[Closed] Working for a Agency .. anyone do it ?

ok.. not personally... but my bezza does on a regular basis..

firstly.. you will get raped wages wise.. with about 4 different parties taking a slice for admin commission etc..

Once you accept that fact.. remember that the Agency LIES.. If they tell you that they can offer you a years work.. it is often only 3 months.. 6 months work often translates to a couple of weeks..

Telling you that you may get taken on after a while sounds very fishy.. An agency can take a company to court and the company will be fined heavily if the company employs an agency worker without a 6 month (variable) period where neither the company nor the agency employs the worker.. this is obvious really or the company will simply poach all the good workers and then employ them thus negating the agency commission and admin fees..

sup to you.. these are the pitfalls..

Telling you that you may get taken on after a while sounds very fishy.. An agency can take a company to court and the company will be fined heavily if the company employs an agency worker without a 6 month (variable) period where neither the company nor the agency employs the worker.. this is obvious really or the company will simply poach all the good workers and then employ them thus negating the agency commission and admin fees..

What utter rubbish. The company simply pay the agency to turn the worker from temp to perm. They'll have a rate already set up in their T&Cs. Both sides win, as does the worker.

firstly.. you will get raped wages wise.. with about 4 different parties taking a slice for admin commission etc..

Again, utter shite. The only thing keeping agency workers pay low is their poor neg skills. The agency are told by the company what they will pay and the agency have to work their margin into that.

Going from Temp to Perm is very common in agency work. It allows companies to see how good someone is before taking them on properly.

firstly.. you will get raped wages wise.. with about 4 different parties taking a slice for admin commission etc..

Absolute bullshit, as is the rest of your post, perhaps you would be better off posting on things you might have some experience / idea about.

ok.. thanks for the swearing and general rudeness of your responses there gentlemen.. we obviously have some agency reps in the area..
I am just relaying stories.. from the real life experiences of my oldest friend.. who has worked for numerous agencies at the bottom rung of the building industry over the last ten years..

You may not have suffered similar problems.. or have encountered similar circumstances but that does not give you the right to start belittling and debasing these experiences with your sarcy comments

odious little shites

Big firms use agency workers all the time - it's a great foot in the door, and if you're good you'll get a heAds up on perm positions. Go for it!

I'm not an 'Agency Rep', I own my own Agency at 'the bottom rung of the industry'.

Your comments were bullshit, you've been shot down, deal with it.

You may not have suffered similar problems.. or have encountered similar circumstances but that does not give you the right to start belittling and debasing these experiences with your sarcy comments

It's a forum, if you talk shite, people who know what they are on about will make you look daft.

I drove a 7.5 tonner for an agency for a while, to start with the rate was awful but after a few weeks and a bit of haggling got better. I did listen in on speaker phone when the transport manager said he wanted to take me on full time, the agency warned him about how much tht was going to cost him so i can agree with some of what Yuncki says.

If you are just a casual worker (i was doing it between telly jobs and in uni holidays) in my experience you do get the shitty end of the stick.

Steady on chaps 😯

kingtut.. what on earth gives you the idea that I wake up in the morning.. read through a forum.. pick a subject at random and then construct a complete fabrication as a response? What motive would I have for doing that? It would take an imbecile to even imagine such a thing..

FFS.. I am just relaying some negative factual experiences..

I'm glad that you are baffled.. as this would indicate that you can relate some more positive experiences.. that does not give you the right to rubbish my post

again.. you are an odious little shite.. grow up

Not all agencies are good, some are downright awful, but Yunki's post was tarring us all with the same brush, based on a 'friends' experience.

Not all agencies are good, some are downright awful, but Yunki's post was tarring us all with the same brush, based on a 'friends' experience.

thanks.. I accept your veiled apology

I admit that my post may have been a little one sided.. step up and address the balance though.. rather than trying to make me look and feel like a cock.. It's too early in the morning for that..

again.. you are an odious little shite.. grow up

Blimey, you don't like being wrong do you..

step up and address the balance though..

