In the last four years, the labor market has undergone major transformations so that, in addition to the hybrid way of working, another trend that has been accentuated is the growing need of companies for temporary labor. The main reasons why temporary workers have come to be considered a viable option by more and more organizations are both financial and driven by the need to benefit from the flexibility that comes from a temporary work contract. However, as an employer, it’s obvious to have questions regarding the contractual relationship with a temporary work agent. What should you know about the contract with a temporary work agent? How temporary employees are paid and what obligations you have towards temporary workers can be found below.

What is the contract through a temporary work agent?

It is an individual employment contract, concluded between a temporary employment agent and the temporary employee, for the duration of an assignment. Apart from the specific elements of any individual employment contract, the conditions under which the mission is to be carried out, its duration, the identity and headquarters of the user, as well as the amount and methods of remuneration of the temporary employee are also mentioned.

There is also the possibility of concluding a framework contract for an indefinite period between the temporary work agent and the employee. In this case, during the period between two missions, the temporary employee is at the disposal of the temporary work agent. A temporary work contract will be concluded for each new assignment.

The temporary work agent provides the user with an employee, employed by a temporary work contract, concluded in writing, which must include the following:

a) duration of the mission;
b) the specific characteristics of the position, in particular the necessary qualification, the place of execution of the mission, and the working schedule;
c) specific working conditions;
d) personal protective and work equipment that the temporary employee must use;
e) any other services and facilities in favor of the temporary employee;
f) the amount of the commission to which the temporary work agent benefits, as well as the remuneration to which the employee is entitled;
g) the conditions under which the user can refuse a temporary employee made available by a temporary work agent.

At the same time, the duration of a mission cannot be longer than 24 months, but it can be extended for successive periods which, added to the initial duration of the mission, cannot lead to exceeding 36 months. The assignment can be extended under the conditions stipulated in the temporary work contract or as provided in an additional act to this contract.

Who can be authorized as a temporary work agent

According to HG no. 1256/2011, only authorized legal entities can hire people to perform emporary work assignments for the benefit and at the request of a user.

To get the authorization to operate as temporary workers, legal entities must cumulatively meet the following conditions:

a) to be legal entities established according to the law and to have provided in the constitutive act as the main object of activity, "Contracting activities, temporarily, of personnel according to the CAEN code";
b) not to record debits to the state budget or local budgets;
c) not to appear in the records of the fiscal record with facts sanctioned by financial, and customs regulations, nor with those concerning financial discipline;
d) not to have been sanctioned, in the last 24 months before the date of formulating the authorization request, for violating the provisions of labor, commercial, and fiscal legislation; the contraventions regarding which there is an action before the courts will be taken into account only if by the date of the resolution of the authorization request a final and irrevocable court decision has been issued regarding them;
e) constitute the financial guarantee, in the amount of 25 gross minimum basic salaries per country, guaranteed in payment, to which are added the contributions owed by the employer to the state social insurance budget, the unemployment insurance budget, and the budget of the Single National Insurance Fund social health.

The authorization of temporary work agents is done by the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Protection, at the proposal of the territorial agencies for social benefits in whose territorial radius they are based.

How to pay the temporary employee

The temporary employee is defined by the Labor Code as a person who has a temporary work contract concluded with a temporary work agent and who can be made available to a user, natural, or legal person, based on a written contract.

During the temporary work assignment (the period in which the temporary employee is made available to the user to perform specific, temporary tasks), the temporary employee is remunerated by the temporary work agent. The salary received by the temporary employee for each assignment is determined by direct negotiation with the temporary work agent and cannot be lower than the minimum gross salary per country guaranteed in payment.

The temporary work agent is the one who withholds and transfers all the contributions and taxes owed by the temporary employee to the state budgets and pays for all the contributions owed under the law. At the same time, the agent is also the one who has the prerogative to take any disciplinary measures against the employee or to fire him, according to the provisions of the Labor Code.

If, within 15 calendar days from the date on which the obligations regarding salary payment and those regarding contributions and taxes became due and payable, and the temporary work agent does not execute them, they will be paid by the user, based on the request of the temporary employee.

It should be noted that temporary employees have access to all the services and facilities provided by the user, under the same conditions as his other employees. The user is obliged to provide the temporary employee with personal protective and work equipment, except in the case where the supply contract is the responsibility of the temporary work agent.

The salary received by the temporary employee for each assignment cannot be lower than that received by the user's employee, who performs the same or similar work as the temporary employee. To the extent that the user does not employ such an employee, the salary received by the temporary employee will be determined by taking into account the salary of a person employed with an individual employment contract and who performs the same or similar work, as established by the contract work collective applicable to the user.

Temporary employment agencies are obliged to keep records and register temporary employment contracts in the General Register of Employees.

Why opt for a temporary work agent?

Temporary work responds to needs or better said to problems that need to be solved urgently, that's why more and more companies choose to hire workers through a temporary work agent.

In terms of costs, the company opts for temporary work benefits, as labor costs become a variable expense that does not appear as a fixed cost on the company's balance sheets.

Also, through the temporary work contract, the risk of working long-term with unsuitable employees is reduced. If you realize that you are dealing with an unsuitable person, you can give up that employee, immediately after the end of the temporary work assignment.

Advantages regarding temporary work also exist for temporary employees, not only for companies that choose this way, and here we mean the situation where someone can thus find work much easier and has the opportunity to specialize in a certain activity. After finishing the temporary assignment, he has the opportunity to be helped again by the temporary work agent to find a new job.

The company that opts for such a form of employment concludes, in written form, a provision contract with the temporary work agent to be able to dispose of the employee hired through a temporary work contract. Thus, the employer is the temporary work agent, and the client company is only provided with the personnel it needs for a limited period of 24 months, with the possibility of an extension to a maximum of 36 months for an assignment.

What obligations does the user of temporary employees have?

In addition to the benefits derived from temporary work, users must also comply with several obligations regarding temporary employees, such as:

a) to inform temporary employees about all existing job vacancies, to ensure equal opportunities with other employees with individual employment contracts for an indefinite period with the user, to obtain a permanent job, by displaying a general announcement in a place accessible to all employees who work for that user;
b) to ensure the temporary employee access to the professional training courses he organizes for his employees;
c) to make available to employee representatives the information regarding the use of temporary employees, as part of the general information on employment;
d) to ensure temporary employees the same rights as those of employees employed with an individual employment contract with the user, conferred by the law, by the internal regulation or by the collective labor agreement applicable to the user, as well as by any other specific regulations applicable to the user;
e) to provide and present accurate and real information regarding the use of temporary employees when the unions or, as the case may be, the representatives of the employees, established according to the law, request the status of their staff.

In the situation where the temporary work agent concluded an individual work contract with the temporary employee for an indefinite period, in the periods between missions the employee has access to the existing facilities at the level of the temporary work agent, in terms of professional training and the legal provisions regarding the increase and child care.

Article published on https://www.smartree.com/articol/avantaje-contract-munca-temporara