Contingent Workforce Staffing
A contingent workforce is a labor pool whose members are hired by an organization on an on-demand basis. A contingent workforce consists of freelancers, independent contractors, and consultants who are not on the company’s direct payroll because they are not full-time employees of the organization.
Organizations can hire a contingent worker directly or from a staffing agency. They work either onsite or remotely. They generally receive fewer (if any) benefits and less pay than full-time workers, according to the USA Department of Labor, and are less likely to be protected by labor and employment laws.
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All companies have unique processes for scheduling, tracking, managing, and paying their contract workers.
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Unfortunately, for most organizations, these processes are fragmented and disjointed across many different departments. This can lead to miscommunication, extra administrative effort, duplication, wasted time, and a higher risk of error—especially when they’re handled manually.
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Contingent workers are temporary employees, such as contractors, freelancers, agency workers, and consultants.
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Freelancers and contractors often enjoy higher job satisfaction as they have the flexibility and choice as to when, where and how they work. However, behind the advantages of hiring, contingent workers lie a few challenges, namely the hiring and screening process.
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According to our Background Screening Trends and Best Practices 2016 report, just 53% of organizations screen their contingent workforce, compared to the 91% that perform checks on full-time, salaried employees.
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The latest employment data from the Office for National Statistics show 71,000 self-employed workers in Q1 2017 raising the number of contingent workers to over 4.61 million, while the amount of people working in the public sector continues to decline.
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Figures released in 2016 by the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) revealed that the number of vacancies for contract work was exceeding those for permanent roles, particularly in the finance/accounting and IT industries.
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The temporary or contractor worker sector of the economy is growing at a rapid rate and will have an effect on the economy and political system in The States for many decades to come.
Well, the term does not have a set standardized meaning; it is an umbrella term that describes many different types of employment scenarios, including:
Independent Contractors
Such types of workers are self-employed and provide specialized skills on a contract basis with little to no control by the hiring company.
Temporary Employees
Such workers are provided by a staffing firm to a specific company for a limited period on a fill-in basis or for a finite project.
Leased Employees
These workers are also provided by a staffing firm to a specific company to fill positions on a long term basis. These employees are not “permanent,” but their employment is for a longer-term than typical temporary workers.
Professional Employer Organization (“PEO”)
In this employment situation, all or most of an employer’s workers are hired by the employer but then co-employed by the PEO, which assumes the employer’s responsibility for employment taxes, benefit plans, and other human resources related obligations.
Human Resources Outsourcing (“HRO”)
In this employment, human resources functions are assigned to an outside agency. The HRO agency does not assume the role of an employer in this model.