No need, vanilla hit the nail on the head.

I have made no apology veiled or otherwise.

yunki - Member

I am just relaying some negative factual experiences..

Did it happen to you? No? Then it's hearsay, not fact

Stumpy, I think you have nothing to worry about. Agency work is fine and it sounds like a good opportunity to me. Going permanent is very common. I don't know what line of work you're in or what type of agency it is but agencies have kept me going for years, to the profit of everyone.

Yunki your account is so far wide of the mark it deserves to be called 'bullshit'.

Stumpy, if you want any off forum advice feel free to mail me (in profile).

I've recently gone from temp to perm via an agency.

Most agency jobs tend to say something like temporary to permanent - this usually means that after 12 weeks (when various rules about employment kick in) you are either offered a temp position or shown the door. It's not always good, not always bad but you take your chances.
You are out of work now so what have you got to lose?

Just remember that some firms take the piss with agency staff. At my employers they've just told the agency workers in the plastics production side that they MUST work yesterday 6am-6pm & today 6am-4pm. Anyone not doing so will be looking for a new job on monday morning 😯

From personal experience I can confirm that the negative things mentioned in this thread about agencies certainly do occur. They do lie, and make things difficult. Avoid if you have other choice available.

his usually means that after 12 weeks (when various rules about employment kick in)

No rules in place at the moment, although the European parliament have other ideas.

Isn't there something about holiday rights etc after 12 weeks?

I love being wrong Mr TUT.. especially when it means that there is good news on the horizon..
I really loathe however.. being greeted by the venomous bile of an enraged executive at the crack of dawn on a drizzly day..

manners cost nothing

None of which changes however.. the fact that a close personal friend has suffered some awful treatment at the hand of employment agencies..

Isn't there something about holiday rights etc after 12 weeks?

No, holiday pay is now payable from day one, although you are right in so much that the 12 week t2p was originally to avoid the qualification for holiday pay, so that cost would not be passed on to the customer.

From October next year agencies have to pay temps the same rate and benefits as permanent staff which will make the industry allot fairer, although we have been basing rates on permanent staff renumeration for years. I was amazed to read your comments Yunki 4 different parties making money from you? How would this be possible when all that is involved is the agency the contractor and the client?
There are some shite agencies out there that give others a bad name but thats the same in any industry, see if you can hook up with others that have used the agency or do a bit of research online if they concern you. These days 90% of the permanent placements we make are on a temp to perm basis through fixed agreements. The worst that can happen in this case is that it does not work out and you end up with 3 months work - you might even find that you hate working there and the flexiblity to leave would be a good thing for you... it works both ways.

I really loathe however.. being greeted by the venomous bile of an enraged executive at the crack of dawn on a drizzly day..

Talk from experience, give your views based on fact by all means, your first post was derogatory to all agencies based on nothing but hearsay and also made some highly inaccurate comments about the legal position of agencies and temp workers.

You were wrong, accept it and shush.

yes, i do. it is ok, more or less. be careful, im my experience (3 different agencies now and my gf two) they can range from really good and efficient, to completely useless. The agency reps tend to give themselves stupid job titles like executive, ignore all of that. you are a means for them to make money. they will try and give you the lowest rate they can, obviously, because this means more money for them.

Once you have been doing it for a few years, and you find the jobs for yourselves it kinda becomes the other way round and you almost interview them. you still have to go through an agency unfortunately.

The most common dodge from them is to verbally promise one rate, and then stitch you up when the contract comes, and give you some bs about the employing company having to cut the rate. this is usually a lie.

ok.. the experiences I reported... (and we're not in court so hearsay or any other legal psychobabble is irrelevant your honour..)
the experiences I reported were in relation to someone working as a labourer in the construction industry where the very nature of the work is short term and temporary and obviously open to more abuse of the rights of the worker..

these experiences are not really relevant to the OP

I stand by my assertation that TUT is a rude and naughty tit and also a very naughty boy.... but I'm willing to kiss and make up in the interests of free love and universal harmony..

and now I will shush

If it helps ? , the agency is best connection and im in the power press industry , bashing bits of metal ...

