It’s a bit different to working as an employee

People tend to work as a temp by circumstance rather than choice, unless you have chosen career temping because you would prefer not to be tied to a single contract.

The main difference between working as a temp and working for a company direct is the contract and the terms which are covered by each circumstance.

In summary, as a temp you are working under a contract for services and get paid for only the hours that you work and nothing more. Your employment status is self-employed although from the HMRC perspective you are attached to Peter Knight Recruitment Ltd as we deduct your class 1 National Insurance contributions and also we deduct your Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax on your behalf. We act as a collection agent for HMRC. For the sake of clarity all temp workers are under a contract for services, terms of engagement and never a contract of employment whilst working through Peter Knight Recruitment Ltd.

The above is true if your assignment lasts for up to 12 weeks. However if your assignment lasts for longer than 12 weeks then you may be become entitled to additional benefits and payments related to an equivalent standard permanent worker doing the same job at the client from the time greater than 12 weeks. This rule relates to the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR).

These additional benefits and payments could relate to individual commission and bonus payments, but not overall company bonuses, use of shower facilities, canteen, bike storage etc. Generally you would be entitled to everything that an equivalent permanent worker would be entitled to but with the exception of anything companywide related. This might include client pension scheme, overall company performance bonus etc.

However it is worth noting that each client will have different rules regarding benefits and payments for temp workers.

The temporary nature of the assignment can be confusing because many of our temporary workers have worked on the same assignment for weeks, months and years. It doesn’t necessarily follow that a temporary assignment is temporary at all. Indeed many of our temp workers are offered full time permanent employment by the client. Clients therefore use temp workers as a try before they buy method of recruiting.

It is therefore worth remembering that as a temp worker you are representing Peter Knight Recruitment Ltd and you should at all times be professional, polite, hardworking and honest in all of your activities. This includes your personal thoughts and views that you express on social media as an employer may well use social media as part of the due diligence process to investigate whether you would make a suitable employee.  Would you risk losing a good career opportunity because of a poor comment made at some stage in the past?

We recommend that you now read the experienced temp worker section here.