Using Temporary and Interim Staff
You may have come across several terms when talking about temporary staff, from interims and freelancers to consultants and contractors, and wonder how they all differ. To make things simple we will refer to them as interims.
More and more companies are recognising that the interim worker is now an integral part of many organisations’ workforces and should therefore be treated as such. In fact 1.3 million people are placed in short term assignments every week in the UK. This fact alone demonstrates that the temporary market is a thriving industry in itself.
Nowadays, with increased pressure on UK businesses to deliver a return, taking on interim staff is often the best option. Good interim managers will provide a vital lifeline during permanent headcount and recruitment freezes, project based assignments, holidays and general busy periods or they can provide the perfect cover whilst companies look for that elusive permanent employee.
Today's interim employee chooses from a wide range of technical and professional positions and those sectors which seem to have recently benefited are marketing and public relations.
Many organisations rely on interim staff to help them meet their productivity targets with financial services and the public sector relying most heavily on their flexible workforce.
Agencies that can provide interim staff have been around a long time but with this upturn in the use of temporary workers, businesses like 2nd City Resourcing are able to include this as part of their service to a wide range of companies.
There are two main ways in which you as an organisation can take on an interim.
Daily Rates
All “professional interims” work on this basis. A professional interim is a candidate with a specialist skill set who moves from one assignment to another within different companies and who charges an hourly or daily rate for their service.
The advantage to employing someone on this basis is that you ensure complete commitment from the interim and you will have someone who can come on board and hit the ground running because their skill set is so specialist.
Another benefit of taking on such a seasoned interim is that they will make a positive impact on your business from the outset. You only pay them for the hours they work. This means that if a project is completed before a deadline for example or if funds are cut, you are not obliged to pay them beyond the work they have already done.
Fixed Term Contracts
This is where an organisation takes on a candidate for an agreed fixed period of time. This is a very common way of covering things like maternity leave when the employer knows exactly how long they are going to need cover for.
It is a bit like a mini permanent role in that once the candidate starts, the employer assumes complete responsibility for the candidate in terms of written contract, notice period and pay rolling.
Don’t forget that your contractor will be entitled to the same rights as your permanent employers so you need to be prepared to provide holiday and sickness entitlements as well as making a pension provision. |
