Trade body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s (REC) is sending out a “very clear message” with the investigation of recruitment related complaints.

According to its latest report its Professional Standards Team issued four reprimands, made seven inspections, two compliance orders and one explusion over last year.

Temporary workers provided the main group of complainants, accounting for around 23% of all queries, compared to 30% the previous year.

“Most of the complaints centred on pay problems, terms of engagement, holiday pay entitlement, unprofessional conduct and more general comments about poor communication and customer service,” according to the report.