The Contingent Worker: Temp Workers

Changes in the demographic characteristics and lifestyles of the workforce are occurring at a time when businesses are also in a state of flux. Global competitive pressures and the push toward greater productivity have resulted in a number of organizational changes that increase the appeal of alternative work arrangements.

After the global financial crisis in the 1970s, British labour market experienced a great shift in the organization and the new distribution of human resources (Hughes and Fergusson, 2004:95). It is undeniable that this economic recession had brought huge challenges to British economic development. The managers of organizations realized the significance of rising to the occasion in order to remain competitive power, which resulted in the emergence of flexible time work systems (ibid: 96). More specifically, zero-hour contracts have been applied. Pardey (2013:6) points out that zero-hour contracts are labour contracts between employers and employees which offer uncertain work and unfixed working hours. According to Tovey (2013), the study from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), nearly 3.1% of British labour force has

Companies may hire less temporary workers, choosing instead to make workers work longer hours or

Workers will also work to the terms of a contract, they will usually carry out the work personally. Workers will include casual work, agency work, freelance work and seasonal work. Workers are entitled to some employment rights including, national minimum wage, holiday pay, protection against unlawful discrimination, the right not to be treated less favourably if they work part-time. See point 2 Appendix

This paper focuses on the effect that temporary employment such as zero hour contracts have on the wellbeing of employees, it gives a brief definition of what a zero hour contract is, and how they have changed throughout the years eg how they were used in previous years before being called zero hour contracts, why the use of zero hour contracts is on the rise in the UK business market, and investigates the benefits and detriments of these contracts in regards to employees, it will also look at the financial benefits to the employers who use these contracts, and the type of culture that surrounds the employees who are employed on these contracts, It will also investigate what the

The report is based on responses collected from more than 1000 employers and 2000 employees, considered UK workforce only and was conducted in early January 2012. The report presents an in-depth view of the types of flexible working provisions offered by employers including part-time working, working from home, flexitime, compressed hours, career breaks/sabbaticals, mobile working, term-time working, secondments, annual hours and time off work in the community.

Employee A has requested FMLA as he and his spouse have given birth to premature twins.

Temporary contracts, like fixed term contracts are usually contracted for a specific period of time. Temporary workers can be seasonal, contractors/freelancers, casual and/ or agency workers.

From day one of the temporary assignment the worker is entitled to the same access to job vacancies as permanent members of staff and collective facilities such as staff canteens, childcare facilities and transport services. A third type of employment status is volunteer workers who are individuals who carry out tasks or services of their freewill and without payment, often, though not necessarily, for charities. Volunteer workers are not in a contractual relationship with an organisation as there is not intention to create legal relations, no financial remuneration and no enforceable obligations on either side.

In the article “A Fresh Look at Labour Markets”, John Humphreys disputes that all decisions made about minimum wage laws to be based upon the cost that the employers have to consider when hiring and the benefits that the employee should get when they are hired. The article brings up the issue of one of the key problems with the Australian economic system. In the beginning of the article, the author shows how economic norms are similar to scientific methods. The author claims that like what a scientist does to understand what happens when a chemical reaction does, an economist does when a cause and effect happens in an economic curve.

This paper focuses on the effect that temporary employment such as zero hour contracts have on the wellbeing of employees, it gives a brief definition of what a zero hour contract is, and how they have changed throughout the years eg how they were used in previous years before being called zero hour contracts, why the use of zero hour contracts is on the rise in the UK business market, and investigates the benefits and detriments of these contracts in regards to employees, it will also look at the financial benefits to the employers who use these contracts, and the type of culture that surrounds the employees who are employed on these contracts, It will also investigate

In today’s modern world the gig economy is quickly coming many millennials main source of income, in-fact as of 2018 the gig economy makes up 34% of the work force and by 2020 it is expected to grow to 43%. The gig economy gives people the chance, in a way, to be their own boss. With little face to face management surrounding these businesses in the gig economy it gives rise to the question of how the ‘employees’ are managed and controlled.

Recently, there has been a lot of controversy about employment flexibility. Employers use temporary agency workers expecting cost reductions but little is known the relationship between hiring temporary agency workers and the productivity of user’s firm. The research question of this article is the effect of temporary agency work on the firms’ productivity. Researchers assume that they can increase productivity while using temporary agency work to improve and select job creation, but hypothesize that low specific human capital and spillover effects of temporary workers can have an adverse effect on productivity.

Temp to perm is the ideal solution to avoiding costly hiring errors. The dollar impact of worker turnover due to a bad full-time hire is surprisingly high. By hiring a candidate as a temp first, companies save on upfront full-time hire fees, and avoid steep separation costs and potential legal issues should the temp arrangement not workout. Think of this as you would the “test drive” you take when you go to purchase a new car. Our recruiting team will recruit employees who meet your company’s standards and qualifications.

In Stevenson Jordan and Harrison v Macdonald & Evans, Lord Denning specified that under a contract of service, an individual is a part of the business and the work conducted is integral to it, whereas, work under a contract for services is conducted for the business but is only an accessory to it. Rather than emphasising the range of control, the test relies on to what extent the individual is absorbed into the organisation. This test is valid to an extent when establishing the employment status of highly skilled professionals but it is unfitting to the modern labour market. Difficulties arise when assessing flexible employment which is used to match supply and demand, these individuals have no permanent relationship, and this usually attracts employers as they have no responsibility for them and are not employees.