New Legislation: Agency Workers Regulations

On 1 October 2011, the most significant piece of legislation to hit the UK’s private recruitment industry will come into effect. Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) will affect everyone in the UK’s flexible workforce; protecting vulnerable workers from exploitation by giving them the same basic employment conditions as permanent employees, once they have completed 12 weeks’ service. The main benefits will be equal pay, working hours and holiday entitlement.

A recent survey by YouGov Stone for Allen & Overy found that the legislation will affect 54% of UK employers at a cost of £1.3bn. But whilst there may be cost implications for the employer, it is the recruitment agency that is responsible for ensuring compliance with the legislation.

We think this new legislation is a positive development in the industry and welcome protection for the contract staff we employ on behalf of our clients.

To read the legislation in full, please click here. Alternatively, if you have any questions about how this will affect you, either as a contractor, or as a business employing contractors, please contact us.

Jobs | Testimonials

  • ArjoHuntleigh
  • Sopra Group
  • Global Marine Systems Ltd

ArjoHuntleigh

ArjoHuntleigh offers a range of medical devices and equipment to improve the quality care of people with reduced mobility in hospitals and care facilities.

Working in an international marketplace, ArjoHuntleigh required candidates with specialist technical knowledge for a range of engineering positions.

“Austin Fraser found us good quality candidates, they were able to filter effectively and produce a good crop for us to select from. We would do business with them again, and overall found them to be a very good agency. As our relationship progressed they made improvements to the service they provided by listening carefully to our requirements and staying focused.”

Sopra Group

Sopra Group provides a complete range of IT consultancy, delivery and support services to help streamline businesses and improve their operational effectiveness.

Sopra Group wanted software engineers to develop high-quality IT solutions for the UK market.

“We decided to work with Austin Fraser for a number of reasons. We were very impressed by the quality of their database – they were able to demonstrate that the expertise of the candidates they have was a good match for our needs. We look for both permanent and contract staff with specialist skills that we can match to aerospace and manufacturing projects, and we often need new staff at very short notice.

We like Austin Fraser’s dynamism, and their proactive approach to recruitment. They also have a very open and honest culture – something that is very refreshing in the world of professional recruitment today. What Austin Fraser offers is a good fit with our business.”

Global Marine Systems Ltd

Global Marine Systems is the largest independent provider of subsea cable installation and maintenance for telecommunications, offshore energy and inter-connects. 

Global Marine Systems required engineers specialising in renewable energy technologies for a range of on and off-shore vacancies.

"I applied for my current position through Austin Fraser and Will Godfrey was the person who dealt with my application. Will Godfrey was extremely helpful had all the information needed at hand and handled my application with the utmost efficiency and professionalism, I was always kept informed about the status of my application and once in the position I even received a follow up call to check I was settling in! Will Godfrey, and Austin Fraser are by far the best recruitment consultants I have dealt with and should the need arise would use them as my preferred consultants. I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending them to anyone."

  • Web Systems Manager – Niche Magento eCommerce specialist

    Web Systems Manager – Niche Magento eCommerce specialist - £28-35k A unique opportunity has arisen for a Web Systems Manager to join a highly.... More

  • Lead Java Developers

    Austin Fraser has the pleasure of appointing a 2 Lead Java Developers for a client who are at the forefront of their domain and have some exciting growth plans .... More

  • Senior Java Developer

    Austin Fraser software development team has the pleasure of representing an exclusive client based close to Newbury. We are on the lookout for Senior Java Devel.... More

Web Systems Manager – Niche Magento eCommerce specialist

Job Reference: NCWSMLON_37042
Employment Start Date: ASAP
Location: City of London
Job Type: Permanent
Salary: £30000 - £35000 per annum + Bonus

Web Systems Manager – Niche Magento eCommerce specialist - £28-35k

A unique opportunity has arisen for a Web Systems Manager to join a highly successful web based business that has had a recent implementation of Magento 2012. The business has grown from strength to strength over the last year and now has 5 major websites and brands. The role requires a wide breath of technical IT knowledge, as you will be providing some systems support, but predominantly on Magento usage (not programming), having a strong analytical background and can process data to dev teams and to improve web site and systems performance.

