Traditionally, temporary help firms have been useful when you need a replacement for a full-time employee who is away from work for vacation , leave of absence, or illness. But temporary help may be what you need to fill your more long-term needs.  | If you do decide to use a temporary agency, the Business Tools area contains some helpful checklists to help you screen an agency. | | Pros of using temps. The trend toward using temporaries and other nonregular employees is growing, with good reason. There are several advantages to using temporary employees in your business, including: - Cost. You may save on payroll administration and fringe benefits costs.
- Time. The temp agency recruits the employees and sends you people with the qualifications you specify. Some agencies may even train workers; for example, they may teach them to use common word-processing or spreadsheet programs.
- No long-term commitment. If you're not sure whether you have enough work to keep a full-time employee busy, try a temp and find out.
- Less dependency on contractors. You may feel uncomfortable being dependent on nonemployees if large segments of your business are farmed out to independent contractors , and temps may cost less than contractors. With a temp, you do have the power to directly supervise the employee's work.
- Possibility of hiring good temps, permanently. If a particular temp worker seems to fit well into your business, you can always offer to hire him or her as a permanent employee. In this case, you avoid the risks of a probationary period you'd normally have with a new hire.
The downside of temporary help. While temporary employees do seem like a great option, they are not without their disadvantages, including: - Legal compliance issues. While some businesses may think that hiring temporaries gets them out of having to comply with employment laws, that's not always the case. There have been instances where temporary help agencies and the businesses where the temporary help worked were involved in discrimination cases. Be aware that an employer can't avoid providing benefits or complying with other employment rules by misclassifying an employee as a temporary employee. It will be a government agency (tax, pension, benefits, etc.) making the call if there's a chance you're abusing the temporary employee designation to avoid your obligations to employees who aren't temps.
- Morale issues. Many businesses use what they call temporary employees just as they would permanent employees, except that the temps don't receive the normal fringe benefits that permanent employees receive. When you have temps who work 40 hours per week for months alongside permanent employees who are receiving the benefits associated with full-time employment, it can create employee relations or morale problems.
- Compatibility. Not all jobs and businesses lend themselves to using temporary workers, either becau...
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