In the modern job market, it is not uncommon for businesses to take the time needed to ensure a candidate is a right fit for not only the position they are working but that they also fit into the company culture as a whole. One of the ways that businesses have started achieving this is by utilizing temp employees to have a probationary period that allows them to adequately review an employee’s work ethic and skill without extending them a full-time position. However, when you are ready to extend an offer to that employee, it is important to know what steps you need to take to make them permanent. 

For most businesses, hiring a temp employee is the equivalent of retaining the candidate for a “trial period” that lasts between 3 and 6 months. During this time, the employee will be paid directly by the staffing agency through the business that has retained the temp employee. But what happens if you want to extend a full-time position to this employee either before the transition period is completed or once a temporary period has lapsed? Fortunately, the process is not a challenge and many temp employees have found success in landing their dream job through this method. 

Client Contracts for Temp Employees 

When a business utilizes a professional staffing agency, it will often enter a client contract that determines the right and obligations of both parties. Part of this agreement is that a business may not hire an employee directly that is placed by the staffing agency without consent. As such, the temp employee remains a dedicated worker of the staffing agency until an agreement is reached that allows the employee to transfer to the payroll of another business. Once this transition has been completed, all future financial obligations that the business has to the staffing agency are released. 

Through standard agreements with a professional staffing agency, businesses will receive invoices based on pre-negotiated hourly rates – plus a small portion to pay the staffing agency for sourcing and hiring the employee. In return, a business is required to have this employee with an indefinite employment term, or a pre-defined number of hours based on the client contract. Once a specific number of hours have been completed by an employee, they will then have the opportunity to exercise buyout options to make the temp employee permanent. 

Buyout Fees for Temp Employees 

For most temp employees, a buyout fee is determined by a few key points – how the employee was hired into a position, the number of hours worked by the employee and when the employer chooses to buy out the contract to hire the employee permanently. In some instances, if the employee has worked the entire length of the contract period, there may be no cost to hire the temp employee permanently because all financial obligations have been completed. For this reason, many businesses choose to let the entirety of the contract period play out before they choose to retain the employee on their payroll. 

Some employees will always have a buyout option in place with a fee that mirrors a percentage of the employee’s first-year salary. While common among long-term work arrangements, this can also be a common practice for short-term employment options as well. Since there are different pay arrangements for different candidate qualifications or job positions, working with a professional staffing agency to determine fair buyout terms and salary agreements for each temp employee placement is critical. Whether you are ready to find the perfect temp employee for your business or just want to learn more about the process, the professional staffing team at Certified Source is here to help. We look forward to helping fulfill the recruiting and staffing needs of your business! 

Why Certified? 

At Certified Source, we go above and beyond to make sure our clients are protected and experience service excellence. All our staff members are Certified Staffing Professionals credentialed by the American Staffing Association. Our laser focus on quality and service excellence are the differentiators that have our clients relying on us as the emerging leader in the industry. Let us know how our staffing professionals can help you!