Hiring temporary workers makes great financial sense. You get to reduce your fixed payroll costs, your recruitment and hiring costs, your administrative costs, your training costs, and even your turnover costs. It’s also a great way to boost productivity and morale in the workplace. However, there are important considerations that you need to mull over before you go out in search of temp workers in 2016, like the ones described below.
Temp Work Is on the Rise, as Is the Competition
You’re probably considering taking on temp workers for the first time because you’ve been hearing so much about the rise of the temp worker recently. The hiring of contract, seasonal, short-term, or otherwise temporary workers is becoming incredibly popular among Canadian businesses. Business owners are getting on board to reap the benefits of temp work. As such, there are now more temp workers in the business world than ever before. They’re covering for employees who are on leave or out sick, they’re taking over special projects, and they’re covering extra work during periods of fluctuating staffing needs.
But because temp work is on the rise, so is the competition. Going out to hire temp workers on your own might not be the most fruitful decision. You might not be able to recruit the highest quality candidates because they’re already working in other roles, perhaps with your competitors. And naturally, hiring less-than-stellar temps isn’t ideal—it won’t provide the benefits that you are seeking.
Complying With Rules and Regulations
Temp work comes with the risks of worker misclassification. If you haven’t worked with temps before, you could end up unintentionally treating them, managing them, or paying them as though they’re regular permanent employees. You might end up breaking the labour laws, including wage, overtime, withholdings, and workplace safety if you’re not careful. Employer requirements do vary by location, and if you don’t fill out your temps’ paperwork correctly, if you don’t pay them correctly, and if you don’t manage them correctly, you’re going to get in trouble with the law. You might face an audit, fines, penalties, and even lawsuits.
There are a number of legal ramifications that you need to know about before hiring temp workers. Staying compliant is going to need to be top priority.
Safety Issues
New and temporary workers are at an increased risk of workplace injuries—studies show that both the severity and frequency of on-the-job injuries are significantly higher with temp workers. And certain types of jobs, like industrial and warehouse jobs, are inherently dangerous and require careful safety training. It’s your responsibility to ensure that temps can perform their work tasks safely.
Working with a Temp Staffing Agency
In order to beat out the competition, reduce safety risks, and reduce the risks of noncompliance, many business owners are choosing to partner with temp staffing agencies for their temp hiring needs.
These recruitment firms have candidate pools filled with qualified temps to meet your needs—you won’t have to go out into the competitive job market and search for your own temps, often unsuccessfully. Plus, these agencies have the right personnel and know-how to ensure that the hiring of all contingent employees is legal and compliant. They’ll pay your temp workers, they’ll do their due diligence, they’ll handle HR requirements, and they’ll fill in the paperwork to ensure compliance with labour laws.
And finally, these agencies take health and safety seriously. Temps are covered by their comprehensive insurance and recruiters ensure that they have the right skills, experience, and safety certifications to get the jobs done safely. They might also handle any additional training that you might need for extra safeguards.
