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There is a nursing agency round my way that suppies the local nhs trusts (and indeed my ward which i look after the staffing of) with ad hoc staff. They have a 'policy' where if one of their workers gets a job with a local nhs trust, the new employer has to 'buy them out' to the tune of £4000.
Their own agency workers fund their own crb checks and basic training (there are a couple of mandatory h&s related things for nusing care) so as far as i can see the overheads for this agency are as any other industrial/catering work agency; payroll, booking/allocations and a degree of personnel managment. Their markup (ie difference between what they charge me and what they pay the agency nurse) is about average for a nursing agency and is calculated on an hours-worked basis.
What I am puzzled about is what investment they put in their staff that they lose when that staff member leaves. Their staff are largely pretty good but this is usually because of their employment history prior to getting on this particualr agency, and they charge me the same for a very experienced health care assistant as they do for a complete novice. Surely it doesn't cost £4000 to chase up refernces, set up payroll and get someone 'on file'? ...and the hourly rate presumably funds the day-to day booking and payment?
And is that actually lawful? I have never come across an employer that charges other employers if their staff resign and go and work for someone else. This is a nursing agency I am talking about not a recruitment or head hunting outfit. I have never come across this with other nursing agencies.
Anyone have any similar experiences?
the £4k is there to disuade the nhs from usign them as a cheap way to find decent staff.
all computer contractor agencies do the same thing (usually based on 20% of an annual salary (so upto £10k) if you take on a contractor you've previously used through them (for either further temp or permanent work)
That's standard practice.
it also ties the staff to the agency quite effectively because they quite quickly place you with all the local trusts so that you can't get work with them direct as the trust won't pay the agency the fee.
It's pretty standard with agencies in my experience. Saves them cherry picking the best staff for themselves without any of the hassle of recruitment.
The only grey area I can see would be if the person resigned from the agency then applied for a job with the new employer and got it. As long as there is a gap or a response to a job advertised then the agency would be very on dubious ground trying to enforce their fee.
As long as there is a gap or a response to a job advertised then the agency would be very on dubious ground trying to enforce their fee.
The standard cooling off period is about 6 months, any approach or offer made to the temporary worker (resulting in employment) within that period whatsoever renders the customer liable for a fee, even a recommendation to a third party by the customer with a subsequent job offer / acceptance will leave the customer liable to a fee.
wow, thanks for your quick responses.
...so this fee is 'lawful' and enforceable then? Is the implication of not paying it just that the agency refuses to supply staff to that organisation?
Yes we have come across some good nurses via this agency but then nhs jobs have to be externally advertised and interviews rigorously audited and 'scored'. Its actually quite hard to just 'give' a job to someone you like these days as you have to be very clear about why you [i]don't[/i] give interviews or job offers as well as why you picked your favourite. The 'comedically short application closing date' is about the only trick we have left for getting someone in particular in. And even then they have to not make an arse of themselves at interview.
my mum had a similar issue. she was working as a supply teacher through an agency and then took a part time job at a school she supplied at (which she also used to work full time for about 10 years ago). agency went mad and demanded money from the school. the school turned around and said they wouldn't pay and would look to use other agencies to supply cover staff in the future at which point my mum's agency got very, very apologetic.
just hire the person and tell the agency it's up to them if they want to do business with you any more. you're in the driving seat, there are other agencies, but i bet that agency relies more on you than you do on them.
but i bet that agency relies more on you than you do on them.
quite possibly yes, and their staff like working on my ward more than most (buffs medals) but that sort of thing is probably down to my nhs trust as a whole as it would be terrible if it impacted on other wards/departments. I might raise it with my HR lady some time.
Thankyou everyone for your thoughts. Nothing else quite like STW during working hours for this sort of thing! 😀
www.direct.gov.uk/agencyworkers
employment agency standards 0845 955 5105
I have been an agency worker. My agency did this in theory. However it only applied if you took a permanent job that you had been an agency replacement for.
so - covering for an vacancy on ward 1 - take a permanent job on ward 2 it does not apply.
covering for sickness on ward 1, take a permanent job on ward 1 it does not apply ( as its a different post)