The Assignment Changed. Did Your Temporary Workers Know?

A temporary worker arrives for their shift expecting to do the job they were briefed to do. Then something changes. The shift starts earlier than planned. The worker is moved to another area. Their duties are expanded. A new piece of equipment is introduced. A workplace procedure changes. The team begins working under a different process. To the manager who made the change, it may seem like a normal part of running a busy workplace. But for the person doing the job, even a small operational change can affect what they are expected to do, how they should do it and what they need to know before they begin.

This raises an important question for businesses using temporary workers: when the assignment changes, how quickly and clearly does that information reach the worker? Temporary staffing is often built around flexibility. Businesses use agency workers because their workforce requirements can change with demand, seasonal pressures, staff absences, new contracts or changing operational priorities. That flexibility can be valuable, but it should not mean that temporary workers are expected to simply adapt without being properly informed. If the work changes, the communication around the work needs to change too.

The Assignment Is More Than a Start Date

When an agency worker is offered an assignment, they should receive information about the work, location, hours, likely duration, health and safety risks and any experience, training or qualifications required for the role. Government guidance states that agency workers should receive assignment details for each position they are offered. This is important because an assignment is not simply a person turning up at a workplace. It creates an understanding of the work the person is being asked to perform and the conditions under which they are expected to perform it.

If those circumstances change, employers and agencies need to consider whether the worker has been given the information necessary to understand the new situation. Imagine a warehouse that brings in ten temporary workers to pick and pack customer orders during a busy period. Halfway through the assignment, the warehouse introduces a new scanning system and changes the picking process. Permanent employees receive a briefing because they are already part of the regular team, but the temporary workers are simply told to follow what everyone else is doing. The business may believe it has communicated the change, but the workers may not have received enough information to understand what has changed, why the process is different or what they are now expected to do.

When the Work Changes, Communicate the Change

One of the simplest ways to reduce avoidable problems is to make sure people know what has changed, why it has changed and what is expected of them. Acas guidance on agreed workplace changes recommends making sure affected workers understand what the change is, why it has been introduced, when and how it will take effect, how long it will last where relevant, what is expected of them and who they can speak to if they have questions or concerns. While the precise legal requirements will depend on the nature of the change and the worker's employment relationship, the management principle is useful for temporary staffing: do not make workers guess what has changed.

If the start time changes, communicate it. If the location changes, communicate it. If the duties change, explain what is different. If a new procedure is introduced, provide the relevant information or training. If the change affects health and safety, make sure the worker receives the information and instruction necessary to carry out the work safely. Acas states that while an agency worker is on assignment, the hiring organisation is responsible for directing their work. That makes the hirer's role particularly important when the day-to-day reality of an assignment changes.

A Change in Duties Can Create a Training Issue

Consider a manufacturing business that initially brings in temporary workers for packaging duties. A few weeks later, staffing shortages mean that two of those workers are asked to assist with another production process. The manager knows the process well, and the permanent members of the team know it because they have been working with it for months. The temporary workers, however, do not have the same background. If they are simply told to help in another area without receiving the necessary information, instruction or supervision, the business has created a gap between the task being assigned and the preparation needed to perform it properly.

Training should follow the work. When duties change significantly, employers should ask whether the worker has the knowledge, instruction, training and supervision necessary for the new task. This becomes particularly important where the change introduces new equipment, machinery, hazardous substances, manual-handling requirements or other workplace risks. For agency workers, government guidance places responsibility for their health and safety with the hirer. A temporary worker should therefore not be expected to rely on observation or guesswork when the work they have been asked to perform requires specific knowledge or instruction.

The Agency and Hirer Need to Stay Connected

Good communication with the temporary worker starts with good communication between the hirer and the agency. A hirer may change the number of workers required, the shift pattern, the location, the nature of the work or the expected duration of an assignment. If the agency is not informed, the worker may receive outdated information or arrive expecting conditions that no longer apply. Government guidance on the Conduct Regulations recognises the importance of information being exchanged between employment businesses and hirers when assignments are arranged.

This makes the agency-hirer relationship more than an administrative arrangement. It is part of the communication chain that supports the assignment. A strong process should make it clear:

Who tells the agency when an assignment changes.
Which changes require updated assignment information.
Who communicates the change to the worker.
Who confirms any new health and safety requirements.
Who provides additional training or induction where necessary.

