Legal support for hiring workers through an agency

It is commonly used by businesses that bring in temporary, project-based or ongoing workers through a staffing or labour hire agency rather than hiring those workers directly. That can include healthcare providers, hospitality operators, trades businesses, childcare services and professional firms dealing with fluctuating demand or specialist short-term roles. The service is particularly useful where there is uncertainty about who is responsible for supervision, conduct issues, confidentiality, workplace processes or health and safety obligations. If the arrangement is commercially important, it is worth documenting it clearly before problems arise.

The main issues usually involve blurred responsibility lines. Businesses often assume the agency handles everything because it employs the worker, but the host business still controls much of the day-to-day work. Questions can arise around induction, supervision, conduct management, site rules, confidentiality, equipment, health and safety, and what happens if the placement is unsuitable. Payment and replacement worker terms can also matter. The practical working model can be just as important as the contract wording, so the legal analysis is not just about labels or what the agreement says on its face.

An employment agreement is usually between the employer and the worker. An agency worker hire agreement is different because it is generally between your business and the agency supplying the worker. The worker may be employed by the agency, while your business directs the day-to-day tasks on site. That split creates legal and practical questions that a standard employment agreement does not solve. The agreement should address matters such as placement terms, responsibility allocation, confidentiality, replacement processes, fees, and how issues are escalated between the host business and the agency.

Sometimes a template can cover basic commercial points, but it often falls short where the placement model is more involved. For example, a generic form may not properly deal with site access, role changes, supervision boundaries, misconduct reporting, health and safety coordination or confidentiality obligations where the worker handles sensitive information. It may also assume a cleaner separation of responsibilities than exists in practice. This service Your lawyer will explain the practical position and your options in plain English. especially where the real working arrangement does not match the paperwork.

After you engage, we collect the key details about the agency arrangement, including the role being filled, how the placement will operate, who supervises the worker, and any industry-specific concerns. A lawyer then reviews the setup and prepares the agreement with those practical details in mind. You receive the draft documents and advice within the agreed scope, along with clarification on any points that need attention before signing. If the arrangement later changes, such as moving from short-term cover to a longer placement model, the documents may need updating to match that new factual context.

Just submit an enquiry via this page or click the 'get started' button on our website to submit an enquiry. After you've submitted an enquiry, one of our legal consultants will review your enquiry within 1 business day and get in touch to get a better idea of exactly what you are looking for.

Then your legal consultant will send through an email with a bit more information about the services you need, along with a fixed fee quote setting out costs, scope of the service and timing. Have a read through it, and if you're happy with the scope, you can accept and sign our engagement letter online - easy!

Once you've formally accepted, we'll connect you with a specialist lawyer and they will work with you to complete your project. They will contact you by email or phone if they need to get in touch.

Sprintlaw works on fixed-fee pricing wherever possible, so you can review the scope and cost before you decide whether to proceed. For the Agency Worker Hire service, pricing starts from $900.00.

After you enquire, a legal consultant will confirm what is included, the expected timing and whether any extra work is needed before you engage us.

We operate completely online, which means we can help you wherever you are in New Zealand. We have office spaces in Sydney, and in Melbourne, but our use of technology allows our team members to work remotely from around the world. Our legal team are mostly based in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. We also have a London office for Sprintlaw UK.

Our legal team is made up of experienced lawyers, who are specialists in various areas of law and hold an Australian legal practising certificate. None of our Sprintlaw lawyers are New Zealand qualified lawyers and they do not currently hold a New Zealand practising certificate.

They provide legal services working remotely from Australia via our 'legal consultancy' model, through which (under section 6 and section 35 of the New Zealand Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006) our Australian legal team are permitted to provide legal services to New Zealand businesses provided they do not provide services in certain 'reserved' areas of law. You can read our FAQ page to learn a bit more about our 'legal consultancy' model.

Given the strong similarities between Australian and New Zealand law, and the areas of law in which we practice (being small business and startup law), we do not view the fact that our lawyers have not qualified in New Zealand as having any substantive impact on the quality of our service. We are committed to ensuring that we provide high quality, affordable legal services to all our New Zealand clients.

Our legal team have all trained at leading firms, but have left the traditional corporate law world to join us on our mission to create a new and better way of delivering legal services. They have specialist expertise in technology law, intellectual property law, contract drafting and review, corporate law and commercial law.