Circumstances vary, but usually the worker who is supplied will be under your control but paid by the agency. Your contract will be with the agency only, to which you pay a fee. For example, you may find that it's helpful to use an agency secretary to cover when your permanent secretary is ill or on holiday.

Some types of business use agency workers on a more permanent basis. For example, if you run a nursing home you may prefer to use an agency to supply your nursing staff needs.

Pros and cons

If you use agency staff, it's likely that much of the basic administration of recruitment, such as advertising and chasing up references, has been done for you by the agency. You'll usually not need to deal with payroll and related issues either. You'll still have to pay the agency but you may be able to make a single payment to cover several agency workers.

Agency workers may help you fill temporary skills gaps, staff absences or labour shortages. They may also be useful in areas where there tend to be high staff turnovers.

However, the status of agency workers in employment law depends very much on the particular employment circumstances, as do your legal responsibilities as an employer of agency staff.

And in all cases you still have responsibilities for agency workers' health and safety. See our guide on how to operate a health, safety and environment policy.

Remember too that you should avoid discrimination against anyone who carries out work for you, whether they are employed by you or self-employed. See our guide on how to prevent discrimination and value diversity.

Find out about recruiting agency workers in our guide to recruiting and interviewing.