Recruit a temporary worker

To deliver effective services, we need appropriate staffing. Where possible you should use staff directly employed within the organisation to provide these services. There may be occasions when you need to use additional temporary staff.   

Temporary workers may be:
  • permanent staff at risk of redundancy
  • employed on fixed or temporary contracts
  • agency workers
  • independent contractors
  • senior interims or consultants 

Before you recruit

Before recruiting any temporary workers (whether provided by an agency or not), your business case must be approved by Recruitment Request approval

Redeployed staff

The council is best supported by people who are employed, trained and supervised on direct employment contracts with us.

Where a temporary position is expected to last for 6 months or more, you should consider the use of staff who are listed on the redeployment register, where they possess the appropriate skills.

Please see our Redeployment procedure (MS Word, 71KB).

Fixed term/temporary contracts

Where there are no suitable candidates on the Redeployment Register, you should consider fixed term or temporary contracts for such posts. Full details are on BW Unit 4 Recruitment.

Agency workers

When the requirement for temporary workers cannot be foreseen, or the need is for less than 6 months, you should use temporary agency workers. They can be engaged for any period of time ranging from a few hours to several weeks or months, depending on the specific work requirements.  

The use of agency workers should not be a long term staffing solution. The manager employing agency workers should review their staffing requirements on a regular basis.
 
More information can be found on the agency workers page

Senior interims/contractors

 
You may need to engage a consultant or a contractor to undertake a particular piece of work, or a Senior Interim to perform a specific role.
IR35 Legislation will determine whether you should use Comensura with Bloom. 

Re-employment of previous employees

Former Cheshire East/Legacy Authority employees who left their employment on grounds of voluntary redundancy will not be re-employed or re-engaged in any capacity, including via a recruitment agency or an agency supplying temporary workers, except in truly exceptional circumstances, and subject to the agreement of the Head of Strategic HR. 

Last reviewed: 26 September 2025
Page contact: Gaynor Steele