Agency ending assignment without notice

This is a common concern for agency workers, and the answer depends on several factors including the terms of your contract, the type of arrangement in place, and how long you have been on the assignment.

The legal framework:

Agency workers typically work under one of two types of contract. The first is a contract for services between you and the agency, which governs your relationship with the agency itself. The second is the arrangement between the agency and the end client (the hirer), under which you are supplied to carry out work. You are not usually an employee of the hirer.

The key piece of legislation is the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. Under Regulation 17, an employment business (the agency) must not introduce or supply a work-seeker to a hirer unless it has agreed the terms with the work-seeker, including the minimum period of notice the work-seeker will receive if the assignment is to end.

This means the agency should have told you what notice period applies. If it has not done so, that is a breach of the Regulations.

What your contract says:

In practice, many agency contracts include a clause allowing the assignment to be terminated with very short notice or, in some cases, no notice at all. This is because the nature of temporary agency work is inherently flexible for both sides. You should check the contract or terms of engagement you signed with the agency.

If the contract says the assignment can be ended without notice, or with only minimal notice, then the agency and the hirer are generally entitled to do so. Temporary assignments are not the same as permanent employment, and the usual unfair dismissal protections do not apply unless you have employee status rather than worker status, and even then only if you meet the qualifying period of two years' continuous service.

Where protections may apply:

1. If the agency has failed to set out a notice period at all in your terms, they are in breach of Regulation 17. You could raise a complaint with the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate, which is the enforcement body for the Regulations.

2. If you have been on the assignment for 12 weeks or more, the Agency Workers Regulations 2010 give you equal treatment rights on pay and basic working conditions compared to directly recruited staff of the hirer. However, these regulations do not create a right to a minimum notice period for ending the assignment itself.

3. If the reason for ending the assignment is discriminatory, for example connected to pregnancy, disability, race, sex, religion, age, or another protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, then you may have a claim regardless of your length of service. Discrimination claims have no qualifying period.

4. If you have been treated as a worker or employee in substance, regardless of the label on the contract, and can show that the true relationship amounts to employment, you may have additional rights. This is a fact-sensitive question.

5. If you raised a health and safety concern, made a whistleblowing disclosure, or asserted a statutory right and the assignment was ended as a result, you may be protected against detriment even as a worker.

Practical steps:

1. Check your contract or written terms of engagement with the agency to see what notice period, if any, is specified.

2. Ask the agency in writing for the reason the assignment has ended, and whether any notice period applies.

3. If you believe the ending of the assignment is connected to a protected characteristic or a protected disclosure, keep a detailed written record of events and gather any supporting evidence such as messages or emails.

4. If the agency has not provided written terms including a notice period, you can report this to the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.

5. If you think you may have a discrimination or whistleblowing claim, be aware that the time limit for bringing a claim to the employment tribunal is generally three months less one day from the act complained of, subject to the requirement to notify ACAS first through early conciliation, which pauses the clock.

In summary, while an agency can often end an assignment at short notice or without notice depending on the contract terms, they must have told you the notice terms in advance, and the ending of the assignment must not be for an unlawful reason. The specifics depend heavily on what your written terms say and the circumstances surrounding the termination.