' money.
8. Records.
PART III
EMPLOYMENT BUSINESSES
9. General obligations.
10. Advertisements.
11. Work outside the United Kingdom.
12. Records.
SCHEDULES
SCHEDULE 1
Part I Particulars to be included by the agent in the statement provided to the worker.
Part II Particulars to be included by the agent in the statement provided to the employer.
SCHEDULE 2 Operation of client account.
SCHEDULE 3 Particulars to be included by the agent in records relating to applications from employers.
SCHEDULE 4 Particulars to be included by the agent in records relating to applications from workers.
SCHEDULE 5 Particulars to be included by the contractor in the statement provided to the worker.
SCHEDULE 6 Particulars to be included by the contractor in records relating to applications from hirers
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 5(1) and 12(3) of the Employment Agencies Act 1973(a), and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, and after consultation as required by section 12(2) of that Act with bodies appearing to him to be representative of the interests concerned, hereby makes the following Regulations:—
PART I
PRELIMINARY
Citation, commencement and interpretation
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 1976 and shall come into operation on 1st July 1976.
(a) 1973 c. 35.
(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
"the Act" means the Employment Agencies Act 1973;
"advertisement" includes every form of advertisement whether in a newspaper or other publication, or by an exhibition of photographs or films, or by way of sound broadcasting or television, or by means of circulars, posters, notices, signs, labels, or other documents, but does not include (except in the case of Regulations 3(2) and 10(2) and (3)) showcards or vacancy cards displayed in or on premises or in a show case clearly marked with the name of the employment agency or employment business, or the employment agency and the employment business as the case may require, and reference to the issue of an advertisement shall be construed accordingly;
"agent" means a person carrying on an employment agency;
"agreed deductions" means any deductions which a worker has in writing authorised an agent to make from money received by the agent on the worker's behalf;
"au pair" means a person who is received or is to be received into a private household under an arrangement whereby that person is to assist in the domestic work of the household in consideration of receiving hospitality and pocket money or hospitality only;
"client account" means a current or deposit account in the name of an agent at a bank in the title of which account the word "client" appears;
"contractor" means a person carrying on an employment business;
"entertainment industry" means the production and presentation of films, television and sound broadcasts, and recordings, and of plays, operas, ballets, musical and variety performances, and other similar means of entertainment whether taking place in theatres, concert halls, dance halls, clubs or any other places of public or private entertainment;
"hirer" means a person to whom a contractor supplies workers to act for, and under the control of, that person in any capacity;
"inspection" means inspection under section 9(1) of the Act by an officer duly authorised by the Secretary of State in that behalf;
"outward journey" means the journey from the place of residence of a worker to the prospective place of employment;
"overseas agent" means a person whose services are used by an agent in arranging work outside the United Kingdom;
"premature termination" means the termination of the employment of the worker for whatever reason, not later than ten weeks after the date of commencement of employment;
"premises" means the premises at which the employment agency or employment business is, or the employment agency and the employment business are, as the case may be, being carried on;
"school" in relation to England and Wales, has the meaning assigned to it by section 114(1) of the Education Act 1944(a) and, in relation to Scotland, has the meaning assigned to it by section 145(42) of the Education (Scotland) Act 1962(b);
"self-employed" means employed otherwise than under a contract of service, or of apprenticeship;
"statutory deductions" means deductions which are required by law to be deducted before remuneration is paid to a worker;
(a) 1944 c. 31.
(b) 1962 c. 47.
"vocational advice" means advice and guidance given in pursuance of arrangements made for the purposes of section 8(1)(a) of the Employment and Training Act 1973(a);
"young person" means a person under the age of eighteen.
(3) The Interpretation Act 1889(b) applies to the interpretation of these Regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.
PART II
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES
General obligations
2.—(1) An agent shall take all such steps as are reasonably practicable to obtain from an employer as much information about a vacancy as is necessary for the purpose of selecting a suitable worker for that vacancy, and to obtain from a worker as much information about his qualifications and experience as is necessary for the purpose of determining employment for which he is suitable.
(2) Subject to the provisions of the Act, and of any other enactment relating to the disclosure of information, an agent shall not disclose information relating to workers and employers except—
(a) in the course of providing services for the purpose of finding workers employment with employers or of supplying employers with workers for employment by them;
Provided that information shall not be so disclosed if the worker or the employer who furnished it has so requested; or
(b) with the written consent of the worker or employer; or
(c) for the purpose of any legal proceedings (including arbitration).
(3) An agent shall not introduce a worker to an employer unless he has made all such enquiries as are reasonably practicable for the purpose of ascertaining that—
(a) the worker has such qualifications as persons in such employment are required by law to have;
(b) the employer and the worker are aware of any conditions imposed by law which must be satisfied by the worker or the employer before the worker commences the employment in question; and
(c) the employment of the worker by the employer would not contravene any other duty or restriction imposed by law.
(4) An agent shall not, directly or indirectly, offer or give any financial benefit or benefit in kind to a worker in order to induce, or seek to induce, that worker to use the services of the agent for the purpose of finding him or seeking to find him employment.
(5) Where a worker is in employment and the agent has previously received a fee for introducing him to that employment, the agent shall not make, or cause to be made, any approach to that worker to offer services to find him new employment, unless the present employer of the worker has agreed to such an approach being made.
(6) An agent shall, in every business letter sent by him, mention in easily legible characters the full name of the agency, and, if the name does not disclose that fact, that it is an employment agency, and the number of the current licence relating to the premises from which the business letter is sent.
(a) 1973 c. 50.
(b) 1889 c. 63.
Advertisements
3.—(1) An agent shall, in every advertisement issued by him, mention in easily legible characters—
(a) the full name of the agency and, if the name does not disclose that fact, that it is an employment agency;
(b) where the advertisement is to be published outside Great Britain, that the agency is licensed in Great Britain; and
(c) in the case of a circular, the number of the current licence relating to the premises from which the circular is sent.
(2) Where an agent, in an advertisement issued by him, offers the service of providing information about vacancies or opportunities for employment but he has no authority from an employer to find workers for such employment he shall state that fact in the advertisement.
(3) An agent shall take all such steps as are reasonably practicable to ensure that in every advertisement relating to employment in the United Kingdom, issued by him for publication outside the United Kingdom, there is contained a statement that it is the responsibility of the worker to make enquiries from a representative of the United Kingdom Government about any relevant immigration requirements, and that there are stated any other conditions which must by law be satisfied by a worker entering the employment in question.
(4) An agent shall keep at the premises a copy of every advertisement issued by him or which he causes to be issued therefrom and every advertisement issued from other premises on his behalf which includes information about vacancies, or, as the case may be, workers, available through the agency carried on at the first-mentioned premises, and such a copy shall be kept readily available for inspection for a period of not less than one year from the date the advertisement was issued.
Fees
4.—(1) (a) Except in a case to which regulations made under section 6(1) of the Act apply (that is to say a case in which a person carrying on an employment agency charges a worker a fee for finding or seeking to find employment for him), an agent shall, immediately on receipt of an application from an...
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