on assignment temp agency

Temp Agency: Finding the Perfect Match for Your Temporary Staffing Needs

In the ever-evolving world of business, adaptability and flexibility are key to surviving and thriving. One aspect where organizations often require such flexibility is temporary staffing. This is where temp agencies come into the picture. Whether it’s to weather seasonal surges, cover unexpected leaves, or to meet project deadlines, a reliable temp agency can be a game-changer. In this article, we will delve into the world of temp agencies and explore how they can help businesses efficiently manage their staffing needs.

Understanding the Role of a Temp Agency

Defining temp agencies.

Temp agencies, also known as temp staffing agencies or staffing firms, play a pivotal role in connecting businesses with temporary workers. These agencies act as intermediaries, matching qualified candidates with companies that require supplemental or short-term staff. By partnering with a temp agency, organizations can access a pool of talented individuals who are readily available for temporary assignments across various industries.

Benefits of Using a Temp Agency

Utilizing the services of a temp agency offers several advantages to businesses:

• Quick Response Time: Temp agencies maintain a database of skilled candidates, allowing them to swiftly find suitable matches for clients’ staffing needs.
• Flexibility: Temp agencies provide a flexible solution, allowing businesses to scale their workforce up or down based on demand without the commitment of long-term employment contracts.
• Cost-Effectiveness: By partnering with a temp agency, companies can save costs associated with screening, hiring, and onboarding temporary employees.
• Expertise in Recruitment: Temp agencies excel in identifying and evaluating talent, ensuring that clients have access to qualified candidates who are most likely to succeed in their temporary roles.
• Reduced Administrative Burden: Handling payroll, benefits, and other administrative tasks for temporary employees can be time-consuming. Temp agencies assume this responsibility, streamlining the process for businesses.

Finding the Right Temp Agency

Assessing your staffing needs.

Before engaging with a temp agency, it is crucial to identify and assess your specific staffing requirements. Consider the scope and duration of your project, the skills and qualifications necessary, and any industry-specific expertise needed. Clearly defining your needs will enable the temp agency to find the perfect match for your requirements.

Researching and Identifying Potential Agencies

The market is inundated with temp agencies, each with its unique strengths and specialties. To find the right fit for your business, conduct thorough research and review potential agencies. Seek advice from industry peers and explore online reviews. Pay attention to their reputation, experience, and success rate in placing temporary workers within your industry.

Evaluating Agency Capabilities

Contact the shortlisted agencies and delve deeper into their capabilities. Inquire about their recruiting and screening processes, the size of their candidate pool, and their experience in handling assignments similar to yours. Furthermore, consider their responsiveness, professionalism, and willingness to understand your specific needs. This evaluation process will help you identify an agency that aligns with your requirements and values.

Partnering with a Temp Agency

Clearly communicating your expectations.

To maximize the effectiveness of your partnership, it is essential to communicate your expectations clearly. Provide detailed job descriptions, desired skills, and any specific qualifications required. Additionally, communicate your preferred timeline, budget constraints, and desired level of involvement in the recruitment process.

Collaborating on Candidate Selection

Temp agencies, armed with their exceptional knowledge of candidates, will present you with a pool of potential hires. Engage in open and honest discussions with the agency to fine-tune the selection process. Provide timely feedback, highlighting characteristics and skills important to your organization. By collaborating closely, you can ensure the agency finds candidates that match both your technical and cultural requirements.

Monitoring and Feedback

Throughout the assignment, maintain open lines of communication with the temp agency. Regularly monitor the performance of temporary staff and provide feedback to the agency. Constructive feedback can help mold the candidate’s performance and enhance their fit within your organization. Likewise, be receptive to any concerns raised by the temp agency to facilitate a successful working relationship.

Temp agencies serve as remarkably valuable resources for businesses seeking temporary staffing solutions. By leveraging their expertise, businesses can save time, reduce costs, and access the talent needed to smoothly navigate fluctuations in workload. Finding the right temp agency involves thorough research, clear communication of expectations, and collaborative candidate selection. With the right partnership, businesses can unlock the power of temporary staffing and ensure their temporary workforce seamlessly integrates into their organization’s operations.

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

• Candidates - (425) 637-3311
• Employers - (425) 637-3312
• Secured Login - PSN Web Center

How Long Can I Keep an Employee in a “Temporary” Role!

Sara bennett.

