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Choosing the Right Agency as an Experienced Support Worker

Kieron Smithson
Oct 1, 2025
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Green flags, red flags, and what “good” actually looks like

If you’ve worked agency in complex care for any length of time, you already know this: not all agencies operate to the same standard.

Some make your working life easier. Others cost you money, time and energy, often quietly, over months or years. This isn’t about glossy branding or friendly recruiters. It’s about systems, honesty and how problems are handled when things go wrong.

Below are practical green and red flags experienced agency workers should look for.

✅Green flags: signs of a well-run agency

You’re paid on time, every time ✅

This should be non-negotiable. A good agency has clear payroll cut-offs, reliable systems and pays when they say they will. Workers shouldn’t be funding an agency’s cashflow.

Holiday pay is transparent and fair ✅

You should be offered clear options - typically we'd expect to see accrued* or paid weekly - and it should be:

visible on your payslip
easy to request
never subject to arbitrary cut-off dates or “use it or lose it” rules

If holiday pay quietly disappears at year end, that’s not a benefit - it’s a red flag.

*accrued holiday pay, is stored for you, usually visible on your payslip & you can claim it whenever you want, subject to weekly payroll cut offs for admin.

Contracts match reality ✅

If an agency talks about “regular hours” but the contract says zero-hours, that mismatch matters. Zero-hours contracts aren’t inherently bad — dishonesty is.

You should always receive a written contract. No contract means no protection.

Pay mistakes are handled properly ✅

Mistakes do happen. What matters is how they’re dealt with.

A well-run agency:

distinguishes between minor errors and significant underpayments
fixes large issues the same week
asks the support worker whether waiting until the next payroll is acceptable
absorbs the admin and financial cost if immediate payment is needed

If errors repeat, drag on, or are only fixed after multiple chases, that’s a systems problem — not bad luck.

You can always get hold of someone (within reason) ✅

Complex care doesn’t run 9–5.

A good agency:

answers the phone
offers a dedicated operations contact (not just a recruiter or coordinator), with a team available to address payroll/admin questions
allows escalation when needed - without defensiveness or barriers - this should be easy, can you get hold of the senior managers if needed?

You shouldn’t have to fight to be heard.

Red flags: signs to walk away (or proceed carefully)

🚩 Verbal promises that aren’t in writing

If hours, rates or guarantees aren’t in the contract, assume they don’t exist.

🚩 No contract at all

This leaves you exposed on pay, holiday, tax and liability. It’s unacceptable.

🚩 Repeated payroll “errors”

One-off mistakes happen. Patterns don’t.Especially when errors consistently favour the agency.

🚩 Holiday pay with expiry rules

If you can lose thousands simply because you didn’t claim in time, that’s not fair practice.

🚩 Late pay blamed on clients

Workers complete shifts. Workers get paid.Client invoicing is not your problem.

🚩 Shifts change after acceptance

Rates reduced, responsibilities increased, expectations shifted last minute — all without discussion.

🚩 Silence when problems arise

Plenty of contact when shifts need covering. Very little when you need help.

A reality check

Agency work is flexible by nature. Zero-hours contracts exist for a reason. Payroll systems aren’t perfect.

The real test of an agency isn’t whether mistakes happen, payroll is complex and people can make mistakes not how hard they try, however it is how quickly, transparently and fairly the issues resolved, and whether the worker is treated like a valued colleague rather than a problem.