Employment Agencies Act 1975

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AT 20 of 1975

EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES ACT 1975

Employment Agencies Act 1975 Index


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c i e
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES ACT 1975

Index Section Page

Licences 5

1 Employment agencies and businesses to be licensed ................................................ 5
2 Grant of licences, etc ....................................................................................................... 6
3 Revocation of licences .................................................................................................... 6
4 Appeals ............................................................................................................................ 6
Conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses 7

5 General regulations ........................................................................................................ 7
6 Restriction on charging persons seeking employment, etc ...................................... 8
7 Display of licences, etc ................................................................................................... 8
8 Inspection ......................................................................................................................... 8
9 Fraudulent applications and entries .......................................................................... 10
10 Offences by bodies corporate ...................................................................................... 10
11 Regulations .................................................................................................................... 10
12 Interpretation ................................................................................................................. 11
13 Savings ........................................................................................................................... 12
14 Short title and commencement ................................................................................... 13
SCHEDULE 15

GRANT OF LICENCES, ETC. 15
ENDNOTES 19

TABLE OF LEGISLATION HISTORY 19
TABLE OF RENUMBERED PROVISIONS 19
TABLE OF ENDNOTE REFERENCES 19

Employment Agencies Act 1975 Section 1


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c i e
EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES ACT 1975

Received Royal Assent: 17 September 1975
Passed: 21 October 1975
Commenced: 21 October 19751
AN ACT
to regulate employment agencies and businesses; and for connected
purposes.
GENERAL NOTES

1. The maximum fines in this Act are as increased by the Fines Act 1986 and by the
Criminal Justice (Penalties, Etc.) Act 1993 s 1.
2. References to a Board of Tynwald are to be construed in accordance with the
Government Departments Act 1987 s 7.
Licences
1 Employment agencies and businesses to be licensed

[P1973/35/1]
(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, no person shall carry on an employment
agency or an employment business at any premises after the date on
which this section comes into force unless he is the holder of a current
licence from the licensing authority authorising him to carry on such an
agency or such a business at those premises.
(2) A person who has duly applied for a licence under this Act before the
date mentioned in subsection (1) above shall not be precluded by that
subsection from carrying on an employment agency or any employment
business after that date —
(a) until the commencement of the licence; or
(b) if the application is refused, until the time for appealing to the
Tribunal against the refusal has expired and, if such an appeal is
duly brought, until the time when it is disposed of.1

1 [EDITORIAL NOTE:
See endnote to section 14 for the temporal effect of this Act.]
Section 2 Employment Agencies Act 1975


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(3) Any person who contravenes subsection (1) above shall be guilty of an
offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
£5,000.
2 Grant of licences, etc

The Schedule to this Act shall have effect in relation to the granting of licences
under this Act and to the other matters specified in that Schedule.
3 Revocation of licences

[P1973/35/3]
(1) A licence under this Act may be revoked by the licensing authority on
any of the grounds specified in paragraph 5 of the Schedule to this Act.
(2) The licensing authority shall not act under subsection (1) above unless it
has given not less than one month’s notice in writing to the holder of the
licence of the grounds on which it proposes to revoke the licence and, if
the holder makes representations in writing to the licensing authority
within one month of the date on which the notice is given or such longer
period as the licensing authority may allow, the licensing authority shall
have regard to those representations.
(3) On deciding to act under subsection (1) above, the licensing authority
shall give notice in writing of its decision to the holder of the licence
stating the grounds for the revocation.
(4) The revocation of a licence by the licensing authority shall take place —
(a) unless an appeal is duly made to the Tribunal, when the time for
appealing to the Tribunal has expired; or2

(b) on the withdrawal of the appeal to the Tribunal; or3

(c) on the expiration of the time, subsequent to the determination of
the appeal by the Tribunal, within which an appeal to the Staff of
Government Division may be duly made,4

whichever first occurs, or, if a further appeal is duly made to the Staff of
Government Division, until that appeal is withdrawn or determined,
whichever first occurs.
4 Appeals

[P1973/35/4]
(1) Any person who is aggrieved by a decision of the licensing authority —
(a) refusing to grant him a licence; or
(b) revoking a licence of which he is the holder,
may appeal, in the prescribed manner giving the prescribed particulars,
to the Tribunal.5

