There are still a lot of grey areas surrounding the Agency Workers Regulations that need to be smoothed out, the REC maintains.

REC has been involved in consultation workshops designed to answer recruiters' questions on the new guidelines.

Talking to employment relations minister Ed Davey, the workshops discussed topics such as the benefits and bonuses that accompany equal treatment.

While organisation-wide benefits would be out of the range of contractors, there is debate around team bonuses in cases where a freelancer has worked on a project for a while and directly contributed to its success.

Lewina Farrell, the REC's head of legal and professional services said: "The workshops are confirming the interpretations of the REC's legal team which is why we have always maintained that recruiters do not need to wait for the final guidance to be published to start preparing and engaging with their clients."

This comes after an article on Contractor UK stated that IT contractors' skills should be constantly updated with training days.