The UK has the highest number of temps in Europe.

Five percent of its workforce don’t have permanent contracts.

A temporary workforce enables companies to expand and contract quickly, something the Japanese exploited so successfully that the psychological contract was brought to an end in 1984 in the US.

The rest, as they say, is history.

We use them for filling short and longer-term absences, such as for maternity leave, chronic absences caused by stress-related illnesses, sudden seasonal demand, and school holidays, especially during the summer break.

 

Just because we use them a lot, however, doesn’t mean that they’re a good thing, does it?

If there was another way to expand or reduce the workforce “in real time”, would we consider it?

That’s what zero-hour contracts are intended to do.

The problem with them, however, is that employers hold all the cards.

And people are beginning to catch on to that fact.

Even the Government recognises how unfair they are.

So that brings us back to temporary staff.

 

Should you use them?

The fact of the matter is that there is no easy answer.

It really depends on your circumstances.

If the job is relatively easy to learn and the risks to the company are comparatively low, then bringing in a temp can alleviate short-term pressures; however, if the job is complicated, requires lengthy training, or access to sensitive material, then the resources you invest in temps could exceed the value that you get by bringing them in for a few months.

 

You have to weigh all that up.

You could ask the question, for example, “What is the worst thing that could happen if we don’t use a temp?” Or “What is the worst thing that could happen if the increased workload caused us to get behind for three months, or six months, or some other period of time?”

You could reverse that question.

“What would be the net benefit of hiring a temp?”

And then it’s simply a comparison.

In which choice do you come out ahead?

One problem is that there’s insufficient time to do the background checks or take up the references before you take on temporary staff.

It’s easy to say that you need to plan ahead, but a sudden large order or series of orders can leave you unprepared to fill them.

Or you may think that order book is just the way you’d like it to be when a long-standing customer asks you to do a rush job that you hadn’t expected.

 

Some jobs are seasonal.

Except in those instances where the same people return year after year, there still will be vacancies.

Migrant workers, in particular, fall into this camp. They arrive, do the work, and then leave, cash in hand.

And agricultural work is very demanding physically, too.

It’s likely that as the years go by and people age that they’ll be less likely to want to or even be able to bend over, lift heavy loads, or crawl around on the ground like they once did.

When you’re pressed for people to do the work, then it’s probable that you’ll hire whoever happens to be available because you can’t afford to leave your crop unharvested while you check everything.

 

What’s the risk of hiring temps without the background checks?

Theft is one.

People who are just passing through know that if they steal something, the chances of you looking for or prosecuting them if you find them are remote because a) you may implicate yourself for having used illegal immigrants in the first place and / or b) you don’t want the expense or the publicity.

So no matter what - you lose.

It’s why some companies are able to do outrageous things and get away with it.

No one has the money or the time to sue them.

 

Temp agencies

The risks attendant to hiring temporary employees yourself can be mitigated by using an agency.

 

Benefits

There are several benefits to using an agency.

For one thing, they become the employer; not you.

That means that all the administrative hassle that goes with taxes, National Insurance contributions, and pensions are borne by someone else.

You don’t have to worry about sick days or sick pay.

You needn’t be concerned when they go on holiday.

If they decide they no longer want to work for you, it probably doesn’t matter.

The agency is likely to have a stable-full of willing temps to fill-in behind any that don’t work out or show up, regardless of the reason.

And you don’t have to worry about running background checks or taking up references.

The agency will have done all that.

And the agency will also know with some precision the extent and level of skill for each of their temps.

All you have to do is tell them what you want someone to be able to do.

They’ll either tell you that no one is available, which saves you the trouble of discovering this on your own, or send you a bevy of potential applicants.

The real administrative savings comes if you need several people.

You don’t have to devote time to the recruitment process apart from perhaps one interview that enables you to get to know the candidates.

And most agencies will send you their best candidate first so that, if possible, that person can start right away.

Agencies make their money by placing their temps.

They want them to be working as much as you want them to.

 

Probably more.

There’s another benefit, and that is that a temp could be a relatively cheap way to see if someone would be suitable as a permanent employee.

You have to admit that it’s unfair to “hire” someone for 364 days, and then tell them that they’re no longer needed.

For one thing, it shouldn’t take you that long to figure it out, or for another everyone knows you’re just trying to get out of giving them a contract.

Using a temp, however, obviates all that.

There can be no question that a person is temporary because they work for the agency.

At the same time, if you find that a person is a good worker and fits in, then you usually can hire that person permanently.

The agency will want an additional fee, of course, but you will have been spared all the vetting.

That by itself has to be worth something.

You may be surprised to learn that temp workers often perform better than permanent ones.

That’s probably because they hope you will hire them.

 

Costs

Just like discounting your invoices, however, there is a cost to using an agency.

For one thing, you’ll pay more per hour for a temp than you would for an employee.

That’s because the agency needs to cover their expenses and make a profit.

They aren’t a charity.

 

What can you expect to pay to get a temp?

Twenty percent is about average and, if the position is hard to fill, you could pay as much as 30% on top of the wage for that person.

That’s the direct financial cost.

There’s another cost, however, one that you might call a productivity cost.

Let’s say that you find the ideal temp.

Everyone loves her.

She’s efficient, thorough, and fun to be around.

She brings a ray of sunshine into an otherwise gloomy office.

Permanent staff bond with her.

She takes on more responsibility, and you find yourself thinking that you had more people like that.

But then, the need for her stops, and you have to tell the agency that you no longer need her.

 

What happens in the office?

The sunshine leaves the office.

Morale goes down.

The old inefficiencies creep back in.

And the office feels empty without her.

 

What has happened?

The team has lost a valuable member.

In fact, it has lost part of itself.

Teams, as you know, are greater than the sum of their parts; and that means that if you lose one part, you lose more than just the contribution of that one team member.

You also lose the level of productivity that that team had reached.

 

Demoralised temps

Believe it or not, temps can become demoralised.

That can happen as a result of working alongside permanent staff for an extended period of time.

It won’t take them long to realise that the person sitting in the desk next to them is getting paid holidays, paid bank holidays, and paid sick leave.

There may be other perks on top of that.

The perception of the temp is likely to be that they aren’t being paid the same as their permanent counterparts.

The recent furore in the disparity in compensation at the BBC exemplifies this.

Although the majority are self-employed, certainly the lower paid ones see themselves as doing exactly the same job as those who are being paid more than them.

The value that one feels one gives is generally higher than that which is perceived by the one holding the purse strings.

Nevertheless, the feeling that one is a second-class employee is demoralising.

 

Accidents

Temp workers are more likely to be injured on the job.

This is because they haven’t received the safety training that permanent staff have been given.

They also may not appreciate how important it is to use Permanent Protective Equipment (PPE) either.

 

Conclusion

Temporary employees can help organisations to deal with an increase in the workload.

If you use an agency, then they truly are a flexible workforce.

That’s because they are employed by the agency and not by you.

That said, it will cost more per person to hire them through an agency than if you did it yourself.

Hiring temps yourself, however, is risky.

In order to save time, you might be captivated by their charm and overlook the need to run background checks or take up references.

You’re a pretty good judge of people, however, so what’s the problem?

About two-thirds of CVs contain lies.

You simply won’t know what you’re getting unless you thoroughly check everything.

Failing to do so could cost more as a result.

 

You have to assess honestly what the true benefit and cost of hiring a temp is, and then compare that with what you hope to gain by bringing in an extra pair of hands.

On the one hand, you may find that the relatively short-term staff shortage is the lesser of evils.

On the other, you could find that using an agency was the smartest thing you ever did.

 

 

For more insights – Click Here