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(2) An appeal under subsection (1) above against any decision shall be
brought within twenty-one days of the date on which notice of the
decision was given in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
(3) Before the determination of an appeal, the Tribunal shall ask the
appellant and the licensing authority whether they wish to appear and
be heard on the appeal and —
(a) the appeal may be determined without a hearing of the parties if
both of them express a wish not to appear and be heard as
aforesaid;
(b) the Tribunal shall, if either of the parties expresses a wish to
appear and be heard, afford to both of them an opportunity of
doing so.6

(4) The Tribunal shall state in writing the reasons for its determination and
may give such directions as it considers appropriate to give effect to its
determination, and, subject to subsection (5) below, any such
determination shall be final.7

(5) An appeal shall lie, in accordance with rules of court, to the Staff of
Government Division from a determination of the Tribunal under this
section where that determination involves a question of law.8

Conduct of employment agencies and employment businesses
5 General regulations

[P1973/35/5]
(1) The Department may make regulations to secure the proper conduct of
employment agencies and employment businesses and to protect the
interests of persons availing themselves of the services of such agencies
and businesses, and those regulations may, in particular, make
provision —
(a) requiring persons carrying on such agencies and businesses to
keep records;
(b) prescribing the form of such records and the entries to be made in
them;
(c) prescribing qualifications appropriate for persons carrying on
such agencies and businesses;
(d) regulating advertising by persons carrying on such agencies and
businesses;
(e) safeguarding clients’ money deposited with or otherwise received
by persons carrying on such agencies and businesses;
(f) regulating the provision of services by persons carrying on such
agencies and businesses in respect of persons who seek
Section 6 Employment Agencies Act 1975


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employment outside the Island or of persons normally resident
outside the Island who seek employment in the Island;
(g) regulating the provision of services by persons carrying on such
agencies and businesses in respect of persons who are under the
age of eighteen years or are undergoing full-time education,
but regulations under this section shall not make provision for regulating
or restricting the charging of fees to employers by persons carrying on
such agencies and businesses.9

(2) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any regulation
made under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable
on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000.
6 Restriction on charging persons seeking employment, etc

[P1973/35/7]
(1) Except in such cases or classes of case as the Department may prescribe,
a person carrying on an employment agency or an employment business
shall not demand or directly or indirectly receive from any person any
fee for finding him employment or for seeking to find him
employment.10

(2) Any person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence
and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000.
7 Display of licences, etc

[P1973/35/7]
(1) The holder of a licence under this Act in respect of any employment
agency or employment business shall keep displayed on the premises to
which the licence relates, in such a position that it can be readily seen by
persons resorting to those premises —
(a) the licence; and
(b) a copy of any regulations under this Act which apply to the
employment agency or employment business.
(2) Any person who fails to comply with this section shall be guilty of an
offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
£5,000.
8 Inspection

[P1973/35/9]
(1) Any officer duly authorised by the licensing authority in that behalf may
at all reasonable times, on producing, if so required, written evidence of
his authority —
Employment Agencies Act 1975 Section 8


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(a) enter any premises used or to be used for or in connection with
the carrying on of an employment agency or employment
business by a person who is the holder of, or who has applied for,
a licence under this Act and any other premises which the officer
has reasonable cause to believe are used for or in connection with
the carrying on of an employment agency or employment
business; and
(b) inspect those premises and any records or other documents kept
in pursuance of this Act or of any regulations made thereunder;
and
(c) subject to subsection (2) below, require any person on those
premises to furnish him with such information as he may
reasonably require for the purpose of ascertaining whether the
provisions of this Act and of any regulations made thereunder are
being complied with or of enabling the licensing authority to
exercise its functions under this Act.11