This Web Systems Manager role will either suit a graduate who is looking to develop their expertise in a business who has a strong IT and analytical background, or a professional with strong systems background and some eCommerce experience.

Key Skills:
- Strong background in IT systems.
- Some web, dev, scripting experience
- Analytical background

Desirable:
- Magento
- eCommerce
- Operations

If you are keen to progress as a Web Systems Manager in a niche role with an opportunity to learn an be trained in a rapidly growing web based environment, then please apply to be immediately considered.

Web Systems Manager – Niche Magento eCommerce specialist - £28-35k

 

Skills

Magento, eCommerce, e-commerce, e commerce, Web Systems Manager, Systems Manager, IT Support, Infrastructure Support

Read more about this job

Lead Java Developers

Job Reference: GXS-5882_35953
Employment Start Date: ASAP
Location: Hampshire
Job Type: Permanent
Salary: £52000 per annum + Bonus and benefits

Austin Fraser has the pleasure of appointing a 2 Lead Java Developers for a client who are at the forefront of their domain and have some exciting growth plans to take this service provider business into the next phase of development and maintenance.

My client is a household brand and offers some great benefits, career progression and the opportunity to learn new cutting edge technologies.

As a lead developer you will be responsible for design, development and support of large-scales and complex Service Orientated Architectures SOA. You will provide day to day management of your team and be responsible for the development, integration, support and maintenance of internet and provisioning based applications/services written in Java.

My client is willing to invest heavily in you and enable you to have the environment to use the latest technologies whilst providing the very best resources and a great location.

As one of the lead developers you will have experience and or/ knowledge of the following technologies and methods;

-Solid experience of java/j2ee development in a SOA environment
-Web Services (SOAP)
-Oracle/ MySQL
-Tools (CVS, Subversion, Ant, Maven, Cruise Control and Eclipse)
-Application Server environments
-RUP-UML and agile


The ideal person for this role would be a proactive and enthusiastic developer that loves problem solving. The teams work very closely and there is a really good culture within the 4 development teams.

Please do not hesitate to apply for this new opportunity as a shortlist will be presented to my client next week.

In return for your services there are some excellent benefits and a bonus with this role.


For further information and a full spec please contact Gavin Stephens at Austin Fraser on
0118 952 0151 or email me; g.stephens@austinfraser.com

 

Skills

java, j2ee, soa, developer, lead, webservices, SOAP

Read more about this job

Senior Java Developer

Job Reference: GXS-1432_35953
Employment Start Date: ASAP
Location: Berkshire
Job Type: Permanent
Salary: £55000 per annum + Great Benefits

Austin Fraser software development team has the pleasure of representing an exclusive client based close to Newbury. We are on the lookout for Senior Java Developer for a client who are at the forefront of their domain and have some exciting growth plans to take this service provider business into the next phase of development and expanding product portfolios.


As a senior developer you will be responsible for design, development and support of large-scales and complex Service Orientated Architectures SOA. You will provide day to day management of a junior team and be responsible for the development, integration, support and maintenance of internet applications and provisioning based applications/services written in Java.

My client is willing to invest heavily in you and enable you to have the environment to use the latest technologies whilst providing the very best resources and a great location coupled with great benefits.

As an important addition to the development team you will have experience and or/ knowledge of the following technologies and methods;

-Solid experience of java/j2ee development in a SOA environment
- Server side development
-Oracle/ MySQL
-Spring and Hibernate
- Experience with web technologies

Desirable;
-EJB (Seam Framework)
-JavaScript

The ideal person for this role would be a proactive and enthusiastic developer that loves problem solving. You will be an all rounder. The teams work very closely and there is a really good culture within the java development team.

Please do not hesitate to apply for this new opportunity as a shortlist will be presented to my client next week.

In return for your services there are some excellent benefits and a bonus with this role including an 8% pension contribution despite what you contribute.


For further information and a full spec please contact Gavin Stephens at Austin Fraser on
0118 952 0151 or email me; g.stephens@austinfraser.com

 

Skills

java, j2ee, spring, hibernate

Read more about this job

 
Get in Touch

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