The civil servant behind the Employment Agencies Act (EAA), Vic Patterson, was given a tough time by leading recruiters at Recruitex, the industry forum held in September.

During a panel session questions were mainly directed at the man from the DTI.

A number of recruiters questioned the ‘appropriateness’ of including highly paid and highly articulate limited company contractors in regulations designed to protect less skilled and lower waged workers.

Chief executive of ATSCo Ann Swain didn’t think it ‘realistic’ to hope for limited company contractors to be taken out of the Regulations. She hoped for an extension of the temp-to-temp quarantine period to eight weeks rather than four, however.

CEO of S3 Group Bill Bottriell asked Patterson whether these regulations, drawn up in a time of economic prosperity, were still suitable in the current economic conditions. He called for the DTI to delay passing the EAA until the economy had improved.

CEO of Plexian Howard Butterfield asked how the Regulations were meant to create and maintain a flexible workforce.

Patterson said he would consider the issues raised by delegates.

The state of the market also generated discussion. MD of Joslin Rowe Tara Ricks revised her former forecast for improvement in the market to the third quarter of next year rather than the first quarter.

Former communications director at Blue Arrow Charles Walker advised high street recruiters to add value to their services to stay ahead.