(2) A person shall not be required under subsection (1)(c) above to answer
any question tending to incriminate himself or, in the case of a person
who is married, his or her wife or husband.
(3) Any person who obstructs an officer in the exercise of his powers under
paragraph (a) or (b) of subsection (1) above shall be guilty of an offence
and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000,
and any person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to comply with a
requirement under paragraph (c) of that subsection shall be guilty of an
offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
£1,000.
(4) No information obtained in the course of exercising the powers conferred
by subsection (1) above shall be disclosed except —
(a) with the consent of the person by whom the information was
furnished or, where the information was furnished on behalf of
another person, with the consent of that other person or with the
consent of the person carrying on or proposing to carry on the
employment agency or employment business concerned; or
(b) to the licensing authority or the Department, or the Tribunal, or to
the officers or servants of the Department, for the purposes of the
exercise of their respective functions under this Act; or12

(c) by the officers of the Department, for the purposes of the exercise
of its functions under this Act, to the person carrying on or
proposing to carry on the employment agency or employment
business concerned, to any person in his employment or, in the
case of information relating to a person availing himself of the
services of such an agency or business, to that person; or13

Section 9 Employment Agencies Act 1975


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(d) with a view to the institution of, or otherwise for the purposes of,
any criminal proceedings pursuant to or arising out of this Act or
for the purposes of any hearing on an appeal brought under
section 4(1) or (5) of this Act.
(5) Any person who contravenes subsection (4) above shall be guilty of an
offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding
£5,000.
9 Fraudulent applications and entries

[P1973/35/10]
(1) Any person who, for the purpose of procuring the grant of a licence
under this Act —
(a) makes a statement which he knows to be false in a material
particular or recklessly makes a statement which is false in a
material particular; or
(b) produces, furnishes, sends or otherwise makes use of a document
which he knows is false in a material particular or recklessly
produces, furnishes, sends or otherwise makes use of a document
which is false in a material particular,
shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) Any person who makes or causes to be made, or knowingly allows to be
made, any entry in a record or other document, required to be kept in
pursuance of this Act or of any regulations made thereunder, which he
knows to be false in a material particular shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on
summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £5,000.
10 Offences by bodies corporate

[P1973/35/11]
Where an offence under this Act committed by a body corporate is proved to
have been committed with the consent or connivance of, or to have been
attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or
other similar officer of the body corporate or a person who was purporting to
act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate, shall be guilty of the
offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
11 Regulations

[P1973/35/12]
(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, the Department may make regulations
for prescribing anything which under this Act is to be, or may be,
prescribed.14

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(2) The Department shall not make any regulations under this Act except
after consultation with such bodies as appear to it to be representative of
the interests concerned.15

(3) Regulations under this Act may make different provision in relation to
different cases or classes of case.
(4) Regulations under this Act shall not have effect until they have been
approved by Tynwald.
12 Interpretation

[P1973/35/13(1) to (6)]
(1) In this Act —
“the Board
” [Repealed]16

“current licence
” means a licence granted under this Act which has not expired
and which has not been revoked;
“the Department
” means the Department of Economic Development;17

“employment
” includes —
(a) employment by way of a professional engagement or otherwise
under a contract for services;
(b) the reception in a private household of a person under an
arrangement whereby that person is to assist in the domestic
work of the household in consideration of receiving —
(i) hospitality; or
(ii) hospitality and pocket money; or
(iii) board and lodging for a nominal sum;
and “worker
” and “employer
” shall be construed accordingly;
“employment agency
” has the meaning assigned by subsection (2) below but
does not include any arrangements, services, functions or business to
which this Act does not apply by virtue of section 13 of this Act;
“employment business
” has the meaning assigned by subsection (3) below but
does not include any arrangements, services, functions or business to
which this Act does not apply by virtue of section 13 of this Act;
“fee
” includes any charge however described;
“holder
”, in relation to a licence, includes a person to whom it is deemed to
have been transferred under paragraph 8 of the Schedule to this Act;
“the licensing authority
” means the Department;18

“organisation
” includes an association of organisations;
Section 13 Employment Agencies Act 1975


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“organisation of employers
” means an organisation which consists wholly or
mainly of employers and whose principal objects include the regulation
of relations between employers and workers or organisations of workers;
“organisation of workers
” means an organisation which consists wholly or
mainly of workers and whose principal objects include the regulation of
relations between workers and employers or organisations of employers;
“seaman
” has the same meaning as in the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 (an Act
of Parliament);
“the Tribunal
” means the Work Permit Appeal Tribunal constituted in
accordance with section 13 of the Control of Employment Act 2014.19

