FAQ: Hiring Temporary Scientists

Temporary staffing in the scientific sector is growing rapidly, and many of our clients are exploring this option for the first time. Naturally, this comes with questions about how the process all works. To help, we’ve created a detailed guide for your reference. While the guide covers an exhaustive list of considerations, please note that our client and candidate onboarding and compliance processes are designed to remain straightforward and hassle-free!

Temporary (agency) workers give you capacity and flexibility without increasing permanent headcount. They’re ideal when:

• You have project spikes (e.g., validation runs, installs, method transfers).
• You need rapid cover for sickness, parental leave, or departures.
• Your funding is uncertain due to grant cycles or other cost pressures, but you still must hit milestones.
• You’re trialling new workflows (e.g. new software implementation like LIMS or ELNs), implementing new quality standards (ISO or GMP) for example).

Speed: candidates can start in as little as 24–72 hours. Take a look at our recent case study to show an example of our temporary worker turnaround – Lab Temp Worker Case Study

Reduced risk: The agency employs them—so payroll, statutory contributions, and many compliance tasks aren’t on your team.

Cost control: You pay only for the time and skills you need, often capex-friendly for project-based budgets.

Specialist skills at your disposal: Lab techs, Project Scientists, equipment engineers, QA Associates, QC analysts, validation specialists, and instrument trainers.

Tip: Use temps to remove bottlenecks; e.g., a short-term sample prep technician to free up time for senior scientists to complete more important task, such as analysis and reporting.

That would be us. As the scientific temp agency, we are responsible for their payroll. We pay the worker’s wages and handle all PAYE obligations such as tax, NICs, pension auto-enrolment and holiday accrual.

You pay our invoice for any hours/days worked by the scientific temp. The hourly rate you pay us includes:

• Base pay + holiday pay accrual
• Employer NICs & statutory costs
• Agency margin (service fee)
• Any agreed extras (e.g., travel, on-call, out-of-hours)

Temp-to-perm is essentially a ‘try-before-you-hire’ approach. This is a model becoming more popular for our clients, primarily as it reduces the risk of bad hires. For more information, take a look at our Scientist Temp to Perm Hiring blog.

In the UK, employment law for temps involves shared responsibilities:

Our responsibilities:

• Employ the worker; issue contract documentation and pay.
• Ensure statutory rights: holiday pay, working time rules, pension auto-enrolment.
• Pre-employment checks (right to work, references and any additional screening if needed).
• Ensure compliance with the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) which requires the temporary scientist gets equal treatment after 12 weeks in the same role (e.g., in terms of pay and working conditions are comparable to a permanent, direct employee).

Your Responsibilities:

• Provide a safe workplace (risk assessments, PPE, COSHH, biosafety, H&S induction).
• Day-to-day supervision and ensuring compliance with internal SOPs and any applicable quality standards (GLP, GMP, ISO).
• Access to facilities and amenities equivalent to those available to a direct employee (e.g., canteen and parking) from day one; pay and basic conditions from 12 weeks (AWR).
• Working time & rest breaks: Ensure rota and breaks comply with Working Time Regulations.

Practical compliance points for labs:

• Do a role-based risk assessment for reagents, pathogens, equipment (e.g., autoclaves, centrifuges, lasers, cryogens).
• Ensure training records are logged (HSE-compliant, auditable).
• Maintain SOP access and version control; include temps in quality incident reporting.
• Provide clear escalation paths (PI/QA/HSSE).

There’s no fixed legal maximum for temp assignment length, but AWR rights change at 12 weeks in the same role (equal treatment on pay and basic conditions vs. a comparable permanent worker).

For longer placements (>6 months), consider:

• Potential budget impact of AWR updates
• Knowledge retention and continuity planning
• Whether a fixed-term employment or temp-to-perm route is more efficient

Yes absolutely, temp scientists must be trained to your site-specific standards, even if they’ve worked in similar labs.

Minimum induction required:

• Health & Safety, fire, emergency procedures
• Biosafety/biorisk level protocols, contamination control
• COSHH & chemical hygiene
• Equipment authorisations (e.g., HPLC, GC, LC-MS, autoclaves, fume hoods, cryostats)
• Data integrity, LIMS/ELN usage, GDP (Good Documentation Practice)
• PPE fit/availability and local hygiene rules

You set the must-have and nice-to-have criteria as you would for any other recruitment.

Common qualifications and experience we get asked for:

BSc/MSc/PhD in life sciences, chemistry, biochemistry, biomedical science, engineering.

Instrument experience: HPLC/UPLC, GC, LC-MS, ICP-MS, UV-Vis, FTIR, qPCR/dPCR, flow cytometry, plate readers, microscopy, incubators.

