The number of industries that are increasingly reliant on large temporary workforces is significant. Research by the TUC showed the number of UK temporary staff rose by 89,000 in the two years to the end of 2012, to 1.6 million. Inevitably the number has continued to grow since. But do your temporary staff receive the same kind of checks given to permanent workers, or do they leave you open to potentially damaging non-compliance issues?
Minor issues include things like recruitment agencies not providing key information or evidence about workers, such as references. More serious issues include counterfeit right to work documents and other fraud which has to be escalated and reported to the appropriate powers. 
If you’re a hirer of temporary staff you need to be sure that workers or the recruiters supplying them are not exposing your organisation to unacceptable risk that could impact you or damage customer relationships.
There are various key areas to consider, and some recent changes which are complicating the compliance landscape. The basics are checking the validity of key employment documents such as right to work, visas for non-UK nationals, proof of identification and references.
Any sector employing temporary drivers need to check the validity of licenses, especially for rarer licence categories required for specific roles. The abolition of paper driving licenses has also created extra challenges as candidates can no longer use these as appropriate evidence.
Not only is the number of temporary staff entering the workplace growing, so are the requirements for compliance checks.
For help with this or any other HR matter please contact the ProAktive HR team on 01302 341344.
By Louise Addison Dip Mgmt (Open) Assoc CIPD – HR Business Partner.