Candidate FAQs

As well as our registered office in Kings Hill, near Maidstone we interview and place candidates all over the county as well as neighbouring borders.

In addition to offering competitive rates of pay and up to 24 days holiday pay a year, there are incentives such as a referral scheme where you can earn up to £50 if you recommend a placed candidate to KTT. We are also active in rewarding our candidates during National Temp Week and have regular “temp of the month” awards. Social events and regular meetings with your consultants are available.

Make sure all the key attributes are in place, such as IT skills, presentation and communication skills along with enthusiasm. A good CV will open the doors to begin with, so it is important to ensure this is perfect. Your CV should be concise (no more than 2-3 pages) and easy to read with your skills and experience highlighted.

When you get to meet the consultant, this is your opportunity to make an impression. Keep in contact with your consultant. Call every few days to remind them of your availability.

You are advised to keep in regular contact with your consultant, particularly while we are looking for a placement for you. Your consultant will also regularly contact you to give supervision and to answer any questions you may have. They can also advise you of any training incentives on offer.

We offer short, medium and long-term placements as well as permanent roles.

Yes. KTT like to interview all of our candidates face-to-face. This helps us to ensure that we place you in the right position. For medium to longer-term placements, some of our clients also like to interview a selected number of candidates we put forward.

For permanent placements, where possible, we will see you face-to-face, but sometimes we may prefer to simply speak with you at length over the telephone.

Your consultant will brief you thoroughly prior to interviews. We will give you as much information as possible about the position and the company. Where possible, you will be sent the link to the company’s website where you should be able to find out more detail.

Payment for temporary workers is made on a weekly basis, one week in arrears, via the BACS system directly into your bank or building society when you submit a timesheet for the hours that you have worked. At registration you will be asked to complete a bank form showing your account for payment. If you change your bank details, you MUST complete a new form. You can download this form from our website here (opens in new window).

Payday is on Friday and your timesheet must be received by:

Careworkers: 12.00 Thursday
Interpreters: 08.00 Monday
All others: 17.00 Friday

If at any time you have a query or comment please contact any of our payroll staff who will be pleased to help you. Our contact details are:

Telephone Number: 01622 605043
Fax Number: 01732 221469
Email: accounts@kenttoptemps.co.uk

Timesheets are either emailed to you at the time of your registration for you to print out each week and complete, or where the type of work requires duplicated timesheets, these are sent weekly with payslips. For non-duplicated time sheets, these can also be downloaded from our website.

Yes, holiday is provided for all PAYE workers (based on 37 hours per week to a maximum of 24 days pro rata). If you work shift patterns your consultant will be able to explain the calculation of holiday pay to you at registration.

You can request a form from your consultant or download a copy from the website here (opens in new window). You should notify us on the form of any periods which you wish to take as holiday. This should be read in conjunction with your Contract for Services.

The notice you give us of your intention to take holiday MUST be at least twice as long as the period of holiday you wish to take, i.e. if you want to take 3 days paid holiday you must give us at least 6 working days notice.

Holiday pay will be calculated on the basis of rates paid during a client’s normal working hours (i.e. those which do not attract overtime rates of pay) and will be pro rata according to the average weekly hours you have worked in the holiday year prior to your period of holiday.

In certain circumstances, where your request is unreasonable to the Client, for example if the client determines the maximum amount of holiday that you can take on any one occasion and also the periods when holiday may be taken, we may give you a counter-notice to postpone or reduce the amount of holiday that you wish to take. In such circumstances, we will inform you in writing giving you at least the same length of notice as the period of holiday that has been requested. When working on a placement for Kent County Council, this particularly applies during August and March in each year.

This will be shown at the bottom of your pay slip in hours. The average hours per day are 7.4 hours.

The Working Time Regulations do not entitle a worker to carry holiday over into the following holiday year. Neither may unused holiday be replaced with payment in lieu except where employment is terminated. The holiday year is 1st April until 31st March.

We aim to get all of our temporary staff onto the correct tax code as quickly as possible. If you are in possession of the tax form P45, hand it to your KTT consultant as soon as possible after registration. If you do not have a P45, then we will provide you with a form P46 for your completion. You may be taxed at a higher rate until we have been notified by the tax office your correct tax code which will subsequently adjusted.

If you are a student we will provide you with a form P38. This will exempt you from paying tax during school holidays or until you reach the single persons tax threshold. If you are starting your first employment since leaving full time education, we will provide you with a form P46. If eligible, this signed declaration will authorise our payroll department not to tax you until you have reached your earnings threshold.

If you pay reduced National Insurance contributions, please let us have your Certificate of Election. If you are over retirement age (60 years for women and 65 years for men), please let your consultant have your Certificate of Exemption.

Statutory Sick pay may be payable if the following criteria is met:

• You must have a contract with us to perform work personally (i.e. a contract for services)
• The contract must be in existence at the time you are sick i.e. you must be currently working on an assignment. A contract for services only exists for the duration of the assignment, so if an assignment ends before you fall sick or your illness arises between assignments you will not be liable for SSP.
• You must earn more than £79 a week.
• You must have been engaged on the assignment or a series of assignments for at least 13 weeks (the weeks worked need not be consecutive but may be separated by up to 8 week breaks between assignments. If assignments are more than 8 weeks apart, the period of continuity will be broken).
• You must be sick for at least 4 or more calendar days in a row, including weekends, and will be eligible for SSP if you are unable to work on at least 4 “qualifying days” which are only those days on which you are required to work. Please note, SSP is not payable for the first three qualifying days in any period of entitlement. These are called ‘waiting days’. SSP is only payable from the fourth qualifying day onwards.
• You must provide evidence of incapacity for work e.g. self-certification for 4th to 7th days, obtainable from this office and a doctor’s certificate thereafter. Such documents should be forwarded to this office as soon as possible and marked for the attention of the Accounts Department.
• You must be under 65.
• You cannot claim SSP and receive maternity allowance, invalidity pension, or sickness benefit at the same time.

