A staffing solution to ease peak season retail challenges

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Firstly, you need the right resources at the right time with the right skills for the job. Secondly, you need to ensure contracts with staff are correctly implemented otherwise you run the risk of having to employ seasonal staff on a permanent basis, a costly exercise that could cripple any business.

For example, according to the Labour Relations Act, when you contract staff you need to attach a justifiable reason for entering into a fixed-term contract should you employ the person for more than three months. Any additional seasonal resources need to explicitly state this in their employment contract, and the reasons why otherwise they can be considered permanent staff.

Failure to contract correctly could result in organisations being involved as parties to CCMA disputes, or having to carry staff they cannot afford. The other alternative is to retrench staff at the end of the season which is also a costly and potentially risky exercise.

In addition, you could potentially end up paying more for your flexi and seasonal staff than you need to.

Benefits of temporary employment services

Considering the depressed state of the economy, no business can afford to compromise on service delivery, nor can they afford to carry extra staff that they do not require. Making use of temporary employment services (TES) from a reputable and experienced provider is the ideal solution.

A TES provider will handle all of the administrative aspects of finding and allocating appropriately skilled and vetted employees. TES providers also specialise in temporary employment and can ensure that contracts are correctly in place. They have large pools of staff to draw from to ensure that you can scale your staffing dynamically as required, and they also absorb all of the risk of the temporary employment environment.

For employment candidates, being part of a TES can also be hugely beneficial for a number of reasons. TES providers have multiple clients with different peak times, so there is potential for ongoing employment outside of the summer season. In addition, TES providers offer a variety of jobs with training, so candidates can upskill themselves in many areas, making them more employable on a permanent basis.

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Essentially a TES takes over all of the human resources (HR) aspects of providing temporary staff for the seasonal peak, including recruitment, vetting, induction and onboarding. This removes the complexity and simply ensures that all areas of the retail chain, from manufacturing to warehousing, logistics to outlets, have the additional staff they need.

Organisations across the retail sector can focus on their core business while receiving peace of mind that they have sufficient staff with the right skills to cater for extra demand in season.