7 ESSENTIAL TIPS YOU NEED TO FIND A RELIABLE AGENCY

Stuart Campbell

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 1 Introduction

What happens if you choose a labour hire provider who cuts corners?

Most labour hire agencies aim to satisfy two needs for your business or project:

1. Flexibility in arrangement - engaging a temporary worker for short assignments to meet deadline. 2. Time-cost reduction - to save you time otherwise spent on advertising, screening, interviewing and getting the paperwork ready for another suit- able worker

But not all labour hire agencies are created equal. An agency that cuts corners can cost you serious amount of time and money, causing you problems that could’ve been easily prevented.

Stay ahead of your competitors and avoid choosing the wrong provider with these 7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency.

Apply all seven of these tips to find the right agency and ensure that your project gets delivered on time, within budget and with the right staff on board.

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 2 Discover the 7 essential tips you need to choose a reliable labour hire agency.

What are the most important signs that a labour hire agency for construction personnel is trustworthy, and know exactly what they’re doing?

1. They understand and articulate what you want.

2. They can prove their industry reputation.

3. They maintain quality workers and screening process.

4. They are fully compliant with Occupational Health and Safety.

5. They have the proper company setup and insurances.

6. They’re true to their level of service and committment.

7. They charge you reasonable rates.

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 3 They understand and articulate 1 what you want

You’ve placed an order for a temp worker, but your labour hire provider didn’t really understand the order. They send a worker to site who doesn’t match what you were looking for, leaving you extremely frustrated.

Sound familiar?

A good labour hire consultant understands the work your company does, and the work that your temporary workers will be required to complete.

They will articulate what you want the worker to do and the skills required. Alarm bells should ring if you don’t think the labour hire rep understands the scope of work, or the necessary skills for each specific task.

What to look for: if you were needing a reliable labourer for the day, a good consultant will find out whether you prefer someone with basic carpentry skills to assist the chip- py’s on site when required.

Avoid consultants who cut corners just to make a quick buck, and may send a labourer to site who only has warehouse experience and can’t provide enough value to justify their cost.

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 4 They can prove their 2 industry reputation

I can guarantee you’ve probably heard these lines from a labour hire agency before:

‘We are all about delivering professional service!’ ‘We only supply good temporary workers!’

...Blah, blah, blah!

When there’s a smorgasbord of labour hire agencies out there competing for your business, you want to be confident that you’re dealing with a proven performer. Their claims about reputation may be true, but you have every right to research and confirm this.

It doesn’t matter if they have been around for one year or 30 years - reputation can always be checked out. And their reputation speaks volumes about the level of service you’ll receive.

What to look for:

• Who are some of their clients? • Do your competitors use them? • How are the testimonials from their current clients (with their names and companies included)? • How many workers do they have out on site each day?

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 5 They maintain quality 3 candidates & screening process

How can the labour hire service maintain quality candidates?

Do they screen candidates thoroughly and specifically for construction, or do they just use the one labourer with a white-card-fits-all approach?

A good labour hire provider will have strong procedures in place when it comes to screening candidates, and identifying if they’re right for the job before send- ing them on site for you.

What to look for:

Your labour hire agency should, at a minimum, be covering the below during their candidate screening process:

• Resume/ working history received. • Face-to-face interview to identify their skills and experience. • White Card, tickets and ID sighted and copies made. • Signed the labour hire provider’s terms of engagement. • Understood, agreed to and completed the provider’s OH&S Procedure. • Reference check done to validate their skills and experience.

No temporary worker should be sent on site unless all the above has been completed (at a minimum). Be sure to ask the labour hire agency what their screening process is and how much of this they cover.

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 6 They are fully compliant with 4 Occupational Health & Safety

Does the labour hire agency understand (and comply) with legislation around placing temporary workers on site?

Or do they cut corners, exposing everyone involved to risk?

We all understand the seriousness of following OHS to the tee, but even with strict policies and procedures in place the fact remains that accidents do happen in construction.

Keeping a temporary worker safe on site is a shared responsibility between the agency and the construction company. However, the agency needs to do their due diligence around OHS. This is non-negotiable.

