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Benefits of using an employment agency (for employers).

Recruiting new employees can be a costly and time-consuming process for many organisations; it often uses a lot of time and resources, but doesn’t offer any guarantees. No matter what size organization, a recruitment agency can help meet the changing needs of your business by finding quality candidates and assuming a variety of staffing needs.

There are a number of reasons why an employer may decide to outsource their hiring process; we have outlined some of the main advantages below:

1. Recruiters save employer’s time.

Hiring talent into your business can be long and often stressful. Advertising and screening CVs is often the most time consuming process and can be difficult to manage, as you can only tell so much from a CV. Working with a recruitment agency will help, as this would be taken care of and only the suitable candidates will be sent for you to look at. This means you have more time to get on with your actual job and it will also give you a peace of mind that you will be receiving only the right candidates for your vacancy. 

This is a great advantage that can significantly shorten the full recruiting process. In other words, you can hire the best candidate much faster!

2. Advertising made simple.

Advertising jobs can often be a frustrating process for companies, especially due to the skills gap in the current labour market. Firstly it tends to be quite expensive, as job boards tend to charge a lot more for job posting if you are not buying in bulk. 

Secondly, just because you have advertised your job on multiple job boards doesn’t mean that you will attract the right candidates. Sometimes when employers advertise vacancies, they do not receive applications with the skills they are looking for. They are recruiting for an experienced candidate with certain skill set, but the CVs they receive simply don’t hit the mark. Often, this is down to poor marketing; the high-calibre people they need simply don’t see the advert. And if they aren’t aware of the opportunity, they can’t apply for the job.

Also, working with a recruitment agency offers you the ability to reach a huge number of highly relevant and talented candidates through their database and existing relationships.

3. Good knowledge of the market.

Any great recruitment agency will have great recruitment consultants who have in-depth knowledge of the market. Firstly they will know the current recruitment trends. This will offer you insight into what competitors are offering for similar positions ensuring you are not setting yourself up for a difficult and sometimes impossible task of attracting talent into your business. 

Secondly, any great recruitment consultant will have a solid understanding of the professions and industries they are supplying. This really helps to target the right candidates for the position and means that when a CV is put in front of you it will most of the time be a quality and highly relevant CV. 

Employers don’t need to go alone, when it comes to hiring. The benefit of a recruitment agency, such as Direct Response is that we can help businesses and organisations access the skills and experience they need, in good time, without breaking the bank. If you are currently recruiting and would like to discuss the services we offer, then please don’t hesitate to contact one of our friendly consultants.

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Temporary Workers & Holiday Pay.

Many agency workers are not convinced they understand how the holiday is accrued and how many days exactly they are entitled to when working on temporary basis.  Please keep on reading if you would like to find out more on holiday pay and entitlement. 

How is it calculated?

As a temporary worker you should receive at least 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year pro rata. This is the statutory entitlement that all employers must provide as an absolute minimum.

As an agency worker, your hours and pay may vary considerably over time depending on the hours you have worked each week. If this is the case, your earnings over the most recent 12-week period are divided by the hours worked over the same 12 weeks to give you an average hourly rate and determine your holiday pay. If you did not do any work at all in one or more weeks, you simply discount that week and move to the week immediately before it, until you have a total of 12 weeks’ work and pay on which to work out your average hourly rate.

(Note that the government plans to change the law. From April 2020, holiday pay for workers whose pay varies will be averaged over 52-weeks instead of 12.)

If you are not satisfied and feel your holiday entitlement is incorrect, please speak with your consultant or the accounts team and they will be happy to investigate and look into the matter.

Possible changes after 12 weeks.

It is worth knowing that your holiday entitlement may change after completing 12 weeks of work. 

In addition to your statutory holiday rights under the Working Time Directive, agency workers have extra rights under the Agency Workers Regulations. In particular, since 1 October 2011, temporary agency workers have had the right to the same holiday entitlement (pro rata to their hours) as a comparable direct hire employed by the hirer to do the same job. This right applies once the agency worker has completed a 12-week qualifying period.

For example, if the hirer’s employees are doing the same job as you are and they are entitled to 35 days’ holiday a year, you will also be entitled to 35 days, once you have completed the 12-week qualifying period.

If you work part-time, your leave entitlement can be calculated on a pro rata basis. In other words, your entitlement will be proportionate to the hours you work. For example, if you only work six months rather than a complete year, you will be entitled to half the annual entitlement.

After qualifying for equal treatment (after 12 weeks), you should be treated the same as the hirer’s employees when requesting and being permitted to take holidays. You will also be entitled to equal treatment on enhanced pay for working on bank holidays or public holidays, and the right to time off on bank holidays or public holidays.

Please remember you must take your holiday in a period called a ‘leave year’. Your contract or Written Statements will say when that begins and ends. It might not be the same as the calendar year (e.g. April to March)

Help and Advice

Your recruitment agency should be your first point of contact if you are concerned about your holiday pay or benefits. At Direct Response Employment we explain all your rights upon registration and all workers who have joined Direct Response will have this information in writing in their Assignment Details and in the agency workers handbook.