He said: "The recruitment sector makes an important contribution to the economic health of Britain and plays a vital part in the UK's fully flexible labour market. We want to see that continue and that is why we have worked closely with the recruitment sector to ensure the introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations is as smooth as possible."
In 2010 as part of an extensive consultation, the Government published an impact assessment of the Agency Workers Directive.
The impact assessment can be found on the BIS website (www.bis.gov.uk). The Government looked at the possibility of amending the Regulations to address employers' concerns but were forced to conclude that it could not do so without putting the 12 week qualifying period at risk.
"This qualification period is something that is a key flexibility that we know is vital to business," said Davey.
Responding to the challenge that research has suggested 500,000 temps could find themselves out of work as a result of the rules, giving equal pay and benefits rights, to temporary workers after 12 weeks' work with an employer.
He said: "The Government's Impact Assessment demonstrates the complexity of the labour market and hence the difficulty in predicting the dynamic impacts of the Regulations on the agency worker population.
"Businesses decision making is dependent on many factors ranging from the cost to the demand of workers and the cost of not being able to bid for new work. This complexity means it is not possible to predict a change in the agency worker population.
"The Government will be monitoring the impact of the regulations and feed this into the EU Commissions' review of the Directive in 2013."
But will the AWR cause further administration for HR directors?
"The introduction of the Directive will change the administration by HR directors needed to place agency workers into roles," Davey told HR. "However, we have worked closely with the industry and produced guidance over the summer which will help directors prepare for the changes."
He could not comment on the costs to employers of the regulations, but believes the AWR might have benefits for recruitment strategy.
He said: "One of the aims of the Directive was to liberalise the agency sector across the EU. This could bring benefits to UK employment businesses that want to expand into the EU but have found laws in EU Member States to be prohibitive.
"We know that trade bodies like REC and TEAM are working closely with their members and users of agency workers. An example of how businesses are preparing for the new regulations is REC's Agency Worker Toolkit."
The Government has produced guidance to help businesses comply with the new regulations.
You can find guidance for business on the business link website (www.businesslink.gov.uk) and for individuals on the Direct Gov website (www.directgov.gov.uk).