You are not required to tell us whether you are pregnant, but depending on the area of work, for Health & Safety a risk assessment may be required. However, you may be entitled to receive Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) via KTT and late notification of your pregnancy could affect your right to Statutory Maternity Pay. To qualify for SMP, you have to meet a number of conditions.

You may be entitled to SPP if you have the responsibility for your baby's upbringing and you are either:

• the baby's biological father
• the mother's husband or partner - including a female partner in a same sex couple

Where a couple adopts a child, the partner, male or female, who's not claiming Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) may be able to claim SP. As an agency worker not an employee you are not entitled to rights associated with Paternity Leave. You will be entitled to SPP if you have average earnings at least equal to the NICs lower limited (£90 a week or £390 a month for 2008/9).

You should tell us that you will be looking to take paternity pay by the 15th week before the date the baby is due, or within 7 days of the date you were told there had been a match with a child. You must give us 28 days notice of when you wish for your SPP to start.

• You must have been continuously working through us for at least 26 weeks as at the 15th week before your expected week of childbirth (EWC). This is irrespective of the number of hours worked. The 15th week is known as the Qualifying Week (QW) and can be calculated by counting back from the start of the EWC. Therefore, your employment must have commenced before the Sunday that begins the 40th week before the EWC. Also, your employment must extend into the QW although you do not need to be employed for the whole of that week.
• Your average weekly earnings for the eight weeks up to and including the QW must not be less than the lower earnings limit for the payment of National Insurance contributions, which applied in the QW. This currently equates to £79.00 a week.
• You must still be pregnant at the 11th week before the expected week of childbirth or have had the baby by that time.
• You must give KTT Accounts Dept at least 21 days notice of your plan to start your Maternity Leave. Medical evidence must be provided of the due date of the baby (i.e. the expected week of childbirth), this will normally be on form Mat B1 (maternity certificate).
• You cannot work at the same time as receiving SMP.
• If you leave before the start of your Qualifying Week or leave voluntarily for reasons unconnected with your pregnancy after the start of the Qualifying Week, you cannot receive SMP from us.
• If you do not meet the qualifying conditions, as your employer KTT can confirm this by issuing Form SMP1 to you. You will need this document, as well as the MatB1, if you intend to claim maternity allowance from the Department of Social Security/Benefits Agency.

If you meet the above criteria (you can check the dates with us), SMP is payable for a period of 18 weeks (this is know as the Maternity Pay Period (MPP). SMP cannot start earlier than the 11th week before the due date of the baby nor later than the week immediately following childbirth.

These regulations have implemented the European Working Time Directive into UK law. The regulations are primarily health and safety legislations, which are intended to protect workers from the risks that arise from working excessively long hours or for long periods without breaks. The Regulations provide that all workers should be entitled to:

• a maximum average working week (inclusive of overtime) of not more than 48 hours (the averaging period to be 17 weeks or longer in some cases).
• a 20 minute rest break where the working day is longer than 6 hours [30 minutes rest in the case of young workers**].
• a minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours in each 24 hour period [12 hours rest in the case of young workers].
• a minimum of 24 hours rest every 7 days (or 48 hours every 14 days) [48 hours rest in every 7 days in the case of young workers]. This rest period does not have to be or include a Sunday.
• a restriction of 8 hours night work in every 24 hour period, the restriction of 8 hours to be averaged except where the work involves special hazards or heavy physical or mental strain in which case it can never exceed 8 hours
• free health assessments [and capacities assessments in the case of young worker] prior to workers being assigned to night work and at regular intervals thereafter.
• 4 weeks paid holiday, which can be taken upon accrual of the necessary holiday entitlement through hours worked. No opting out of the holiday provision. No carrying over of holidays from one holiday year to the next and no payments in lieu except on "termination of employment".
• protection through the Employment Tribunals (the new Industrial Tribunals) from suffering detrimental treatment or dismissal by the employer for taking entitlements under the Regulations.
• All "employers" under the Regulations are required to keep records to show that they have complied with their obligations.

Note ** Young workers are workers who have reached the age of 15 but not yet attained the age of 18.

We will do our best to deal with your complaints as soon as we receive them. You can contact your consultant or the General Manager directly by e-mail helen.lock@kenttoptemps.co.uk. Alternatively, you can reach us by mail using the following contact information:

General Manager,
Kent Top Temps Ltd,
Gibson Drive,
Kings Hill,
West Malling,
Kent. ME19 4QG

We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days and provide a likely timescale for resolving the dispute and keep you informed about the progress of your complaint in accordance with our complaints policy. Please include as much information as possible with your complaint.

All your complaints will be kept confidential and dealt with fairly, effectively and promptly in accordance with our policy, a copy of which you will have at registration.