Are risks related to your contingent population being dealt with effectively?

There have been some high profile cases in the news recently concerning organisations that have got into trouble for failing to follow the rules regarding employment of temporary workers.

Being named and shamed is just the start – companies have been hit with big financial penalties, loss of business and a hard knock to their brand reputation.

In the worst case scenarios, a failure in compliance can even lead to liquidation.

Despite this, you would be surprised by how many companies we talk to really have little idea what’s going on with their contingent workforce. If you represent even a medium-sized business which relies significantly on temporary workers, can you say, hand on your heart, that you have visibility of every contingent worker in your organisation? Do you know exactly what contracts they’re signed up to, and if they are all fully compliant with the latest legislation? In short, are you confident that any risks relating to your contingent population are being dealt with effectively?

If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’, I suggest you consider the benefits of appointing a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to give you end-to-end management of your contingent workforce.

There are a number of major benefits with universal appeal. Not only will your MSP help you to mitigate risk, but more often than not, implementing this model can deliver significant cost savings to your business through more effective management of your temporary workforce and agency supply chain, and the introduction of slicker, more effective processes. An MSP will make it far easier to achieve and retain compliance, for three main reasons:

1. Visibility and Control

If you are using contingent workers it’s important to know not just how many workers you have on site, where they are and what roles they are fulfilling, but also who is supplying those workers, what their contractual status is, how long they have been on assignment, what are their pay and charge rates, if the statutory rates are being applied correctly, and ultimately if you are using the right type of worker for the job - the list goes on and on.

Most MSPs manage this through VMS (vendor management software) technology, which gives you complete visibility and control over your agency worker population – otherwise, it is almost impossible to be fully compliant.

2. Supplier Management and Audit

One of the key roles of an MSP is to manage and audit the entire agency supply chain, and take responsibility for auditing all the end client’s temporary workers, including those appointed directly by the organisation’s hiring staff.

It is really important that somebody is responsible for ensuring all appropriate checks have been made, all contracts are fully compliant and that those contracts protect the end client against risk.

It is concerning how many companies sign terms with suppliers without reading the detail and understanding the implications of the terms they have agreed to.

3. Market knowledge

Rullion keeps its finger on the pulse of legislative change and the latest market updates – we are members of both the REC (Recruitment & Employment Confederation) and APSCo (Association of ProfessionalStaffing Companies) and have a dedicated compliance team that keeps our business up to date on all legislation surrounding the recruitment and employment industry in the UK – so we can keep our end clients fully informed. We issue regular bulletins, brief hiring managers and key stakeholders, and make sure that required changes are implemented swiftly and efficiently.

We have been holding informative workshops for our MSP clients for a decade, covering topics such as AWR and IR35, changes to the rules governing umbrella companies, and generic compliance.

The labour market is a very complex legal environment, which is ever changing – so keeping on top of compliance is a challenge for any company.

Appointing an MSP gives company management greater peace of mind, as well as reducing the administrative burden. We take joint responsibility with our clients to ensure legislation is adhered to, processes are changed as required, and, most importantly, risk is mitigated.

Interested in finding out more? Get in touch with me today!