Without clear ownership, important information can easily fall between the agency and the hirer, leaving the worker to discover the change after they have already started the job. For more on getting that relationship right, see our guide to creating an effective agency partnership.

Not Every Change Is the Same

It is also important not to treat every operational adjustment as though it has the same legal or contractual effect. Moving a worker from one workstation to another may be very different from changing their core duties. Asking someone to work a different shift may raise different considerations from changing the location of a meeting. Introducing a new safety procedure may require a different response from changing the way a team records completed tasks. The appropriate response depends on the circumstances, the worker's contractual arrangements, the nature of the assignment and the relevant legal requirements.

For that reason, employers should avoid a blanket approach to changes involving temporary workers. Instead, when a change is proposed, managers should ask what exactly has changed, who is affected, whether the change alters the assignment or working conditions, whether the worker needs new information or training, whether the agency needs to be informed and whether anything needs to be documented or confirmed. These questions do not have to create unnecessary bureaucracy. They simply create a moment for the employer to consider whether everyone affected by the change has been properly brought into the conversation.

What Happens When Workers Are Not Told?

Imagine a logistics company changes its loading procedure overnight. Permanent staff are briefed during the morning meeting, but temporary workers arrive later and are sent directly to the loading area. One temporary worker follows the previous procedure because that is the process they were originally shown. A supervisor becomes frustrated and tells the worker that they are not following instructions. Before treating the situation as a performance problem, however, the employer should ask a more basic question: was the worker actually given the new instruction?

That distinction matters. Performance management should not begin with the assumption that a worker deliberately ignored a requirement when the real issue may have been inadequate communication or training. Employers should establish whether the worker knew about the requirement, understood it and had been given the necessary instruction or support. Clear communication therefore does more than improve the worker experience. It can also help managers distinguish between a genuine performance issue and a problem created by the organisation's own communication process.

What Should Hirers Do When an Assignment Changes?

Employers using temporary workers can build a straightforward process around five practical steps:

Identify exactly what has changed, rather than relying on vague instructions.
Consider the impact of the change on duties, hours, location, equipment, safety, training or other working conditions.
Inform the agency where the change affects the assignment information or the agency's responsibilities.
Brief the worker directly and make sure they understand the new expectations, rather than assuming that information will reach them through colleagues.
Record important changes, instructions and training where appropriate, so that the worker, manager and agency have a clear reference point.

This does not mean that every small workplace adjustment needs a lengthy formal process. The response should be proportionate to the change. But the more significant the change, the more important it becomes to make sure the right people have been informed and supported. A few minutes spent clarifying a new process can be far more useful than dealing with avoidable mistakes after the work has already begun.

Flexibility Works Better When Communication Keeps Pace

Temporary staffing gives businesses the ability to respond to changing operational needs. That flexibility is valuable, but it works best when communication moves at the same speed as the change. A worker cannot respond effectively to an instruction they never received, follow a procedure they were never shown or meet an expectation that was never clearly explained. Equally, managers cannot fairly assess performance if they have not first established that the worker understood the requirements of the job.

The goal is therefore not to eliminate change from temporary assignments. In many workplaces, that would be unrealistic. The goal is to make sure that when the work changes, the information, support and expectations change with it. A temporary worker who was properly briefed when they started should not automatically be assumed to understand every change that happens weeks later. You can read more about how better worker communication improves shift fulfilment.

Responsible Staffing Means Staying in the Conversation

The first shift is not the end of the conversation. Temporary workers may remain with an organisation for days, weeks or months, and the workplace around them can change during that time. Good workforce management means keeping them informed when those changes affect their work and making sure they have the appropriate information, training and support to perform their role. For a wider view of your legal obligations, see the employment laws UK employers using temporary workers cannot afford to ignore.

For employers, one useful question is simple: "If the assignment changed today, would our temporary workers know exactly what changed, what is expected of them and where to get help?" If the answer is unclear, there may be an opportunity to strengthen the process.

Responsible staffing is not only about getting the right person through the door. It is about making sure they have the right information to do the job once they are there.

References

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