Hiring contractors or agency workers temporarily can be a great way to plug a recruitment gap in your business. If you’re in need of skilled individuals but don’t have the means to hire them permanently, then this rising trend of the temporary worker could be just what your company needs.

Temporary workers are those that typically work for a business for less than a year and usually have a specific expiration date. As skill gaps grow and the job market becomes more and more competitive, more job seekers are seeking temporary contracts.

If you’re thinking about hiring a contractor or an agency worker at your company, here’s what you need to know.

Hire Direct or Recruit Through an Agency?

There are typically two options for hiring a temporary worker; you can go to them directly or contact an agency to recruit the right person for you. Going through an agency can mean taking a lot of the hassle and admin off your shoulders, as they offer services that can source contractors and connect them to you, settle contract terms and negotiate rates. But when you work directly with a contractor, you will be responsible for all of this. However, you won’t have to pay any agency fees.

Agencies have a variety of contacts and will likely be able to source the best talent for your business by conducting a search in their database of clients. Agencies will most likely only take on clients that have had a DBS check for roles that require it, so you don’t have to worry about trying to recruit someone who hasn’t had their certification. But if you already know someone who might be suited to the job you need doing, you might prefer to go to them directly.

Ultimately, whether you go direct or go through an agency, it will depend on what is the most important thing to you. If you have the time and means to search for contractors and the willingness to sort out the negotiations and admin, going direct might be more suitable, but if you’d rather have an agency take care of most of the legwork in exchange for a fee, maybe you’re best leaving it to professionals.

The Difference Between Contractors and Agency Workers

When you hire a worker through an agency, you pay the agency, including the employee’s National Insurance contributions (NIC) and their Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). However, the responsibility lies with the agency to ensure their workers get their rights under working time regulations.

If your agency worker is with you for more than 12 weeks, they become entitled to the same terms and conditions as permanent employees, such as pay, working time, breaks and annual leave. This information about the terms and conditions in your business must be provided to the agency so they can ensure that their worker is getting equal treatment after 12 weeks.

For contractors or freelance workers, the rules are a bit different. If they are self-employed or part of another company, they will often look after their own tax and NICs. They also may not be entitled to the same rights as your workers, such as minimum wage.

When you employ a temporary worker, you are responsible for their health and safety, regardless of whether they are contractors or agency workers.

The Benefits of Temporary Workers

Here are just some of the benefits that temporary contract or agency workers can bring to your business:

Flexibility

For small companies, being able to adapt to busy or quiet periods is essential. Permanent hiring can be time-consuming and cost heavy, as can firing staff. Being able to bring in temporary workers to adapt to the ebbs and flows of your business allows for quick turnover, cover unexpected leaves and help out with big projects.

Access New Skills

Temporary workers can add serious value to a business by bringing in fresh skills and a new perspective to a role that could improve efficiency or streamline production.

Save Money

Typically, the process of hiring a temporary worker is much more cost-effective than making a permanent hire. Hourly rates can be used in lieu of a salary, which, in the short-term, will be cheaper than the commitment of a permanent employee.

Cover while Recruiting

If you need to hire permanently, but it will take some time, a temporary worker can be brought in quickly to relieve the pressure off your workers, not to mention help clear a big chunk of the workload for your new hire before they come in.

Quickly Scale Your Workforce

If you’re taking on a large-scale project and need to transform your workforce, temporary workers are a fast and efficient way to scale up the workforce of your business at short notice, avoiding long notice periods or interview processes.

Fixed-Term Contracts

Fixed-term contracts are one of the main ways of hiring temporary employees. A fixed-term contract works in the same way as a regular contract, but it ends on a specific date or on the completion of any particular task or project.

Contractor Rates

The majority of contractors will be paid on an hourly or daily rate, or possibly on a fixed rate for the entirety of a project. These rates will vary on a wide range of factors such as market demand, skillset, amount of experience the contractor has and how they negotiated in the hiring stage. You will need to do your research in order to get competitive rates, such as speaking to recruitment agencies.

Alternatively, you could hire through an agency, and they will take care of the negotiations for you.

Legal Considerations

There are a few legal considerations when it comes to hiring temporary workers. Like a permanent employee, they are covered by all forms of labour laws, such as harassment, discrimination and workplace health and safety guidelines.

A contractor or agency worker could help take your company to the next level by securing you the talent that you need for your business.