What employment rights do temporary Christmas staff have in the workplace?
To cope with the increased demand over the Christmas holiday, lots of companies hire temporary staff around this time of year. Believing these employees don't have any protection or employment rights is a common mistake to make.
However, the same rights apply to all employees, whether permanent or temporary. This means any temps should get a written statement of their main terms and conditions within two months of their start date if their job lasts for longer than one month. This applies even if they stop working for you within those two months. They are entitled to written wage slips and they will earn annual leave in precisely the same way as your other staff. They also have the right to notice, and should be considered for any appropriate vacancies that are on offer when their contract comes to an end.
Consistency and clarity in contracts
It is vital when advertising and recruiting to ensure that you clearly set out the terms of the job. Spell out that this is a temporary role to cover the festive season and, if possible, indicate when you foresee the role coming to an end.
As your temporary employees will earn annual leave, ensure you specify in their contract if there are certain busy times which they will not be able to take off; the same applies to clarifying their holiday pay entitlement in their contract. It is important to be consistent in how you treat all your staff, so make sure that if a temporary employee breaks a rule they are treated in exactly the same way as your permanent members of staff.
If you do want to make any Christmas temps permanent employees, you need to make sure that you are clear and transparent in your decision making process so that you won't leave yourself open to any tribunal claims. If you are not continuing the contract of a temporary staff member, make sure you give them proper notice. Clients can get advice on creating contracts of employment or even print out personalised employment documentation from the Peninsula Online resource centre.
Christmas temps employer advice
For employment law advice concerning Christmas temps or any other issue, clients can call the Peninsula 24 hour advice line to speak to our employment law consultants, or discover expert guidance for a variety of topics for free on our website.
If you're a member of the media and need any further information, would like to discuss case studies for a particular feature, or be added to our media contact list, feel free to contact Sammual-James McLoughlin, Head of Media, Press and Public Relations at Peninsula Business Services.
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