Unemployment figures may still be high, but regardless of the state of the economy some firms still need more staff. However, when you design roles within your company, don’t assume that everyone must be full-time and permanent. Building flexibility into your workforce can make your business both efficient and cost-effective.
Find out how to select the right type of worker for the job, the potential benefits and drawbacks, and what it could mean for the future of your business.
Part-time workers
Part-time workers make up 25 per cent of all the workers in the UK, with 80 per cent of them being women. Perhaps one of the most common forms of employment, it is often used when you don’t have enough work for a full-time position but regularly require staff to work overtime.
Benefits:
- Helps to keep costs down in areas where you don’t need full-time cover.
- Appeals to full-time members of staff looking for family-friendly working policies.
- Builds a wider pool of talented permanent staff that are able to work alongside your core team.
- Brings in highly skilled and experienced workers even when you have a tight budget.
Drawbacks:
- Employing many part-time workers can lead to higher training, administrative and recruitment costs, especially when hiring two people to cover one role.
- Providing a consistent level of service across an entire team might be more difficult.
Important to remember:
All part-time workers have basic employment protection rights and should receive equal treatment to that of full-time members of staff. This includes maternity leave, holiday pay and overtime. Also ensure part-time staff have the opportunity to attend training courses offered to full-time members of the team.
Contractors and subcontractors
Often used when employers don’t want the administrative costs or have the time to recruit specific skills sets on a long-term basis. Contractors provide agreed services to the client for a set fee, on a set time scale. Subcontractors undertake the work on behalf of the contractor.
Benefits:
- Highly flexible source of recruitment available on short notice.
- Allows permanent staff to concentrate on their roles within the core business.
- Perfect when requiring specialist expertise.
- Limited administrative costs. Employers don’t need to make PAYE or National Insurance contributions.
- Contracts usually set out payment terms on completion of specific goals, so you pay when the job is complete.
Drawbacks:
- Hiring contractors can be more expensive than simply hiring someone on a daily rate.
- Recruiting external staff on a short-term basis does not develop in-house skills useful for the future.
- Employing a contractor or subcontractor doesn’t necessarily guarantee that they will fit into the culture of your business.
- Limited control over the quality of the work.
Important to remember:
Contractors and subcontractors have fewer employment rights than regular employees. Yet these rights still include; national minimum wage, working time regulations, paid annual leave, and discrimination laws.
Agency workers
Business never sleeps, and in this 24/7 economy you can’t afford to refuse work because of a lack of resources. Increasingly, employers are turning to agency staff to fill these gaps in recruitment where the rate you pay will include National Insurance payments, holiday pay and sick pay, as well as an administration fee and profit margin.
Advantages:
- Find the best staff to fit your requirements without the time pressures of permanent recruitment.
- The duration of the assignment depends entirely upon your requirements.
- Can provide emergency temporary cover at short notice.
- All of the administration is handled by the agency prior to recruitment.
Drawbacks:
- Hiring an agency worker can be more expensive than hiring an employee directly due to additional agency rates.
- Although sometimes a perfect fit for the workplace, some agency staff may lack the motivation and commitment you may find from your core staff.
- Even though agency staff do not work directly for you, you are still responsible for their health and safety.
Important to remember:
The Agency Workers Directive aims to give temporary agency workers equal treatment with regards to pay and working conditions after 12 weeks of service in the same assignment. Ensure if you are employing agency workers that your business complies with this legislation.
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