A guide to employing temporary workers

Extra hands can help you meet seasonal demands – check out our quick guide to getting it right... Temporary workers – from terms to termination Christmas is coming which could mean a sudden seasonal shift for your business. If you need some extra help to meet demand, temporary workers can be the ideal solution to save you stress without committing to taking on additional permanent staff. But you need to make sure your temp terms are in line with the law... Flexibility is a key element to taking on temps, but that doesn’t mean that a fixed term contract is a no-no – in fact, you can pen the paperwork to account for various eventualities, such as:

• Employment to end at a specified date
• Employment to end when specific job completed
• Early termination clause – omit this and you could be liable to keep paying them anyway!

If the temporary employment is offered for a period of 1 month or more, you MUST provide a written contract of the main terms, and working conditions must be the same for fixed term workers as they are for permanent employees, including:

• Annual leave (though calculated on a pro-rata basis)
• Rates of pay
• Rest periods
• Tax arrangements

Alternative arrangements If you prefer to pass the paperwork and payment responsibilities onto a third party, then you have the option of hiring your temporary staff via an agency. In this event, their employment rights will be in line with The Agency Worker Regulations 2010 – this includes an entitlement to the same rates of basic pay as a direct employee once they’ve been working with you for 12 weeks. For further clarification, please call our Advice Service on 0800 028 2420.