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Time limit for temporary employees on company payroll
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Time limit for temporary employees on company payroll
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Does anyone have a policy that addresses how long you allow company employees hired on a temporary basis to work before either moving them to a 'regular' part-time or full-time status or ter
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Time limit for temporary employees on company payroll

posted at 4/4/2013 5:52 PM EDT on Workforce Management
Posts: 1
First: 4/4/2013
Last: 4/4/2013
Does anyone have a policy that addresses how long you allow company employees hired on a temporary basis to work before either moving them to a 'regular' part-time or full-time status or terminating their employment? 

Re: Time limit for temporary employees on company payroll

posted at 4/4/2013 8:50 PM EDT on Workforce Management
Posts: 222
First: 9/29/2011
Last: 5/15/2013
Based on the ruling in the mid-90's MicroSoft case involving "temporary" employees, 6 months would be a good rule of thumb before you either terminate or turn into a regular employee.

Re: Time limit for temporary employees on company payroll

posted at 4/5/2013 4:50 PM EDT on Workforce Management
Posts: 215
First: 9/20/2011
Last: 5/14/2013
Consider why you are hiring the person on a temporary basis. Are you doing this all the time or only on a case by case basis? What is the motivation here?

ERISA limits you to normally no more than 1,000 hours before you must put them in your retirement 401(k) plan or health plan.

Most companies would say that 90 days is sufficient to make a decision as to whether or not you should keep someone. For the record, these kinds of "probationary" periods have become passé unless negotiated into a labor agreement.

Re: Time limit for temporary employees on company payroll

posted at 4/10/2013 12:02 PM EDT on Workforce Management
Posts: 222
First: 9/29/2011
Last: 5/15/2013
As an alternative, rather than putting your temp on your own payroll have them payrolled through a local temp agency.  Since you're providing the employee, you should negotiate the markup the agency will charge (I would venture no more than 20% - keep in mind they need to make something and pay their share of Social Security/Medicare). Make sure the temp firm will offer benefits like you do - however, they don't have to be the same.  For example, if you have a 401K then the employee should have a 401K available from the temp agency, but it doesn't have to have any kind of match/same eligibility etc.

If you do it this way, the whole period of time which could lead to co-employment issues becomes moot.  You could keep the employee far longer than the 1000 hours howard7 notes.  And if there are any employee issues, you can have the agency deal with them.  As well as with any subsequent unemployment issues.

Re: Time limit for temporary employees on company payroll

posted at 4/10/2013 5:46 PM EDT on Workforce Management
Posts: 215
First: 9/20/2011
Last: 5/14/2013
Nork-weren't the Microsoft employees on a temp agency payroll?

Temp agencies really cannot effectively manage remote employees and it is very hard to prove that the department supervisor is not exercising  a meaningful level of control over the "management" of the employees time. The company is still providing the work place, the tools, the rules, the work-hours, etc.

Forums » Topic Forums » General Forum » Time limit for temporary employees on company payroll

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