• June 15, 2024

Myths.  Truths.  Misconceptions About “Length of Assignment”

Conversations about how long a temporary assignment can last have been around for a long time.  In December 2000, the now infamous Microsoft 97 million $ settlement  awarded 97 million dollars to temporary workers who were re-classified as core (common law) employees instead of as temporary employees as intended by Microsoft.  This re-classification requirement resulted in 8-12,000 “temps” working at Microsoft becoming “benefit eligible” and resulted in a pretty hefty financial obligation even for a company like Microsoft.

Unfortunately  this settlement catapulted the issue of assignment length into a confusing period for companies who were large users of temporary employees.   Based on some common misunderstandings of what created the MS settlement,  many employers created internal policies that limited the length of time an employee could be a “temp” believing that by doing so they were minimizing their exposure to “re-classification” issues.

Even the American Staffing Association (ASA) weighed  in on the issue by taking up the concerns of both the employer and their interim employees who were often negatively impacted by an arbitrary assignment ending.  In a series of white papers, ASA challenged  the employer community regarding their assignment limit policies claiming  that “the length of a temporary assignment” is only one, of multiple factors, important to establishing the employee- employer status and does not in and of itself mitigate the risk of misclassification.  They wisely noted that other components of the employee/employer relationship were, in fact, equally if not more important.     

What is the status of the length of assignment issue today?

As the dust settled in the early 2000s it became clear that the truth surrounding the MS settlement was far different from the initial headlines.    But the damage had been done.  Even though the arguments of the ASA prevailed, temporary employees are still asking how long an employer can keep them on in a temporary role without breaking the law.

What can employers do to protect themselves from unexpected liabilities related to how they use and manage temps?

 #1.  The easiest and most bullet proof decision is to use third party staffing agencies to employee all non-core, interim, contract or temporary employees rather than hiring them directly.

Many analysts believe that had MS obtained all of their temporary workers at the time of the lawsuit thru a third party employer, instead of hiring many of their temporary workers directly classified as 1099s, it is possible that some of the mis-classification claims could have been avoided.

Most companies have policies that forbid hiring managers from hiring a worker classified as a 1099…..requiring them to use a staffing agency to on board and pay them as interim workers even when those workers were sourced internally, not by the staffing agency per se. They do this to avoid the scenario where an employer classifies  a worker as a 1099 – “self employed”- and the IRS later refutes that claim, subjecting the employer to back taxes, fines, and penalties.   Employers want the peace of mind that comes from  knowing that the  applicable wages, payroll taxes and benefits costs are being calculated and paid by an employer other than themselves.

Many local staffing companies, PACE included, have created low cost “payroll service” packages for employers who have a need for third party employer services for interim workers they have recruited directly.  (See PACE’s Employer of Record service option) 

#2.  Write your key benefit plans to specifically exclude third party (i.e. staffing firm) employees. 

In 1999, Microsoft didn’t have any carve outs in their benefit contracts, and had to learn the hard way that easiest way to protect themselves from unanticipated benefit costs is to specifically exclude workers who are the employees of third party employers.

#3.   Include information about how to manage workers from third party employers as part of supervisory training.   

The IRS is still using specific tests to determine the employer relationship.  To make sure that the employer responsibility stays with the staffing agency and doesn’t  default back to the employer under audit, many employers are training their supervisors on temp management 101…

• To limit their communications with temporary employees on any issue related to pay, length of assignment, benefit eligibility, employment status or work schedules, etc.
• To allow,  and in some cases require,  representatives from their staffing vendors to be on site, communicating directly with their employees,  as needed.
• To provide feedback on performance thru the employee’s staffing vendors, not directly.

If you are an employer and would like some training for your supervisors on how to legally and operationally optimize the employer services of a third party staffing agency, give us a call at 425-637-3312!

#4.  Make sure your staffing agency provides you with a contract or written agreement that spells out their duties as “employer”.  These agreements typically include the staffing agencies responsibility to….

• Recruit, screen and evaluate employees to be placed on assignment
• Determine employee pay rates, benefits and expense reimbursements
• Hire, fire, and assign employees
• Handle employee complaints and concerns
• Pay worker, calculate and pay taxes, and distribute pay check

Getting these types of agreements or contracts in writing, makes it clear who is responsible to act as the “employer of record”.  It also can protects employers from unexpected liabilities resulting from workplace accidents or claims of discrimination.

