paid breaks for permanent staff vs agency

[unclebobby]

Just a quick one.

If a company pays it permanent staff for their breaks, are they under an obligation to pay their agency staff for their breaks as well? Or would such an obligation be for the recruitment agency? Are there any laws around it?

many thanks

[Amethyst]

Re: paid breaks for permanent staff vs agency

Breaks don't have to be paid.

The employer would only be obliged to pay agency workers for breaks if the rest of employees are paid for breaks and the agency worker has met the 12 weeks qualifying period and become eligible for equal treatment.

https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...s-guidance.pdf

How equal treatment is established Deciding what “equal treatment” means will usually
be a matter of common sense – the requirement is simply to treat the worker as if he or she had been recruited directly to the same job.
Equal treatment is not required in respect of all the terms and conditions that the person would have received had they been recruited directly. It covers basic working and employment conditions. They are those which are ordinarily included in relevant contracts (or associated documents such as pay scales, collective agreements) of direct recruits. This means terms and conditions normally set out in:
(a) Standard contracts;
(b) A pay scale or pay structure;
(c) A relevant collective agreement;
(d) A company handbook or similar

In most cases equal treatment can be simply established by giving the same relevant entitlements "as if" he/she had been recruited as an employee or worker to the same job, i.e. what pay and holidays would he/she would be entitled to, given a particular role and his/her particular skills and qualifications