What to look for:

You can be happy with a labour hire provider’s commitment to OHS if they:

• Complete a site assessment for each worksite they have temporary workers • Check in with temporary workers and site managers to see if there’s been any near misses or hazards Have a procedure ready in the event of an • accident happening on site • Have a designated OHS contact in place who can be called at any time

It might seem like overkill, but that is actually what’s required by legislation. If an agency doesn’t show you this level of attention to OHS, be worried!

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 7 They have the proper 5 company setup & insurances

What should you do if a temporary worker accidentally causes damage to public property while working on site?

Does the labour hire agency have Public Liability Insurance? How much?

The simple fact is that every labour hire agency should have their own Public Liability and WorkCover insurances in place. Although these insurances can be costly, there is no excuse not to have them.

What to look for:

You have every right to obtain a copy of the labour hire providers insurances and Certificate of Currencies.

If they are not set up with the appropriate insurances, then proceed at your own risk.

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 8 They’re true to their level of 6 service and commitment

How can you tell if an agency actually stays true to their values, or whether they’re just doing the bare minimum?

Watch what happens to their level of service when something goes wrong.

Labour hire is a fast paced business and there are bound to be problems. After all, we’re dealing with people. So the best way to assess an agency’s service is to see what they do when problems arise.

What to look for:

Say you booked a labourer for 7am as you have a delivery arriving on site that you need unloaded. It’s now 7:15am and the labourer hasn’t shown up. You phone the agency at 7:30am. No one answers, so you leave a message for an urgent call back.

Which of the following responses would you prefer?

1. You get a call back from an agency rep two hours later at 9:30am, saying “Sorry mate, these things happen. I’ll get you someone else for tomorrow and make sure they show up.”

2. You get a call back at 8:15am from a rep who apologises, understands you’re upset, but that they can get someone else down there in 20 minutes.

An agency who’s true to their word will always show up when there’s a problem and offer a proposed solution, not drag their feet or disappear.

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 9 They charge you 7 reasonable rates

How much does it cost for a temporary worker? Why is it so expensive/cheap? What does it cover? Are there any hidden charges?

Labour hire in the construction industry is extremely competitive. The difference in cost can fluctuate wildly and sometimes with no rhyme or reason, so how do you find the best agency in terms of price?

What to look for:

All of these factors influence the fee you’re charged and the value you’re getting:

PAY RATES How do they pay their temporary workers - to the relevant award/agreement/ EBA? Make sure they’re not undercutting the worker with lower pay rates to increase their bottom line. If they pay to or slightly above the relevant award/ agreement/EBA then it’s more likely their temporary worker will be of a higher quality and committed to working for that labour hire service.

INSURANCES What insurances do they have in place for their temporary workers? Insurances are necessary for any serious labour hire service and also contribute to price.

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 10 They charge you 7 reasonable rates cont.

PAYROLL COSTS As the labour hire provider takes on the duties for temporary workers, there are related costs such as state payroll tax and superannuation payments.

QUALITY OF WORKERS Do they complete a thorough screening process? Or do they just send you anyone who has a PPE and a White Card? A labour hire service and their con- sultants who actually take price in supplying quality workers, will consider this towards their charge rates.

LEVEL OF SERVICE Do you get personalised service, and would the consultants go the extra mile to meet your needs? When issues arise, do they get fixed or do people on the other end go missing? A quality labour hire agency sees your business as a long term partnership, not just a short term commitment until something goes wrong. They may charge a premium, but they will provide exceptional service and save you a lot of headaches in the long run.

Although the cost of a provider is important when choosing who to go with, the old saying “you only get what you pay for” generally stands true!

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 11 Remember...

The right labour hire agency can help your project stay on track, on time and within budget... and save you from a ton of headache.

A labour hire provider who wants to be the best in their field and deliver you the best results can only get there by:

1. The team they employ and 2. The service standards they set.

So make sure you use these 7 essential tips to inform your research about their background, team members and their reputation before you proceed!

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 12 About the author

Stuart Campbell runs JV , an accomplished labour hire business across .

He has over 15 years experience helping both candidates and clients across the construction, logistics, manufacturing, facilities management and civil industries.

He has built strong working relationship with clients and truly believes in quality and urgency to every role filled.

Stuart enjoys a country lifestyle with his family, loves his sport and travelling.

Drop Stuart and the JV team a line today for help finding top candidates for your business:

JV Recruitment

03 9877 5800

7 Essential Tips You Need to Find a Reliable Labour Hire Agency | 13