An open letter to the government from eight professional bodies, including the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC), Association of Professional Staffing Companies APSCo, and Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) is calling for a rethink on plans to extend zero hours reforms to temporary agency workers.

The group argues temporary agency work is ‘fundamentally different from other forms of zero hours employment’, point to the unintended consequence of shifting the employment status of agency workers.

In 2024, around 872,000 temporary or contract workers were on assignment on any given day, according to REC’s UK Recruitment Industry Status Report 2024/25.

The government’s zero-hour contract changes include a new guaranteed hours plan ranging from an eight to 20-hour threshold with a new ‘reference period’, reasonable notice for shift changes, as well as payment for late cancellation of shifts.

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