Temporary Workers and Permanent Employees

Business English Lesson Plans www.businessenglishlessonplans.wordpress.com Claire Hart (2012)

TEMPORARY WORKERS AND PERMANENT EMPLOYEES

“I´m a temp from an agency”

“I have a direct contract with the company”

Important words in this unit are:

temporary _____________ temping agency ___________ temp. _______________

contractor ____________ direct contract ____________ stable _________________

wages ________________ advantage(s) ______________ disadvantage(s) _________

earn money ____________ apply for a job _____________

comparison ____________ compare __________________

1. a) Arrange these words into two groups. Be ready to explain what the link is between the

words in each of your two groups. Work in pairs.

long time - permanent - temp. - short time - temporary - contractor - direct contract

b) Which words best describe your work situation now? Tell your partner.

2. Mehmut is a temporary worker in Germany. He works in the warehouse at a logistics

company. Read what he says about his work situation.

“I´m a warehouseman at a food logistics company. I´m a temporary worker from a temping

agency called All for Work. Some of my colleagues are from the same agency, but some have

direct contracts with the company where we work. The temping agency pays our wages and

we earn less than the permanent employees, which is a disadvantage for us. Our situation is

less stable than theirs too because we don´t know for sure how long we can go on working

here.

A big advantage for the company where we work is that we are less expensive than the

permanent workers and we are more flexible than them. The agency tells us to go and work


at a company and we go and work there. There are some advantages for us too, for

example, we can sometimes take longer holidays than the permanent employees.

I like my job and my colleagues. The situation isn´t perfect, but I am happy to make enough

money for myself and my family.”

3. Complete the second of the two sentences with the opposite of the first sentence

a) Temporary workers earn less than permanent employees ->

Permanent employees earn _________________________________________________

b) Temporary workers have a less stable situation than permanent employees ->

Permanent employees have a _______________________________________________

c) Temporary workers are less expensive for the company than permanent employees. >

Permanent employees are __________________________________________________

d) Temporary workers can sometimes take longer holidays than the permanent employees.

Permanent employees sometimes have _______________________________________

4. Over to you:

Have you ever been a temporary worker?

- Where did you work?

- What job did you do?

- Was your experience the same or different to Mehmut´s?

5. Jessica is doing an interview with Kim for the company newsletter. Kim was a

temporary worker at the company, but now she has a permanent contract there.

Listen and write down three differences between Kim´s old work situation and her current

work situation.

Three differences (write them in full sentences)

1.

2.

3.


Comparisons: What you need to know

You normally make a comparison because you want to say that something is different to another

thing and what that difference is. When you make comparisons in English there are some things you

need to remember:

1. Add –er at the end of adjectives with one syllable.

big – “My department is bigger than yours.”

If the adjective ends with a single consonant, you double the last consonant when you

write it.

big -> bigger thin -> thinner fat -> fatter

2. Add –er at the end of adjectives with two syllables which end with -ly

friendly – “The colleagues I have now are friendlier than the colleagues I had in my

first job.”

You take out –y and add –ier.

3. Use more (+) or less (-) before the adjective if it has 2 syllables and doesn´t end with –ly

and if it has 3 or more syllables.

“Temporary workers are usually more flexible than permanent employees.”

Use THAN after the adjective.

A small number of adjectives are irregular when you compare them, so they don´t follow

the same rules as the others.

good becomes better – “The job I have now is better than my old job.”

bad becomes worse – “The wages temps get are worse than the wages permanent

employees get.”

6. Choose one of the options (a-d). Find four differences between the two things. Present

these differences as four comparisons to the rest of the group.

a. Your first job and the job you have now

b. Two departments in your company

c. Your company and another company in the same indusstry

d. Two products that your company makes or two services it offers


Tapescript

Jessica – Hi Kim, I have some questions to ask you about your work here at Logic.

Kim – OK, go ahead.

Jessica – So, how long have you worked at Logic?

Kim – Five years, but for the first two years I was a temp, so I didn´t have a direct contract with

Logic. I worked for a temping agency.

Jessica – OK, so what did you do when you were a temp?

Kim – The same job I do now--customer service administrator--but my wages were lower and I

worked longer hours!

Jessica – So, you must be pleased that you are now a permanent employee here?

Kim – Yes, definitely. My boss saw that I was good at my job and I worked hard and then a position

became free when someone left the company and he asked me if I wanted to apply for it. I applied

and got the job!

Jessica – Great, so your situation is better now than it was before, is that right?

Kim – Yes, that´s right. My work situation is more stable and I can do training courses in the

company to improve my skills. Maybe the best point is that I pay less for my lunch in the canteen

now that I´m a permanent employee--temps have to pay twice as much to eat there!

Temporary Workers and Permanent Employees

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