While most of the legal concerns regarding how long a temp can remain on assignment have dissipated, there are still situations where internal “length of assignment” policies might be needed. 

For example….  .

You may want to limit length of assignment in order to protect your Intellectual Property…   

In 2016, Microsoft established a new set of “assignment limit” rules, based not on the risk of mis- classification or co-employment, but on their concerns about the integrity and security of their intellectual property.  Because they were uncomfortable allowing a temporary or contract worker to have long-term access to their proprietary information and systems,  they decided to place limits on the number of months an employee could access their systems without a break in service.  They decided  that after 18 months a temporary or contract worker needed to be removed from their assignment, forcing an arbitrary lay off of any contractors reaching that benchmark.

We are yet to see if MS can effectively enforce this policy without exception as we know first hand the negative impact of losing a valued worker – even if the are not an employee hired directly.

You may want to limit length of assignment in order to optimize the productivity and morale of your temporary employees… 

While higher wage temporary or contract workers  tend to prefer “longer term assignments”, many lower wage temporary workers consider themselves negatively impacted when asked to remain as temporary employees for long periods of time without being converted to a regular hire.   The impact to productivity and morale  is often highly visible when temporary workers are asked to work side by side core employees doing the same or similar work.

For similar reasons, in those situations where an employer regularly hires members of its temporary workforce, there is risk attached to keeping the temporary employee in the workforce once they know they will not be hired.

Many of our clients who regularly hire our temporary employees have rules whereby an employee will either be hired or removed from their assignment after a defined period.

Structured policies about how long an employee can work in your environment as a “temp” minimize the risk of discrimination….

The longer a “temp” is in your workforce, and the fewer policies you have to guide decisions your managers use to either end or extend assignments, the more opportunity there is for claims of “disparate treatment”.

Making “length of assignment” a matter of company policy rather than a decision left up to the discretion of an individual manager or supervisor,  mitigates the risk of an uninvited claim of disparate treatment.   At the same time, an across the board “length of assignment” policy, can reduce the resources manager’s have available to them to achieve important business goals.   

In Summary….

PACE  regularly provides employees for assignments intended to last as little as two days to multiple years and does so seamlessly, based on the employer’s internal policies and our assessment of our employee’s motivations for working.  While we will provide information on the operational risks an employer might face by either limiting or extending assignment lengths, in the end, it is a decision that is made by both the employer and the employee.  In reality, once the original agreement re: “length of assignment” has been satisfied, an employer can still provide an employee with the opportunity to extend their assignment and the employee can then decide if they want to accept the employer’s offer.  The law plays no role in those decisions for either party,  although a company’s internal policies might.   

———————————

If you’d like help with your next temporary staffing project or to learn more about how optimize your use of temporary employees,  give our Partner Services and Solutions a call at 425-637-3312 or e mail us at [email protected]

PACE Staffing Network is one of the Puget Sound’s premier staffing /recruiting agencies and has been helping Northwest employers find and hire employees based on the “right fit” for over 45 years.

A  5 time winner of the coveted “Best in Staffing” designation , PACE is ranked in the top 2% of staffing agencies nationwide based on annual surveys of customer satisfaction.

PACE services include temporary and contract staffing, temp to hire auditions , direct hire professional recruiting services , Employer of Record (payroll) services , and a large menu of candidate assessment services our clients can purchase a la carte.

To learn more about how partnering with PACE will make a difference to how you find and hire employees,  contact our Partner Services and Solutions team at 425-637-3312, e mail us at [email protected] or visit our website at www. pacestaffing.com/employers.

Are you a member of our Thought Leaders NETWORK (TLN)?

If you’re not getting our weekly e mails that showcase each week’s featured blog (on a variety of topics related to the people side of your business), we’d like to invite you to become part of our NETWORK by filling out the form below.

Once signed up, you’ll receive a featured blog each week written by a member of the PACE team and other local experts who work in some area of staffing, hiring, recruiting, retention, team building, organizational strategy etc. Our Thought Leader Network is a great way for small to mid-sized stakeholders to stay informed about what’s happening locally in any area of staffing – from tactical how to’s to bigger picture strategy options.

" * " indicates required fields

Check Out Other Blogs on Related Topics…

Raising the Bar: From Behavioral to Results Based Interviewing

The difference between temps and contractors and other labels that matter!

Is RECRUITING getting the attention it deserves?