Quality systems: GLP/GMP/ISO 17025/15189, sterility assurance, validation protocols.

Specialisms: Sample prep, method development/transfer, equipment qualification (IQ/OQ/PQ), calibration, field service, decontamination, biospecimen handling.

For basic lab assistant roles we can get someone in position in as little as 24–72 hours. Providing both you and the temporary scientist complete all the required documentation in a timely manner!

For more specialist roles (e.g., Scientists with highly specialised niche skills (Such as; LC-MS, method transfer, instrument engineers for example, this can take a little longer, depending on candidate availability, notice periods and site checks.

Network Scientific prides ourselves on our compliance and standards. Our temp contracts cover all confidentiality and data protection requirements. It is common for our clients to also have additional NDAs included as needed.

To minimise risk, we would always advise as good practice to ensure temps only access data they need, with role-based permissions in LIMS/ELN. You should also include temps in data integrity training (ALCOA+), password policies, and clean desk rules.

For regulated work, define ownership of methods, results, and reports in the service agreement.

This is one of the main benefits of temporary workers. You can terminate the assignment at any time without notice, although it’s obviously much better for the temporary worker if you give some notice where possible. We would handle all offboarding and payroll.  We would then offer a replacement if required and start the process again with a more suitable candidate.

Rates depend on:

• Skill/education level and instrument/role complexity
• Sector (academia vs. pharma)
• Shift patterns
• Location and travel requirements
• Regulatory requirements (GMP/ISO environments tend to be higher)

Our charge rate covers wages, holiday, NICs, pension, statutory costs, and margin. Ask for transparent breakdowns, and consider volume discounts for multi-hire projects.

As the agency, we are responsible for performing the following employment checks:

• Right to Work (passport, visa, Share Code)
• References (recent line managers/projects)
• Background checks (DBS if required)
• Qualifications verification (degree, certificates)
• Equipment competency validations (e.g., LC-MS, autoclave release, cleanroom protocols)

After 12 weeks in the same position with the same hirer, the AWR require that the worker is entitled to equal treatment on basic working and employment conditions as if hired on a permanent bases: pay, working time, rest breaks and annual leave. Don’t worry, we will get in touch before this time with a simple questionnaire to complete so any required changes to the assignment will be in place by the required date.

Day One Rights: Including access to collective facilities/amenities (canteen, parking, childcare) and job vacancies notifications.

You do. The host lab controls the workplace, so you must:

• Conduct risk assessments and provide PPE
• Train and supervise temps appropriately
• Record incidents/near-misses and include temps in H&S briefings

The agency must ensure the worker is informed about general risks and that placements are suitable; they’ll also support incident reporting and insurance.

Again, don’t worry, we will guide you through all of this as we go and everything will be documented in the initial forms we send you to complete.

Yes, as long as competency is proven and you’ve completed risk assessment and authorisations. For high-risk work (BSL-2/3, cytotoxic, compressed gases, lasers, cryogens), require documented training, buddying, and permit-to-work where applicable.

The same way you would with a direct employee:

• Integrate temps into your QMS: SOP induction, deviation/CAPA training, controlled forms, data integrity, and auditable records.
• Restrict permissions until competency signed off.
• Include temps in internal audits, change control, and batch review meetings when relevant.

Provided the candidate is happy to accept the job offer, that is totally fine! You can hire the temp permanently by paying a pre-agreed transfer fee. This fee reduces over time, so the longer you have the candidate as a temporary worker, the cheaper the transfer fee.

Standard: 48-hour weekly average (over 17 weeks), unless the worker opts out.

Rest breaks: 20 minutes if working more than 6 hours; daily and weekly rest entitlements apply.

Night work, young workers, and certain hazardous tasks may have stricter rules so we can guide you to build compliant rotas and document opt-outs where appropriate.

Holiday: Accrues per worked hour and is paid by us; scheduling should be agreed with you to avoid project or workload disruption. We just need to be notified, usually by the candidate.

Sickness should be reported to both you and us; statutory sick pay handled via our agency contract.

Overtime/shift rates are all agreed in advance, obviously the AWR process could affect this after 12 weeks.

• We carry employer’s liability for the worker.
• Your business should have appropriate public liability, professional indemnity, and any product liability relevant to your environment.

Network Scientific have extensive experience in supplying highly skilled temporary scientists to laboratories across the UK. Our team understands the unique challenges of scientific environments and ensures every placement meets compliance, quality, and safety standards. Whether you need short-term cover or are exploring a temp-to-perm solution, we make the process simple, efficient, and tailored to your needs. Ready to find the right scientific talent for your lab? Contact us today to discuss your requirements or speak to one of our specialist consultants.