Thanks for all the advise and comments

best connection

I have quite a bit of experience of being in competition with them, they are absolutely fine (as are Prime Time etc) as a company but on a one to one basis only as good as the consultant you are dealing with.

Make sure you read and sign the Temporary Workers Agreement, which should be the model that the REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) insist we use, this will protect your rights.

OP- Find a wage that you feel happy with and do it.

You only have cuts taken out of your wage etc if you are doing relatively non-skilled vocations (call centre/admin etc).

Skilled/recognised skillset roles and you get your market rate and the costs are added ontop and billed to the company by the agency.

Key here is do you have a skillset in demand?

You only have cuts taken out of your wage etc if you are doing relatively non-skilled vocations (call centre/admin etc).

Hora, wrong wrong wrong, it is illegal to make deductions other than statutory deductions from temporary workers wages (I'm not taking into account accommodation for migrant workers etc, that's a whole different kettle of fish).

+1 for yunki worked for an agenc and employed people via an agency
Not surprise an agency owner defends it - pehaps you are one of the good ones who knows. As an industry my DIRECT experience is that it is exploitative with puntive contracts to make the costs of taking on staff as permanent way too expensive to even consider. Often taking in excess of 40% of wage for themselves and often told staff the work was for far longer than it really was. I would work for one if needs required it but would not take anything they say as truth or likely to happen

No I know its not worded that way- when the role is calculated the agency offers an hourly rate to the candidate. NOT taking deductions from the candidates wage-slip.

TBH Im not sure how it works as we have Ltd company people who charge a dayrate of £200-900 and then a flat percentage is added ontop and billed to the customer.

firstly.. you will get raped wages wise

Not always. I've only done it once and got paid £1000/week, which is a lot for me. Also, they put most of it as milage which I didn't pay tax on. As I had been out of work for a couple of months this helped massively.

I'm not the only one saying Yunki is wrong, but as I said some agencies are good some are bad.

No one forces anyone to work for an agency, If on experience or hearsay you don't want to, don't, it's simple.

The bottom line is that all agencies are a commercial enterprises we are in business to make money, we are not government funded, we a not here to molly coddle people, but that does not mean we have treat people badly we do need to be honest and forthright with candidates and we would like the same in return.

I could turn this thread on it's head by boring you all with the lies and unjustified abuse I've had from temps (I've had may car vandalised twice, threats of violence against me and my family), taking it to the extreme, in Wales a couple of years ago a temp driver shoot dead the owner of an agency.

So it's not all one way.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, as have many of my friends.

As an example, you often get started as an admin assistant, but as soon as people realise that you're capable, the role will grow. Temp to perm is something I've seen & heard of offered on many occasions as a carrot on a stick, but never heard of actually happening. Pay rises are uncommon. Summary dismissal and trampling of employment rights is fairly common.

There tend to be two kinds of organisations which take on temps - Public sector, unwilling to take on perm staff because they can't get rid of perms with bad attitudes, and private sector, who are unwilling to take on perm staff because they're terrible employers with massive staff turnover.

Things may be better with some agencies, and in some sectors of the market, but the above seems to be par for the course.

The way roles grow can be useful - I've got a mate with a master's degree who's getting experience that's very relevant to what he wants to do. But, he's getting paid admin assistant rates for what should be a £20-25k perm job.

definitely some self foot shooting occurring in that last post of yours there mr tut.. you wanna get a sticky plaster for that old son..

