Remember health insurance? Paid vacations? How about sick days and holidays? Or retirement plans? I can still imagine them—vaguely.
Yes, it's true that you may give up some of the usual benefits when you opt for temping. This need not be as grim as it seems, however, since temporary employment is a transitional situation for most people (ranging from a few weeks to two or three years). Company-sponsored benefits are generally available for the majority of their working life. It is the temping period which is of primary concern for maintaining benefit coverage. There are options.
Temps who are interested in working long-term may qualify for some of these benefits through their agency:
Group medical and hospitalization plans. Many agencies offer programs that you can pay into on a long-term or short-term basis. The requirement is that you must first work for a prescribed number of hours or days. Thirty days is average.
Holiday and vacation pay. Again, these are contingent upon the accrual of a prescribed number of hours. Usually this involves working twelve weeks or more over a four-month period, or a check equal to one week's salary if you work nine months out of one year. (The catch is that you have to put in the allotted number of hours with one agency to get the benefits)
Incentive bonuses.
Cash bonuses. Sometimes available to temps who have received several outstanding reports from clients. Also, the Recommend-a-Friend Program (available through most agencies) offers cash rewards to temps who get a friend to sign up.
Stock-option plans. Some agencies offer their publicly traded stock at a discount rate to temps.
Free skills courses. Classes in computer and administrative skills are available through a number of temporary service offices.
A few agencies offer day-care provision and direct-deposit check systems. Others offer same-week pay. I'm sorry to say that I have so far not heard of an agency awarding paid sick days or retirement plans.
In addition, temporary workers are covered by Workers' Compensation, as required by law. They are also eligible for unemployment insurance benefits, whether they are working through an agency or on direct contract with a company. The rules for eligibility vary from state to state and are detailed in the Employment Security Act booklet for your state, which is generally available at your local library. Contact your temporary service or state unemployment insurance office for further information.
But you say that you don't work through an agency? What benefits are possible? Admittedly, this is a little trickier. In this case, you have to make your own benefits by seeking out alternatives.
Be creative:
- Check out group forms of health insurance that are available on an individual basis.
- If you have just ended a permanent job, find out if you can remain on the company's insurance program for a period of time. Usually this is an option when you are willing to pay a certain amount on a monthly or quarterly basis.
- If you're married to someone who has a permanent job, you can probably "ride" on his or her medical insurance program. Most health plans for permanent employees include provisions for spouses and dependents.
- Open CD or IRA plans at the bank, and research investment in low-risk stocks or money markets in preparation for retirement.
Take a different perspective:
- Remember that if your connection with a particular business is direct, you are probably charging a higher hourly rate than you would receive through an agency. This may somewhat balance out the errant perks.
- Consider the fact that benefits don't necessarily have to be monetary. For example, flexibility and variety are among the benefits of temping.
This last point is particularly important because agencies report that flexibility and variety are the two main reasons why people do temporary work. Thus, many temps do, in fact, regard them as benefits. Of course, these two qualities won't satisfy the best interests of everyone. In this case, a permanent job will most likely be your safest bet.
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