(2) For the purposes of this Act, “employment agency
” means the business
(whether or not carried on with a view to profit and whether or not
carried on in conjunction with any other business) of providing services
(whether by the provision of information or otherwise) for the purpose of
finding workers employment with employers or of supplying employers
with workers for employment by them.
(3) For the purposes of this Act, “employment business
” means the
business (whether or not carried on with a view to profit and whether or
not carried on in conjunction with any other business) of supplying
persons in the employment of the person carrying on the business, to act
for, and under the control of, other persons in any capacity.
(4) The reference in subsection (2) above to providing services does not
include a reference to —
(a) publishing a newspaper or other publication unless it is published
wholly or mainly for the purpose mentioned in that subsection;
(b) the display by any person of advertisements on premises
occupied by him otherwise than for the said purpose; or
(c) providing a programme service (within the meaning of Part 1 of
the Broadcasting Act 1993);20

(5) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires, references to
any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment as
amended, extended or applied by or under any other enactment.
13 Savings

[P1973/35/13(7)]
(1) Subject to subsection (2) below, this Act does not apply to —
(a) any agency for the supply of nurses as defined in section 11(1) of
the Nurses and Midwives Act 1947;
(b) the business carried on by any county or district nursing
association or other similar organisation, being an association or
organisation established and existing wholly or mainly for the
Employment Agencies Act 1975 Section 14


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purpose of providing patients with the services of a nurse to visit
them in their own homes without herself taking up residence
there;
(c) services which are ancillary to the letting upon hire of any aircraft,
vessel, vehicle, plant or equipment;
(d) the making of arrangements for finding seamen for persons
seeking to employ seamen or for finding employment for seamen;
(e) the exercise by a local authority of any of its functions;
(f) services provided by any organisation of employers or
organisation of workers for its members;
(g) services provided by a Board of Tynwald;
(h) any business carried on, or any services provided by, such
persons or classes of persons as may be prescribed.
(2) Subsection (1)(a) above shall not be taken as exempting from the
provision of this Act any other business carried on in conjunction with an
agency for the supply of nurses.
14 Short title and commencement

(1) This Act may be cited as the Employment Agencies Act 1975.
(2) This Act shall, subject to subsection (3) below, come into operation when
the Royal Assent thereto has been by the Governor announced to
Tynwald and a certificate thereof has been signed by the Governor and
the Speaker of the House of Keys.
(3) This section shall take effect on the coming into operation of this Act and
the other provisions of this Act shall take effect on such day as the
Governor may by order appoint.21

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SCHEDULE

GRANT OF LICENCES, ETC.

Sections 2, 3 and 12 [P1973/35/2]
1. (1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, an applicant for a licence under this
Act shall —
(a) not less than forty-two days before making his application, serve
on the licensing authority notice, in a form approved by that
authority, of his intention to make the application; and
(b) not less than twenty-one days before making his application —
(i) display notice of the application in a place where it can
conveniently be read by the public on or near the premises
at which the employment agency or employment business
is or is to be carried on and take such steps as he
reasonably can to keep that notice so displayed for a period
of twenty-one days; and
(ii) advertise notice of the application in two newspapers
approved by the licensing authority.
(2) Sub-paragraph (1) above shall not apply where the applicant is the
holder of a current licence and the carrying on of the employment agency or
employment business at the premises in question is authorised by that licence.
2. A notice under paragraph 1 above shall —
(a) state the name and address of the applicant; and
(b) state the situation of the premises at which the employment
agency or employment business is or is to be carried on and the
class of business carried on or to be carried on at those premises.
3. An application for a licence shall not be entertained by the licensing authority
unless it is made in the prescribed manner and is accompanied —
(a) by the prescribed particulars; and
(b) where paragraph 1 above applies, by a certificate, signed by or on
behalf of the applicant, stating that he has complied with that
paragraph and a copy of the newspaper containing notice of the
application.
4. Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, the licensing authority shall, as soon
as reasonably practicable after the receipt of an application for a licence and on
payment of the prescribed fee, grant a licence to any person who duly applies for one.

