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AWR, right to work and the Conduct Regulations
Agency worker 12-week rule calculator: when equal treatment starts, and which breaks pause or reset the clock
Enter the assignment start and up to three breaks to see the qualifying weeks, the date equal treatment begins, and which breaks paused or reset the clock.
"Agency worker 12 week rule" is typed by agency owners, by hirers and by the workers themselves, and the three groups want the same thing: a date. The Regulations give a method, not a date, and the method has three kinds of break in it. This calculator applies the method.
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Agency worker 12-week rule calculator: qualifying weeks counted, breaks that pause and breaks that reset
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How the weeks are counted
The qualifying period is twelve continuous calendar weeks in the same role with the same hirer. A week counts if the worker does any work in it, so a two-day week counts the same as a five-day one. The calculator takes the first day of the assignment as the start of week one and walks forward a week at a time to the date you choose.
A week in which the worker does no work is treated according to why:
- Pause: a break of up to six calendar weeks for any reason, sickness or injury of up to 28 weeks, jury service of up to 28 weeks, booked annual or other statutory leave, and a workplace closure. The weeks before the break are kept and counting resumes afterwards.
- Count as worked: absence related to pregnancy, childbirth or maternity, up to 26 weeks after the birth, and statutory maternity, paternity or adoption leave. The clock keeps running.
- Reset: a break of more than six weeks for any other reason, or more than 28 weeks of sickness or jury service. The count starts again from the first week worked afterwards.
Enter each break with its dates and reason and the tool classifies it. The output states the weeks assessed, the weeks paused, any reset and the date it happened.
AI staff and workflows for recruitment agencies. Starting with cv screening and shortlist.See what we would set upWhat changes at week twelve
From the first day after the twelve qualifying weeks, the worker is entitled to the same basic pay, overtime and shift rates, bonuses tied to their own work, holiday entitlement, rest breaks, night work limits and working time as a direct recruit doing the same job. The comparison is with what the hirer would have paid a direct employee in the same role, not with the best-paid person in the department.
Not included: occupational sick pay above statutory, occupational pensions (auto-enrolment applies in any case), redundancy pay and notice, and benefits in kind that are not pay. Day-one rights apply from the first day regardless: the same access to canteen, childcare, transport and other collective facilities, and information about the hirer's vacancies.
The patterns that go wrong
The six-week gap that was five. A worker is off for what the hirer calls six weeks but which runs from a Monday to the Sunday six weeks later: that is six weeks and one day, and the count resets. The tool counts days and converts to weeks, so the answer does not depend on how anyone described the gap.
The role change that was not substantive. A new job title with the same duties does not start a new clock. A move to a substantively different role does. If the moves look designed to stop the twelfth week arriving, regulation 9 treats the worker as having qualified and a tribunal can add up to £5,000 to any award.
The Swedish derogation. Pay-between-assignments contracts stopped excusing equal pay on 6 April 2020. Any contract still relying on one is wrong.
AI staff and workflows for recruitment agencies. Starting with cv screening and shortlist.See what we would set upPay and the rota
Once a temp qualifies, their rate changes on your terms with the hirer, and the hirer's own pay information is what you need to set it. Ask for it at the start of the assignment, not in week eleven. The Employment Rights Act dates guide covers what else changes for agency workers in 2026 and 2027.
An AI Compliance Clerk set up by Overlyft 
runs this count for every live temp each Monday, flags the ones reaching week ten so the rate request goes to the hirer in time, and records the reason for every break from the timesheets. This is general information, not legal advice.
Short answers from this page
How does the agency worker 12-week rule count weeks?
Any week in which the worker does any work in the same role with the same hirer counts as one. A break of six weeks or less pauses the count; a break of more than six weeks starts it again. Sickness pauses it for up to 28 weeks. A worker who started on 6 July 2026 with a three-week gap in August reaches equal treatment on 19 October 2026.
Source: Agency Workers Regulations 2010, regulation 7
What does an agency worker get after 12 weeks?
The same basic pay and working conditions as if hired directly: pay, overtime and shift rates, holiday pay above the statutory minimum, working time and rest breaks. Not occupational sick pay, pension terms, redundancy pay or bonuses that are not linked to personal performance.
Source: Agency Workers Regulations 2010, regulations 5 and 6
Where this comes from: Agency Workers Regulations 2010 regs 5 to 9 as summarised by Acas, the REC legal guide and Personnel Today's qualifying-period guide, read 2026-10-01; the Regulations themselves on legislation.gov.uk were not fetched in this pass. Tested in headless Edge 2026-10-01.
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We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
