Employment agencies and employment businesses

Employment businesses and employment agencies are different things:

• a business that arranges you temporary work with a ‘hiring company’ is legally known as an 'employment business'
• an ‘employment agency’ is a business that introduces job-seekers to employers (eg, a recruitment consultant)

In reality many businesses deal with both finding temporary work and permanent employment and the term ‘agency’ is used for employment agencies and employment businesses.

Your agency should confirm with you if it is acting to find you a job with an employer or temporary work. If you are unsure if you are an agency worker you should check who pays you, if you are paid by the agency then this makes you an agency worker.

Permanent recruitment through employment agencies

There are important differences between temporary agency workers, and people who have found a fixed-term or permanent job through an employment agency.

Companies often use an employment agency to find them suitable candidates for a vacancy, and then hire someone based on the candidates put forward by the agency. In this situation, your employment contract would be with the company that hires you, rather than the employment agency.

If you use employment agencies to find permanent or fixed-term work you are still protected under the rules that govern employment agencies. However not all of the rules will apply to your situation, for example the employment agency will not pay your salary.

When you are employed directly by a company you will have different employment rights as a permanent or fixed-term member of staff, than you would as an agency worker.