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Temporary labour - how best to fill a gap?

Posted by Matt Holgate on April 13, 2010 at 9:29pm in Careers
Hi,What do you do to meet short term staffing needs? I have got to the stage where I have a good number of jobs on the books but not enough to encourage me to commit to taking on an extra full timer (or even part timer). I need some here-and-there extra help in the coming months, mostly labouring, and I thought it might be worth posting on here to see what others do to fill temporary staffing gaps. I read one other forum post which briefly mentioned using temp agencies (not very complimentary) and I wondered what others' experience is?Or, if anyone is interested, I am looking for a labourer for a few days in Surrey if anyone has someone to recommend?!Best wishes,Matt
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  • PRO
    Gary RK April 13, 2010 at 9:35pm
    Matt,

    I recently advertised to fill a full-time position which we filled, but had a number of people contact me looking for part-time work (which wasn't what I was looking for). They would be from your local area. I may still have their contact details, failing that you could use LJN and/or Adiply and see if they are still out there ....PM if you want
  • David Bloomer April 13, 2010 at 9:37pm
    I use a guy who is in the same line of work but isn't to good at the business side of stuff :-) we got chatting a couple of years ago he moaned he was often short of work and if i had any spare give him a call.

    i'm not stoopid he doesn't get near any of my regulars but 1 off builds etc he is usually available at a few days notice to come and labour, he works hard is fairly cheap and isn't a threat to my business.
  • Lawncare-4u.co.uk April 13, 2010 at 10:31pm
    friends , family people who recommend someone............ ask around.
  • S Williams April 13, 2010 at 10:46pm
    We have a couple of people that we know who are already self-employed thenselves - who are happy to help us on odd days,. Our public liability insurance covers the 2 of us (husband & wife team) and covers us for up to 20 days temporary employee cover.
  • Kirsty Blair April 14, 2010 at 11:18pm
    I put an advert on gumtree and had a good response - free! Did the local paper during my 1st yr and got alot of names, I've used quite a few of them and still using some 4yrs on. As long as your upfront about the hours then you should get the right sort of people applying. Only meant to employ someone for two wks in a tax yr as casual labour but if you give them less than 16hrs a wk it keeps it below NI dependant on rates of pay - don't need to worry about it then. I take on seasonal workers too - they have contracts to cover the busy period then they know they have to move on, some keep coming back some don't!
  • Matt Holgate April 15, 2010 at 9:14pm
    Thanks all for your advice, much appreciated.

    Matt
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