What is an employment agency or temp agency?

An employment agency, placement agency or temporary agency ("temp agencies") matches workers with jobs.

The jobs are with other companies. In other words, the agency finds you a job with another company. Some agencies focus on placing people in specific fields.

Usually, these agencies are private companies. But, you should not pay any money to these agencies. Employment agencies make money by charging the company that you work for, or they might take a percentage of your pay.

Some agencies focus on specific fields such as technology, office assistance or security. Before you apply to an agency, check to make sure they can place you in a job in your field. You can apply to many different agencies at the same time. That way, you will have more agencies working to find you a job.

Different agencies have different kinds of services. Some place you in short-term or temporary jobs and others place you in long-term or permanent jobs. After you register with an agency, you should call your agent often to find out what jobs are available.

Go to the Association of Canadian Search, Employment & Staffing Services (ACSESS) website for more information about agencies in Ontario that do not charge job seekers at any time, even after they are employed.

You can get help with your job search from community agencies. Find out more in Why should I get help to find work?

 

 

Getting Fired From A Staffing Agency Temporary Job

Have you been recently fired from a staffing agency or other temporary employment agency? Do you believe that your firing was unjust or possibly illegal? If so, call the Los Angeles area employment law expert: Attorney Robert David. Baker.

The Law Offices of Robert David Baker has been advocating for worker’s rights for several decades and we are proud to champion the rights of employees to work in offices free from illegal discrimination.

Determining which employer is legally responsible

When you work through a temp or staffing agency, you may legally have one employer, or you may have multiple legal employers. Before any legal action can be taken on your behalf, we will need to determine which employer is legally responsible. Some factors that will help define your employment relationship with both your former employment or staffing agency and the employer who you actually performed work for may include:

Who directed your work?
Who managed and/or supervised you?
How long was your employment with each employer?
Did the company or individual that you performed work for actually have the right to fire you? Did the employment, temp or staffing agency have the legal right to fire you?
In questions about defining an employment relationship, the focus for a court will be on your individual relationship with both the employment staffing firm and the individual or corporation that you performed work for.

Staffing agencies are often unregulated, and many do not play by the rules required of all California employers by the law. Some staffing agencies may believe that their contracted workers do not have any employment rights – they are wrong. If you or a loved one has been fired from a staffing agency or temporary job and has reason to believe that the firing was done in retaliation for a legitimate workplace grievance or some other action protected by California law, please call us today to schedule a free consultation. Our staff is available either over the phone or in person at our conveniently located offices to hear the facts of your case and advise you of your legal rights. Attorney Robert David Baker has built a solid reputation for defending worker’s rights in greater Los Angeles, and he looks forward to hearing from you today.

What's Good and Bad About Temp Work

EVEN IN GOOD TIMES, job-hopping is normal in this country. But with a slumping economy and anxiety about job security, temporary employment agencies are seeing a rise in applicants.

After six straight months of private-sector job losses, if you're looking for a job, you're not alone. Temp agency is often the place to jump-start your search. They provide an option for those who have growing gaps in their résumés and those who are looking for extra money without entering (or going back) into the workforce full time.

McKinsey Quarterly called hiring temps, or "tapping into the world of talent," the third top business technology trend to watch as companies increasingly parcel out "more work to specialists, free agents, and talent networks." The American Staffing Association reports that temporary and contract staffing agencies employed 2.96 million people each day and 11.4 million individuals over the course of 2007.

For workers, temping can be the difference between getting by and not. But before you walk into an agency office, there are some things you should know about when to temp and when it's better not to.

The Upside

Filling gaps: If you have a blank-slate résumé or a growing gap in employment dates, temp agencies provide a way to fill them. Elizabeth Freedman, who runs a Boston career development and communications firm, says temp agencies can "help newbies get a foot in the door to a wide range of companies."

Taking those positions can say more about you than you think. "Employers are experiencing the Y generation and millennials as having the attitude that tasks are 'below' them. By doing temp work, it indicates a good attitude and work ethic that is desperately sought by employers in their workforce," says Michelle Tillis Lederman, founder of Executive Essentials, a corporate training and coaching company.

Return from retirement: On the flip side of career experience, as the newly retired struggle to piece together their finances, they increasingly seek temp positions—a happy medium between full-time work and full-time retirement. Temp agencies say they are welcome. "The graying workforce," says Chuck Ray, the Washington, D.C., regional director of temp giant Manpower, is becoming "more attractive to employers as they bring acumen and judgment to jobs."

Moving moms and dads: When a couple moves for one to take a job, the other often temps while looking for permanent work in the new location. Sue Shellenbarger of the Wall Street Journal, who blogs about women in business, notes the increasing use of an alternative to the usual temp gig: the "returnship." This is a temporary eight-week position structured like an internship. Returnships, which started to gain popularity in 2004, are aimed at higher-level workers and directed to fix the "damaging 'brain drain' caused by talented mothers and others opting out of fast-track careers," Shellenbarger writes. Even if you're not manager material, though, temp jobs can ease relocation job woes.

"Talent crunch": Manpower's Ray says the hardest jobs to fill right now are in retail, accounting, and healthcare. Workers who are "unflappable," able to deal with customers with ease, and also have a bit of technical savvy are always in "huge demand," he says. It's a mix of "presentation" (i.e. looking put-together) and high-tech skills that get the better jobs, Ray says. Temping candidates with those skills are always needed and easy to place, he says.

 

The Downside

Probably not permanent: "In reality, no job is permanent or secure," says Michael Neece, chief strategy officer for PongoResume, an online site that helps people write résumés and cover letters. In a shaky job market, temp agencies can cut out the legwork and quickly connect you with the right job. But even as many temps hope to stay on as a permanent worker, most don't. "Often people will go to temp agencies believing it's the path to a full-time job," says Deborah Bailey, a career and life transition coach who writes for WomenforHire.com. "It's best to look at temp work as just that—temporary."

Too much temping: Jack Manning, president of the Boston temp agency Manning Associates, says, "I burrow into the marketplace pretty deeply to find good people." But there are still times, for both workers and agencies, when it's "smarter to pass," Manning says. Some people, anxious about the job market, may try to grab up a temp job for just a week before starting at a permanent position. Manning says when this happens it's almost certainly "going to let somebody down and leave both sides in the lurch."

A means, not an end: It's good to start with temp agencies, but some workers can get stuck there. "Temp agencies shouldn't be the only source an active job seeker utilizes," says Emy Yamauchi-Wong of Honolulu's ALTRES (Alternative Resources for Business) Staffing, "but they are definitely a partner in looking out for the hidden job opportunities that they have access to." After all, temp agencies thrive on the fees they receive for placing you, and most receive a percentage of your hourly wage as long as you stay.

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