Local. Trusted. Committed to Making a Difference.

Candidate Services

[email protected]

425-637-3311

Current Employees

[email protected]

425-637-3301

[email protected]

Important Security Alert: Beware of Texting Phishing Scams. UNIFORCE does not send text messages to candidates about job opportunities. Learn More

• Request New Talent
• Search Your Next Job
• Search All Jobs

Uniforce Blog

Accounting Temp Agencies: Are they expensive?

Why would a company or organization utilize an accounting temp agency? After all, an employment agency is not the same thing as a public accounting firm. Accounting Temp Agencies recruit, hire and employ accounting professionals as W-2 employees for a specific period of time. While there is a relative cost to engaging an employment agency or staffing firm, it does not nearly cost the same as hiring a public accounting firm, outside bookkeeper, or consulting firm. The costs are far less expensive. Temp agencies do not charge anywhere near the same hourly rate as an accountant, bookkeeper or partner at a public accounting firm.

When should a firm decide between using the above available options? The choice begins with the strategic need. If a company is seeking staff augmentation to replace an employee termination, an accounting temp agency would satisfy that need. If a company seeks an additional accounting professional with relevant industry experience (e.g. real estate or manufacturing) who can commit to a 3 month or longer specific assignment, the employment agency would also be the solution. After all, the accounting transactions keep piling up and coming. Sometimes in order to keep up with flow of business and monthly deadlines, a temporary/contract employee is the perfect fit.

Accounting temp agencies charge a flat hourly bill rate for every hour worked by the temporary employee. The client reviews and approves the employee’s submitted timecard prior to payroll and billing. Like any customer-focused service provider, a temp employment agency should craft an hourly rate range together with the client based on 2 factors.

1. The client’s budget. Clients may have a budget in mind or shopped around. Their past experience matters in the collaboration.

2. The current market pay rate range of the temporary employee. The accounting temp agency has to share its market intelligence on accurate employee pay rates in order to be able to acquire the right talent to do the job requested by the client.

Sometimes if the employment agency and client cannot agree on a price or bill rate range, maybe its best to redefine the employee job description. Scaling back the job requirements will scale back the employee hourly pay rate. At that point, a lower hourly bill rate can be offered for a slightly different category of temporary employee.

So how do these factors affect the price? Typically, an employment agency will quote an all-in hourly bill rate range based on the mutually agreed employee pay rate range between the 2 parties (the temp agency and client). The bill rate range is above the employee pay rate range because it includes all mandatory state/federal taxes, disability insurance, paid sick leave benefits, workers compensation insurance, and other payroll processing costs. Since the employment agency is officially the W-2 employer, the staffing firm pays all those payroll costs. If the client were to hire the same employee on its own, the client would be required to pay those same costs as well as any other mandatory health benefits, PTO, and 401(k) retirement costs. Additionally, the client would spend time and money on recruitment and loss of productivity due to the worker shortage or gaps in employment.

All of a sudden, the price of retaining an accounting temp agency may not be as expensive as what may appear. The temp agency handles all the following costs:

• Recruitment
• Job Board / Advertising Costs
• Referral bonuses
• Payroll Costs: State/Federal Taxes, SS/Medicare, Paid Sick Leave, Disability, Workers Comp & more.
• Unemployment Costs – unemployment benefits to the employee when the assignment ends

Additionally, since an accounting temp employment agency complies with FL SA employment laws , a staffing firm will classify its employees as non-exempt workers (hourly employees). This in turn, allows the temp agency to manually set the hours per work week (for example, 25 – 30 hours per week). Clients who utilize accounting temp agencies can ultimately can save money by retaining an outside temporary employee to work less scheduled hours than their own full time employees.

In summary, while it’s not uncommon for a temp agency to hear responses from clients about being pricey or expensive, there are several different circumstances where partnering with a temp agency provides the most flexibility. After all, the billing stops exactly when the client chooses for the assignment to end.

• Uniforce News
• Career Center
• Staffing Trends
• Workforce Compliance Trends

Temp agencies with a presence in many states such as Florida, New York, and New Jersey as well as other states provide temp jobs on all different leve...

More than 20 states and nearly 40 local jurisdictions increased their minimum wage hourly pay rates on January 1, 2024. The new state laws require tha...

There are a fair number of temporary staffing firms that handle finance and accounting staffing. It’s really important to ask the right question...