I work through agencies right now. Basically you have to go in and register, fill out an application form and give them your bank details, and they’ll “put you on the system” and if there’s work you’ll get it. Most of them now use “umbrella companies” to do payroll; they can either pay you through a limited company or on PAYE. Note: the umbrella company will deduct a fee for processing tax, NI etc which will mean your hourly rate is less than the one you’ll be quoted when you agree to do a job.
They don’t all require a CV, at least not for ad hoc (relief) work. You tell them who you’ve been working for and in what industries, and what sort of work you want to do (which industries, days/nights etc). For permanent jobs the client might want a CV and they will arrange the interviews. You’ll then work as the agency’s employees for the first couple of months and then transfer to the client’s own payroll.
The agency charges a “finder’s fee” for companies that take on drivers that have done agency work. That’ll be in the contract and if they find out, they can sue the employer or send a “cease and desist” letter which can result in you losing the job.
Wages are sometimes better than being on the company’s payroll, but directly employed drivers are entitled to holiday pay — with agencies, you often have this paid up-front so when you take a holiday, it’s unpaid. You don’t see the amount the client pays the agency; it’s a lot more than they pay you.
If you go to a job and don’t like it, theoretically you can just leave, but then the agency is well within its rights to not offer you any more work. There are a few legitimate reasons to do this, e.g. an unroadworthy vehicle, but you shouldn’t do it often. It’s better to see out the first day and tell the agency early on that you can’t do the rest of the week, if it’s several days. (They may still threaten to drop you even if you have a serious reason, such as not being able to find parking anything like conveniently. This tends to be the small agencies rather than the chains such as Driver Hire, Best Connection and Drivers Direct.) The client can drop you any time they like for any reason they like; you’ll get paid for work already done but nothing else, even if you’d been promised a whole week’s work.
As an agency driver you’ll likely have to do a mixture of work. Where I am (SW London) I can sometimes get weeks of class 1 work and then none for another few weeks. You’ll get quite a variety of types of work but quite a bit of nasty work too. You’ll also get, at most, mid-range gear — I’ve never driven anything more powerful than 460hp, for example.
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