I'm not an 'Agency Rep', I own my own Agency at 'the bottom rung of the industry...Your comments were bullshit, you've been shot down, deal with it...It's a forum, if you talk shite, people who know what they are on about will make you look daft.

ewwwww a personnel agency owner with such a great command of [i]people skills[/i] on display. Prob why on bottom rung. 😐

Prob why on bottom rung.

Bottom rung being mainly industrial recruitment, not executive.

Yet again comments made by someone with no idea of the industry, as for my people skills they are fine thanks, 21 years in recruitment is testament to that.

my people skills they are fine thanks

that much is obvious

I've had may car vandalised twice, threats of violence against me and my family

with the utter scathing contempt that you have displayed in this thread for people with a viewpoint or experience that differs from that of your own.. even in the face of mounting evidence that is contrary to your assertions... this comes as little surprise

Yunki, that has nothing to do with my people skills and more so with the kind of people I have had to deal with.

with the utter scathing contempt that you have displayed in this thread for people with a viewpoint or experience that differs from that of your own

You need to calm down Yunki, you really do, my only contempt is for [i]your [/i]original post.

I started as an agency worker in the company I work for now. Would have no problem in doing so again. I've been here on the books for 13 years now and been promoted about 10 times. As said above it can be a great foot in the door for the right company

the kind of people I have had to deal with

like I said before... no smoke without fire..

I'm more mild mannered than Clark Kent.. but immediately after your personal attack earlier this morning.. I felt I could almost be tempted to give you a kick in the shin or a chinese burn! Or at the very least a scowl..

You need to calm down Yunki, you really do

I would if only I could understand where you get the temerity to continue to denounce me as a fool..

ok so the four parties in my original post was exaggeration.. which to me was obvious.. but much of the rest of the post.. although not perhaps legally accurate was also neither very far from the truth..

Yunki, I've made no personal attack, I stated that your comments were bullshit and highly inaccurate, here read them again;

firstly.. you will get raped wages wise.. with about 4 different parties taking a slice for admin commission etc..

Once you accept that fact.. remember that the Agency LIES.. If they tell you that they can offer you a years work.. it is often only 3 months.. 6 months work often translates to a couple of weeks..

Telling you that you may get taken on after a while sounds very fishy.. An agency can take a company to court and the company will be fined heavily if the company employs an agency worker without a 6 month (variable) period where neither the company nor the agency employs the worker.. this is obvious really or the company will simply poach all the good workers and then employ them thus negating the agency commission and admin fees..

sup to you.. these are the pitfalls..

Read back through the thread, you have been doing the name calling.

As for no smoke without fire, people get upset when they have been told that they have lost their job, certain types can react very badly, unfortunately I'm not an anonymous consultant working for a big agency so I can't hide.

ok so the four parties in my original post was exaggeration.. which to me was obvious.. but much of the rest of the post.. although not perhaps legally accurate was also neither very far from the truth..

You implied that all agencies lie, etc, that is why as an agency owner I reacted defensively, I do not take you for a fool, I can't possibly know what you are or what you are like, my response is made purely on your post.

Michael.. listen..

raped for wages.. it has been backed up in this thread by someone else already.. expect up to a 40% lower wage

lies and amount of work.. also backed up by an independant contributor to the thread..

taken on after a while sounding fishy.. also backed up by an independant contributor

all of my assertions have been backed up by people [i]on this thread alone[/i] who have had direct experience of the incidents that I outlined..

so where you get off telling me that I'm full of merde is a mystery..

have a quiet word with yourself old chap.. you're being a wally.. i've admitted my foolishness regarding accuracy.. please admit yours regarding pigheadedness

Jeez, more (lame) name calling, I'll leave you to it.

ok.. I guess that proves at least one of the points made about your people skills..

I'm guessing your next response may have been something as useful or enlightening as 'I know you are you said you are but what am I'

a bientot.. I'm out.. I will readily agree with you that this is silly.. I'm off to the boozer with yunki junior.. let us rejoice that today is a blue day!