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Being paid between assignments

From October 2011 your temporary work agency may:

• offer you a permanent contract of employment before the first assignment under the contract
• pay you between assignments when there is no work

This means however that you will not be entitled to equal pay (including holiday pay) after 12 weeks in the same job. All other entitlements will apply in the same way as for other agency workers.

You cannot be forced to sign this type of contract and it may not suit everyone.

What a contract must tell you

If your agency offers you the this type of contract from 1 October 2023 it must set out in writing:

• minimum pay rates and how they are calculated
• the location of work reflecting where you are willing to travel (so if you live in London the agency could not offer you work in Glasgow unless you agreed)
• the minimum and maximum expected hours of work which must be at least one hour a week
• the nature of the work
• a statement that makes it clear that you are giving up the right to equal treatment with regard to pay

In weeks you are not working you must receive pay between assignments. This must be:

• 50 per cent of the rate of pay from your previous assignment calculated at the highest rate of pay received during any one week
• at least the National Minimum Wage

You need to check that the terms of the contract meet your needs before signing it.

The agency cannot ask you to come into the agency for an hour to avoid paying you between assignments. You will need to be on genuine assignment with a hirer on the basis of the terms in your contract. If you are not and the agency is refusing to pay you could have the basis for a claim to an Employment Tribunal.

While the contract is in place you will be entitled to pay between assignments until the agency finds you another job.

The pay between assignments does not apply to periods between two short assignments which fall in the same week – for example if you work on Monday and do not work again until Friday. You will only be paid during the weeks where you have no work at all but are available to work.

Ending a pay between assignments contract

If the agency wants to terminate the contract it must first give you four weeks' pay between assignments. The contract can end earlier for other reasons if, for example, you resign.

If the agency terminates your contract you might be entitled to certain rights as you have a contract of employment. These may depend on the length of your service but could include notice pay and redundancy pay.

The four weeks' pay (which is the minimum) could either be at the end of a single assignment or between a series of assignments. At the end of the contract you have already received the four weeks' pay you will not get the payment again.

What measures will help you get equal treatment

Agencies and hirers should not structure arrangements in a way that stops you getting the protection provided by pay between assignments contracts. If they do it could put them at risk of a legal challenge.

If the hours the agency offers you differ from the expected hours of work included in your contract this could also be subject to a challenge by you.