Schedule
Employment Agencies Act 1975


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5. An application for a licence in respect of an employment agency or an
employment business may be refused on any of the following grounds, that is to say —
(a) that the applicant is an individual under the age of twenty-one
years;
(b) that the applicant is a person who, on account of misconduct or
for any other sufficient reason, is unsuitable to hold a licence in
respect of an agency or business of the class in question;
(c) that any person (other than the applicant) who is or is to be
concerned with the carrying on of the employment agency or
employment business is a person who, on account of misconduct
or for any other sufficient reason, is unsuitable to be associated
with an agency or business of the class in question;
(d) that the premises at which the employment agency or
employment business is or is to be carried on are unsuitable in
respect of an agency or business of the class in question;
(e) that the employment agency or employment business has been or
is being improperly conducted.
6. The licensing authority shall, within seven days after making a decision on an
application for a licence, give notice in writing of the decision to the applicant, and that
notice shall state, in the case of a decision to refuse a licence, the grounds for the
refusal.
7. (1) Unless revoked under section 3 of this Act, a licence shall, subject to sub-
paragraph (2) below, continue in force for one year (or such longer period, not
exceeding five years, as the licensing authority may specify in any particular case)
beginning with the date specified therein for its commencement.
(2) Where the holder of a licence in respect of any premises has duly
applied, not less than seven nor more than twenty-eight days before its expiry, for a
further licence in respect of those premises, the previous licence shall not expire until
the commencement of the further licence or, if the application is refused, until the time
for appealing to the Tribunal against the refusal has expired and, if such an appeal is
duly brought, until it is disposed of.22

8. Where the holder of a licence dies, it shall be deemed to have been transferred
on his death, if he was a sole holder, to his personal representatives and, if he was a
joint holder, to the surviving holder or holders.
9. (1) It shall be the duty of the holder of a licence under this Act, before
making any change in the particulars which accompanied the application for that
licence under paragraph 3 above, to give to the licensing authority notice in writing of
the proposed change and to obtain that authority’s consent to making the change, and
any person who fails to comply with this subsection shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000.
Employment Agencies Act 1975 Schedule



c AT 20 of 1975 Page 17

(2) Nothing in sub-paragraph (1) above shall be taken as authorising the
holder of a licence to carry on any business otherwise than in accordance with the
provisions of the licence.
10. Every licence granted under this Act shall be endorsed with notice of the effect
of paragraph 9 above.
Employment Agencies Act 1975 Endnotes


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ENDNOTES

Table of Legislation History

Legislation Year and No Commencement






Table of Renumbered Provisions

Original Current






Table of Endnote References

1
Para (b) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 Sch. 2
Para (a) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 Sch. 3
Para (b) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 Sch. 4
Para (c) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 Sch. 5
Subs (1) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 s 1. 6
Subs (3) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 s 1. 7
Subs (4) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 s 1. 8
Subs (5) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 s 1. 9
Subs (1) amended by Health and Social Security Act 1986 Sch 2. 10
Subs (1) amended by Health and Social Security Act 1986 Sch 2. 11
Subs (1) amended by GC141/90. 12
Para (b) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 Sch and by
Health and Social Security Act 1986 Sch 2. 13
Para (c) amended by Health and Social Security Act 1986 Sch 2. 14
Subs (1) amended by Health and Social Security Act 1986 Sch 2. 15
Subs (2) amended by Health and Social Security Act 1986 Sch 2. 16
Definition of “the Board” repealed by Health and Social Security Act 1986 Sch 3. 17
Definition of “the Department” substituted by GC141/90 and amended by SD155/10
Sch 2. 18
Definition of “the licensing authority” substituted by Statute Law Revision Act 1989
Sch 1.
Endnotes Employment Agencies Act 1975


Page 20 AT 20 of 1975 c

19
Definition of “the Tribunal” inserted by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act
1981 Sch and amended by Tribunals Act 2006 Sch 3 and by Control of Employment Act
2014 Sch 2. 20
Para (c) substituted by Broadcasting Act 1993 Sch 4. 21
ADO all provisions except section 1 in operation 1/2/1978, section 1in operation on
1/4/1978 (GC34/78). 22
Subpara (2) amended by Employment Agencies (Amendment) Act 1981 Sch.