Temping....grrrr!

Irn-Bru-Kid

Hi Guys,

Just a rant really. My son started a temporary role last week, the hours are all over the place as you expect and neither the agency nor the employer seems to know what they are doing, but never mind, it is what it is.

He went to work this morning (2 buses) and when he got there, sat around for an hour and then the manager comes in and tells him and the other temps that she has to go away for the day and she has no work for them, so they will need to go home.

I know its the nature of the beast, but it just infuriates me that neither the employer nor the agency have the decency to contact the temps and say no work today.

It costs money to get to the job and now he is out of pocket. Its just not right.

I'm not sure if we should speak to the agency as he does need what little money he will get from it and we don't want to rock the boat, but surely he and the other temps shouldn't be treated like this?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks

dragoneye454

hi Irn-Bru-Kid,

Im sure with some agencies that if you go to a job and they turn you away, they may still have to pay you a certain amount of hours because it has made you unavailable for any other job. Its definately worth phoning up and asking them.

Irn-Bru-Kid

dragoneye454 wrote: »

hi Irn-Bru-Kid,

Im sure with some agencies that if you go to a job and they turn you away, they may still have to pay you a certain amount of hours because it has made you unavailable for any other job. Its definately worth phoning up and asking them.

Thanks for that. I'm not sure, trying to go through his contract, but I can't make head nor tail of it. Does anyone else know if that's the case?

magenta22

Unfortunately that is the nature of temping but surely the LM would have known beforehand that she would be out of the office and made provisions for that. There must be other people in the office that they can support?

At very least he should get the hour he sat around for.

CCFC_80

Unfortunately the agency can just do what the hell they like.It happened to me twice when I was sent home after turning up to start work. No-one could be bothered to let me know with a simple phone call.They probably wouldn't pay you for your time wasted as they are so afraid of invoicing the client as it is their fault.They are so far up their clients backsides it's beyond belief.

I haven't used recruitment agencies since and hope to never use them again.:mad:

InsideInsurance

Well the question really is if the agency works for the employee or the "employer".... reality is that they work for themselves but in the current market clients are harder to come by than candidates.

Speak to the agency, certainly the better ones will make a contribution for the wasted time. If they bill their client for it or absorb it themselves is nought to do with you or your son and will depend on where the breakdown in communication occurred.

CCFC_80

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Well the question really is if the agency works for the employee or the "employer".... reality is that they work for themselves but in the current market clients are harder to come by than candidates.

Speak to the agency, certainly the better ones will make a contribution for the wasted time. If they bill their client for it or absorb it themselves is nought to do with you or your son and will depend on where the breakdown in communication occurred.

If they bill their client which wouldn't surprise me then this is bang out of order !!!. If the agency is not going to pay the candidate for the wasted time,then I would certainly be contacting the client myself to ensure they will not be billed for it by the agency.

InsideInsurance

Slightly taken out of context, the sentence was to be taken in the assumption that they did make a payment to the OP for messing them about.

bevanuk

They need to pay for the time your son was at work, both the agency and employer are responsible for this. Pick it up with the agency though. If your son is on a timesheet he will need to get this signed by the employer. If he was sat there for an hour, he should be paid for that hour.

Irn-Bru-Kid

bevanuk wrote: »

They need to pay for the time your son was at work, both the agency and employer are responsible for this. Pick it up with the agency though. If your son is on a timesheet he will need to get this signed by the employer. If he was sat there for an hour, he should be paid for that hour.

Thanks for your input guys. He is going back tomorrow and is planning to have a chat with the manager. You just can't expect people to jump through hoops like this. I appreciate he is only a temp, but I believe they need to be a little more considerate.

The thing that annoys me most is that it cost him money this morning, money that he won't get back if they don't pay him.

The whole point of temping is to make some money, it shouldn't be costing him money!

brightonman123

surely the agency needs to know what hours are required when they took on the client, to set / budget for their commission accordingly..

did you get any details in writing, as to hours / rate of pay etc?

i do hope you arranged travel costs to be built in to the rate, make it worth going!