Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, it is ok to work whist studying. There are numerous benefits to getting a part time job whilst at university such as gaining experience and employability skills but also the chance to earn money to help support yourself. It is important to remember to get the right balance and ensure your studying comes first.

Yes, you can still apply for our job opportunities found on the vacancies tab. We will be unable to consider you for the student roles once you have graduated though. You can also utilise your alumni Handshake account and browse the graduate job opportunities.

Employers can check the criminal record of someone applying for a role and this is known as a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The majority of our roles do not require a DBS check for employment. However, if you are registering to work on our Writtle campus, a DBS check will be necessary. The ARU Temps team will contact you directly if one is required, explain the documentation needed to complete the check, and confirm that there will be no cost to you.

No, you cannot exceed the hours in accordance with your visa unless you are out of term time, and this can be evidenced with a letter from the International Office. Working over your visa hours is a serious breach of your visa conditions and will have severe consequences. For further information and advice please contact the International Office – [email protected]

Yes, we accept registrations from all candidates regardless of whether you are a student or graduate of ARU. We have a variety of full time and part time jobs including general office administration, PA, data entry, catering and many more.

You need to provide proof of your eligibility to work in the UK – the most common form of acceptable ID for this purpose is a passport and if applicable a visa.

You do not need a CV to register with ARU Temps but our Career Centre gives you 24/7 access to a whole host of helpful resources and activities to help you create your CV.  It is also ok if you do not have previous work experience as a number of our temporary roles are perfect for students who are just starting out in the working world.

If you are not a student or graduate, we require two satisfactory references covering the last 2 years to complete your registration and if you have been in employment for the last 2 years, at least one referee should be a former employee. ARU Temps will request references and one of these may be your current employer.

Once you have fully registered, your account will be activated and you can apply for our vacancies online. We email and advertise our jobs online at temps.aru.ac.uk. regrettably we cannot guarantee work for you.

You must not work without having received a booking confirmation from the ARU Temps team.

ARU Temps offer both internal and external roles. The majority of the jobs are right on campus working within our faculties and professional services. These vary from student ambassador work, catering assistants to administration. We also work with local companies looking for temporary staff to help during busy periods or on specific projects. These roles may not relate directly to your course of study but still provide great experience and allow you to earn money. All of the roles we offer are paid a minimum of National Minimum Wage and are advertised on our online jobs board.

Temporary staff are paid on a monthly basis in line with the published deadlines which can be found under the useful information section of your ARU Temps online account. Learning to manage and budget money for the month is a skill we believe is extremely valuable for life after university.

Whilst payment is made monthly, it is expected that you complete your timesheet(s) on a weekly basis. Your timesheet needs to be submitted by 10.00am on the Monday following the previous week. Your hiring manager will need to authorise your timesheet by 2.00pm on the Monday in order to be processed that week. It is your responsibility to ensure that your hiring manager authorises your timesheet by the deadline. 

It is important to submit your timesheet weekly as this will enable us to keep your owed holiday pay up to date. It will also enable us to ensure Agency worker regulations come into effect if you are in the same assignment for 13 weeks or more. If you are a new starter, it will also help guarantee we have all of the necessary information and paperwork we require before the payroll is run.

Candidate timesheet instructions can be found on your ARU Temps online record, under useful information.

Don’t panic there will be an explanation as to why you have not yet been paid. This could be because the timesheet wasn’t submitted or approved in time for payroll cut off, or your timesheet falls into the following months’ pay, or we still require bank details to be added to your account. The best thing to do is to get in touch with the ARU Temps team who will investigate this for you – [email protected]

Yes, you may be liable to pay income tax and NI contributions. The standard tax-free personal allowance for 2023/24 is £12,570 and is apportioned on a monthly basis. The personal allowance for national insurance is £1,048 per month. If you have overpaid tax, you can take steps to reclaim this at the end of the tax year (5 April).

For more information see: gov.uk/student-jobs-paying-tax

Our Tax Office: HM Inspector of Taxes, Northeast Metropolitan Area, 119 Grange Road Middlesbrough, TS1 2DT
Ref: ARU Enterprises Ltd 120/E50543
Tel: 0300 200 3300

You will need to apply for an NI number online here. Make sure you have your passport number and visa details with you.

As an agency worker, you are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday in each year (this includes public and statutory bank holidays). Your holiday pay accrues each time you work, and you can request this anytime throughout the year.

To find out how much holiday pay you have accrued or to request this please contact ARU Temps. At the end of the year and the end of each leave year (31 July), you will receive a payment of any holiday pay still owed to you.

If you are sick for 4 consecutive days or more, including non-working days, whilst on an assignment you may be entitled to claim Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). For further information on SSP please refer to – https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay You will need to put a request for SSP in writing to us so that we can check your eligibility with our payroll team. Please email your request to [email protected]

Yes you do, from the day you start work you have a worker’s employment rights. For full details please visit: https://www.gov.uk/agency-workers-your-rights/your-rights-as-a-temporary-agency-worker

As an agency worker, you have employee’s pregnancy rights after working in your role for 12 weeks or more. So, this means you could be entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay, but you are not entitled to Statutory Maternity Leave. Please visit the following site for full guidance - https://www.gov.uk/agency-workers-your-rights/maternity-rights-for-agency-workers

If you move house, change your phone number or change your bank account please update your details on your online record and contact ARU Temps to inform us of the changes.

Should you decide to end your work with ARU Temps for any reason you will need to let us know as soon as possible so we can arrange for a P45 to be raised and for any outstanding holiday pay to be paid out in your final pay. To let us know, either visit us in the office or send us an email with details of your last working day so we can process this for you. Please also let us know if you would like your record archived.

We would be happy to provide an employer reference for you if you have worked for us. We will only provide employment dates and job titles. Please direct requests to [email protected]

In a move to encourage greater long-term saving of the UK population towards their retirement, Pensions legislation (The Pensions Act 2008) will require us to automatically enrol people into a pension scheme if they are not already in one. The aim is to help more people have another income, on top of the State Pension, when they retire.

The legislation also requires us to automatically re-enrol employees who have opted out of their workplace pension scheme every three years.

What does this mean for me?

Here are a few key points:

• For all agency workers who are currently active members of one of our pension schemes there will be no change and no action will be required
• The law does not require every employed person to be automatically enrolled into a pension scheme - it depends on age and earnings. For agency workers who are not enrolled automatically, we have to provide the opportunity to opt into a scheme.
• Any agency worker, once enrolled, can elect to opt out of the scheme.
• Every three years, we will be required to re-enrol all eligible staff who, at that time, are not members of a pension scheme, even if you have previously opted out.

How does it affect me?

If you are already a member of the NEST pension scheme then this does not immediately affect you. Your pension scheme membership won't be affected and there is no action you need to take.

Where can I find out more?

Department for Work and Pensions website

The Pensions Regulator website

If you have any questions about auto enrolment please email [email protected]

For more information about NEST visit: www.nestpensions.org.uk

ARU Temps is part of Student & Library Services and there are a wide range of options available which are aimed at improving your student experience. Find out more information about all the services on offer by visiting: https://www.aru.ac.uk/student-life/support-and-facilities