An employment tribunal has awarded a temporary worker more than £10,000 in compensation after ruling that she was not paid the same wages as an equivalent permanent employee after 12 weeks, reports personneltoday.com.

The Agency Worker Regulations (AWR) provide that temporary workers supplied through staffing agencies are entitled to the same basic employment and working conditions as if they had been recruited directly.

Following the completion of a qualifying period of 12 weeks in the same job, the AWR stipulates that the worker should receive the same wages and employment benefits of a full-time equivalent employee.

The equal treatment aspect of the regulation applies only to basic working and employment conditions, it does not affect the employment status of the temporary worker.

In Stevens vs Northolt High School, the employment tribunal held, in this case, that the school, and not the temporary recruitment agency, was liable to pay compensation to the agency worker for failure to pay her at the rate to which she was legally entitled.