Conduct Regulations opt-out
Under regulation 32(9), a limited company contractor can opt out of the Conduct Regulations. The company and the individual must both agree and notify the agency before introduction or supply to the client, and the agency must tell the client. Unavailable for work with vulnerable persons.
Regulation 32 applies the Conduct Regulations to work-seekers that are companies, with modifications. Paragraph 9 lets them opt out: the company and the person it would supply agree that those provisions should not apply and give notice of that agreement to the agency, and the agency informs the client. Opting out means protections such as the regulation 12 ban on withholding pay no longer apply to that contractor's company, which is why many contract agencies ask for it.
Two duties survive an opt-out. The key information document requirement in regulation 13A applies to a company work-seeker whether or not it has opted out, and so do the record-keeping requirements in regulation 29. The opt-out is also unavailable where the individual would be working with or attending vulnerable persons, which rules it out for many healthcare, education and care roles.
Timing decides whether an opt-out works. The notice has to be given before the agency introduces or supplies the contractor to the client in question. An agency sends a contractor's CV to a client on Monday and has the opt-out signed on Wednesday, before the start. The introduction happened on Monday, so for that client the notice came too late and the contractor is in scope for the assignment. Signed at registration, before any CV went out, with the client told in the submission or the terms, it would have been effective.
Withdrawal belongs to the individual. They can withdraw the notice by telling the agency, but if they do so while working in a position with a client, the withdrawal only takes effect when they stop working in that position. The same rule applies to a notice given mid-assignment.
Other common faults: only the individual signs, not the company; for a one-person company the usual practice is a single notice signed in both capacities. The opt-out is buried in contractor terms signed after the start. Or a sole trader is asked to opt out, although the regulation only allows it for a company.
How Vayora handles it
From a contractor's record, Vayora sends a regulation 32(9) notice for electronic signature, worded for a one-person company with the contractor signing as director and personally, and stores the PDF against the contractor. Once signed, the record shows the opt-out date and the signature record keeps the timestamp you need as evidence. Vayora does not yet compare that date with each introduction, tell the client the notice was given, block roles involving vulnerable persons or record a withdrawal; those steps stay in your process.
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