Agency to permanent.

[Rowgtfc72]

Have worked in an agency position for four years come October. It's a zero hours contract but i am getting 39 hrs a week every week. In this time no positions have become permanent.

Friday i find out five staff are being taken on on my shift. One has done eight years as agency, one seven, one five, one two and the last one hasn't even worked there a year. I haven't been offered a permanent contract. Three of these people have additional skills to offer. The other two work on the shop floor like me.
Firstly, Would I be within my rights to ask why I haven't been taken on and secondly, should these jobs have been advertised.

Feeling much aggrieved as i am now the only English agency worker left ,with three years experience on anyone else!

[PuffinNose]

Are the new staff permanent?
No harm in asking your boss and agency why you haven't been given a permanent job.
I think it's fairly common for agency staff to be taken on permantely without the jobs being advertised.
You've already said 3 have additional skills. You don't know that the others don't. You also said 3 have been there longer than you.
As an agency worker you need to keep on at your agency if you want permanent/other work otherwise they'll forget about you. It could be that your boss told the agency they wanted permanent staff and your colleagues have been asking the agency for this so they were put forward. Have you been pestering your agency?
Not sure what being English has to do with anything though.

[PuffinNose]

That's all a bit jumbled. Sorry.

[CotswoldStrife]

Jobs do not need to be advertised.

If you want to ask why you were not offered a permanent post, I'd start with the agency - you could mention to your line manager in work that you were surprised to hear that the other agency staff have been offered permanent posts and that you'd love to work for them (if that is true!) but bear in mind that they don't have to justify their hiring decisions if they don't want to so you may not get the answer that you are looking for.

From what you've said, there are still agency workers there but they have only been there about a year or less. They haven't taken all the agency workers on but I can appreciate that not being one of the ones that they offered a job to - especially as you have been there so long - is a disappointment to say the least.

[Rowgtfc72]

Puffin, I work for a polish recruitment agency. Everyone else now is polish or Romanian. Communication with the agency is at times difficult depending on who you get on the end of the phone and how well they speak English.

I have been core crew for three of these four years. There were eight of us. There were redundancies in Nov and many staff were laid off. Core crew agency kept everything ticking over.
One of those taken on is idle, no line supervisor picks them. His dad works there. Another is much less skilled than me. He also has relatives work in there. I am more skilled than one of the other's but they have worked there longer.

I have to have a reinduction on Wed. (Happens every two years)Two of those taken on will not be attending as they haven't served enough time.

I spent Friday with everyone asking me why I haven't been taken on. I feel a right Muppet.

Thanks for your replies.

[user1495915742]

Well that sounds a bit shit.

Are there no other jobs/employers where you are?

[Rowgtfc72]

Lots of factories. All agency work. I thought length of service would stand me in good stead for a job.

Dd is year seven next Sept so I can look for slightly more sociable hours elsewhere then. Just would have been nice to have a permanent job for a year.

[daisychain01]

Firstly, Would I be within my rights to ask why I haven't been taken on and secondly, should these jobs have been advertised

Nothing to stop you asking. In the 3.5 years leading up to this point (when the other staff were made permanent ahead of you), how often did you ask your employers to be made permanent? Were they fully aware that permanent status was important to you?

They should have been more fair in making all staff aware there was permanent headcount up for grabs, as it clearly gives staff more employment rights and security over time. You'd have a stronger case if you can express it in terms of "I am disappointed that I wasn't offered permanent status, as you know I made you aware on several occasions during our 1:1 meetings that I wanted to be made permanent".

If you never made it known, your case won't be as strong, but you could still express your concern. The big "but" in all this is that if you are planning to leave in the next year for family reasons, it seems pointless making an issue out of it, them making you permanent and then you leave the company a few months later.

[Rowgtfc72]

Not been anyone made permanent in the whole time I've worked there. Workforce is a third agency, most who come and go. We are the hard-core bunch left.
We are mostly all there with a hope to being taken on as zero jours contracts are no fun at the end of the day.
I was wondering how to approach management. Liking the "I am disappointed" think that will work well.

Obviously if i had a permanent contract I would have to look again at leaving. A permanent contract anywhere will do.