Tim Hill, managing director, Speedscreen
We often use casual labour and sometimes on a large collation job, we would employ up to 20 staff at a time, but we will always use a recognised agency. It is the only way we would consider it. This way, the costs are of course higher, but I couldn’t contemplate the repercussions of employing illegal labour for jobs. The agency workers are often from overseas and they are jolly good workers, especially the eastern Europeans. We have subsequently employed one or two full time as a result of that.

Nigel Crook, managing director, NJ Bindery Consultants
If you employ temporary workers the best way to do it is through an agency. They supply the staff for you, they do the checks, so you don’t have to worry about illegal employees because they take that risk for you. Of course, you do end up paying for it. Personally, I prefer to pay overtime to existing staff. It isn’t very cost-effective against buying labour, because you are paying time and a half when casual labour can often cost less than paying normal time. But the last time I had casual labour in doing hand work, I had a team of agency workers and a team of my staff and my staff produced a third more.

Sidney Bobb, chairman,BAPC
Printers must help themselves when it comes to hiring a seasonal workforce. They need to ensure that the documentation is true and correct and that they carry out all the usual checks thoroughly. This includes checking that National Insurance details are correct and, importantly, it should also include calling references to check the person is who they say they are. This is not the sort of thing a printer will get help on if they don’t ask. However, more often than not, it will work out well, especially at SME printers where the new member of staff is often somebody that knows someone already working for the company.

Richard Pullan,managing director, Kingsway Printers
We always make sure that we go through a thorough recruitment process when taking on new staff. We ask for references and copies of official documents, such as their drivers’ licenses. You have to do the job properly as the repercussions are simply not worth it. All application forms have to be completed properly and we make sure to interview all applicants in house. As we don’t take on casual labour, we tend to advertise locally or take on people recommended by word of mouth from nearby companies. You have to be thorough as it’s the best way to do things.