FAQ

FOR EMPLOYEES

Who pays me for the work I do, and when will I get paid?
     - The employer will usually pay you directly, and often at the end of the day. Helping Hands recruitment tends to function only as an intermediary. Only in rare occasions will an employer pay us directly, then we pay you.

Why do I need to pay an administration fee?
     - There are two reasons why Helping Hands Recruitment charges a fee. Firstly it ensures we only get interest from genuine committed people, otherwise we would receive endless CV's and spend more time chasing down people than delivering work. Secondly, the cost covers a complete background check - we contact your references and make sure everything is above board.

Can you guarantee I will get work through Helping Hands?
    - While there is no guarantee, we constantly and tirelessly strive to deliver what we promise - work for all who want it. We are an agency and would not exist without delivering good on our aims.

Do I need any special qualifications or experience?
    - This depends on the job and employer. In some cases yes, in others specific qualifications are desirable but not necessary. We also receive work which is manual in nature but requires nothing more than a strong back. We endeavour to offer as many roles, with as much variety, as possible.

Do I get paid travel expenses, meal breaks etc?
    - These are entirely up to the employer (subject to UK Employment Law). Often our employers are after a 'till the job's done' approach, this could include working 6hrs straight, or could include multiple tea breaks.

Who handles Income Tax, National Insurance and so on?
    - You are responsible for declaring any instances that need to be reported to the relevant authority, be that HMRC, or local authority if you are in receipt of benefits. Helping Hands acts solely as a third party to all arrangements and as such does not keep data on individuals incomes.


FOR EMPLOYERS

How much notice do I need to give when hiring from Helping Hands?
    - We have people who are ready and available with only a couple of hours notice, but generally speaking the more notice the better is always the best choice. All our candidates are vetted when they register, one detail we note is their availability and time needed for notice.

Who is responsible for paying the employees wage, and how is it handled?
    - You as the employer are directly responsible for paying any employee we send to you. Any related tax/insurance is also your responsibility. In some occasions we can act as intermediary and accept payment directly from yourself before passing it to the employee. We find it is better to allow these matters to be handled by you though. You can pay the employee at any time but we recommend this is done upon completion of the day/allocated time period, while you are still face to face with the employee.

I was very happy with the service from one employee, can I hire that person again?
    - Yes. We endeavour to cater to your exact needs by providing the best choice candidate for the work at hand. Where possible we can provide the same candidate on future requests assuming they are still registered and active with us.

How can you guarantee an employee will be up to the task I need?
    - We screen and vet every person who registers with us. This includes background checks, qualifications  and references. We work with the information you provide to ensure we get a perfect match.

I need somebody for longer than a couple of days, can you provide that?
    - While we do specialise with short-term work commitments we can provide candidates for longer work periods. If this work is longer than a week in length, or is regular in booking, we may also be able to offer a discount on our rates.

Are all your staff vetted, and by whom?
    - Helping Hand Recruitment is operated and ran by 'Athene Services'. A branch of Athene is 'Advanced Security and Investigation'. It is this branch that handles all background checks and obtains the information and checks qualifications and references on all staff registered with Helping Hand. All information is collected, and all staff vetted, by security professionals with over 9 years experience in the security industry.