Terms of business for temporary workers
A plain-English summary of the basis on which we supply. The signed terms of business are the contract; this page exists so nothing in them arrives as a surprise.
What this is and is not
This page is a summary written in plain English. It is not the contract. The contract is the signed terms of business issued to a hirer before the first assignment and where the two differ the signed terms take precedence. Nothing here creates or varies an agreement.
Transport Temps is a trading name of Maine Couriers Ltd, company number 10970780, registered at Office 1, Izabella House, 24-26 Regent Place, Birmingham B1 3NJ. It supplies temporary workers as an employment business, which means the worker remains engaged and paid by us and works under the hirer's direction and control.
The supply of temporary workers by an employment business in Great Britain is regulated by the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.
This page was written from the legislation and the published government guidance and every instrument named on it was read at the source. It is not legal advice and it must be reviewed by a solicitor before the site goes live. If anything here conflicts with the signed terms of business, the signed terms take precedence.
How an assignment is created
- A booking is a request until we confirm it. Confirmation states the role, the dates, the shift times, the site and the charge rate. It is given in writing before a worker is confirmed.
- The hirer supplies the information the assignment needs — the work to be done, the site, the hours, the equipment, any qualification or clearance required, the health and safety risks and the induction. If a requirement is not stated, it cannot be matched against.
- Workers are named to the hirer before the shift, with the required checks completed.
- Where we cannot cover a booking we say so. A booking we cannot fill is declined rather than confirmed.
Who is responsible for what
Our side
Engaging and paying the worker, PAYE and statutory deductions, holiday accrual, the pre-assignment checks set out on compliance and vetting and the Key Information Document the worker must be given before agreeing terms with us.
The hirer's side
Day-to-day direction and control of the work, the site induction, the working environment and its health and safety, supervision and the information an agency worker is entitled to about facilities and vacancies at that site.
Shared
Equal treatment after twelve weeks. We apply the correct terms; only the hirer holds the information about what a comparable directly-employed worker receives, so both have to act for it to be right.
The worker's side
Attending, working competently and safely, following site rules and reporting anything unsafe. Documents kept in date and any change to licence status told to us rather than discovered on a re-check.
How the money works
- Hours are logged against the booking reference as a digital timesheet.
- The hirer approves or rejects each timesheet and a rejection must carry a reason so the hours in dispute can actually be identified.
- Only approved timesheets are invoiced. Every invoice line traces to a specific approval, against a reference, on a date.
- Invoices are consolidated weekly across every booking the hirer ran that week and carry the hirer's purchase order reference where one has been given.
- Where an assignment approaches the twelve-week Agency Workers Regulations threshold, the parity position is raised before it lands.
⚠️ OWNER ACTION — PAYMENT TERMS NOT YET SET. Payment days, late payment provisions, any credit limit and any deposit or pro-forma requirement are commercial terms that must be decided and written into the signed terms of business before trading. No figure or period is stated here because none has been agreed. Note also that Maine Couriers Ltd is VAT-registered, so the VAT treatment of charge rates must be stated correctly and consistently in the signed terms and on every invoice — confirm the wording with the accountant before issue.
Temp to perm
Where a hirer wants to engage a worker we supplied — directly, or through another party — that is a transfer. It is dealt with in the signed terms rather than negotiated after the event.
Regulation 10 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 governs what an employment business may charge for that. Three things follow from it and they are not optional:
- A transfer fee is only enforceable where the terms also give the hirer the alternative of electing an extended period of hire, of a length specified in the contract, during which the worker continues to be supplied on terms no less favourable to the hirer than those applying immediately before.
- No transfer fee is chargeable where the employment starts after the relevant period, which is whichever ends later of eight weeks from the day after the last day the worker worked for that hirer, or fourteen weeks from the first day of supply — with a gap of more than 42 days resetting that fourteen-week count.
- An employment business may not seek to enforce an unenforceable term and may not directly or indirectly request a payment it is not entitled to under that regulation.
⚠️ PLACEHOLDER — TRANSFER FEE NOT YET SET. The fee basis, the length of the extended hire period offered as the alternative and the notice required to elect it are commercial decisions the owner must make before these terms are issued. No percentage, figure or period is stated here because none has been agreed. Whatever is chosen must satisfy regulation 10 in full and must be in the signed terms before an assignment starts — never raised afterwards.
Cancellation, unsuitability and complaints
An assignment can be ended by either party. Where a hirer considers a worker unsuitable, tell us immediately with the reason — a replacement is worked straight away and a worker who is genuinely unsuitable for the work should not be quietly moved to another client.
A worker who does not attend is not billable. Where a shift is cancelled, notice provisions apply as set out in the signed terms.
Complaints should be raised with us directly and in the first instance. The state regulator for employment agencies and employment businesses is the Fair Work Agency, which has replaced the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate.
⚠️ OWNER ACTION — THE FULL TERMS DO NOT YET EXIST. This page summarises the intended basis of supply. The signed terms of business themselves — including cancellation notice, liability and indemnity, insurance, confidentiality, the governing law clause and the transfer fee — must be drafted and reviewed by a solicitor before Transport Temps trades. Publishing this summary is not a substitute for that and must not be treated as one.
Questions about the terms
Is this page the contract?
No. It is a plain-English summary. The contract is the signed terms of business issued before the first assignment. Where the two differ the signed terms take precedence.
Who is responsible for health and safety on site?
The hirer controls the working environment, the induction and the supervision, because that is where the work happens. We are responsible for the worker's engagement, pay and pre-assignment checks. We also match against the risks and requirements the hirer has told us about.
Can we hire the worker permanently?
Yes. The basis is in the signed terms before the assignment starts. Under the Conduct Regulations 2003 any transfer fee is only enforceable where the terms also offer the alternative of an extended period of hire and no fee is chargeable once the relevant period defined by those regulations has ended.
What is the relevant period for a transfer fee?
Whichever ends later of eight weeks from the day after the last day the worker worked for that hirer, or fourteen weeks from the first day of supply — where a gap of more than 42 days resets the fourteen-week count. That is regulation 10 of the Conduct Regulations 2003, not our own invention.
What happens if a worker is unsuitable?
Tell us immediately with the reason. A replacement is worked straight away and the charge position for the hours worked is dealt with under the signed terms. A worker who is genuinely unsuitable comes off the work rather than being moved to another client.
Which law governs the supply?
The supply of temporary workers by an employment business in Great Britain is regulated by the Employment Agencies Act 1973 and the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003. The governing law and jurisdiction clause of the contract itself sits in the signed terms.