In temporary employment agencies, the payroll run is closely tied to the actual assignment at the client company. The agency invoices the client, but much of the billing-relevant information originates at the client company: confirmed hours, start and end of the assignment, duties, allowances and exceptional approvals. If these details do not match, several items on the payslip can be affected.
Typical errors mainly occur with assignment periods, interruptions with the same hirer, industry surcharges, equal pay-relevant dates, minimum wages, pay groups and the appropriate Lohnarten. Absences, holiday or illness can also lead to corrections in temporary employment pay if they do not properly match the assignment and the hours report.
For temporary employment agencies, it is therefore crucial which details must be technically checked before the monthly payroll run and which discrepancies could later lead to retroactive calculations, back payments or additional checking effort.
The Payroll model in temporary work differs from many standard payroll processes because the employer processes the payroll, whilst the actual work takes place at the client’s premises. This creates an interface between the agency, the client, the temporary worker and the relevant payroll departments. This is precisely where many discrepancies arise when assignment data do not match the information in the payroll run.
For the monthly run, along with Employee master data, the operational company, start of deployment, end of deployment, activity, industry of deployment, confirmed hours and deviating approvals are also counted. Depending on the case, this information can influence industry surcharges, equal-pay-relevant times, pay groups or corrections.
ClassificationIn temporary employment pay, a deviation can affect multiple billing items. Deployment time, hour approvals, surcharge logic and Wage type often intertwine.
If an assignment is handled differently internally than as confirmed by the hirer, the payroll run can diverge technically. This affects, for example, differing hours, overtime approved with a delay, or a change of assignment that has already been taken into account in rostering, but not yet in billing.
Start and end of assignment are billing-relevant planning data in temporary employment wages. They can determine from when an employee is assigned to a specific client, which interruptions must be taken into account and whether points in time for sector supplements or equal pay need to be examined more closely.
It becomes particularly critical when an employee is deployed again with the same user undertaking after a break. If the resumption is treated as a completely new deployment, even though previous periods of deployment may remain professionally relevant, incorrect timelines are created. This can affect allowances, equal pay checkpoints and internal evaluations.
Typical practical caseAn agency worker takes a short break and then returns to the same client company. Scheduling reallocates the assignment, but the payroll run fails to evaluate the previous period of assignment.
Billing sequenceAn incorrectly recorded assignment period can lead to pay progression stages, equal-pay-relevant milestones or internal reviews being identified too late.
The end of an assignment also requires a clear demarcation. If an assignment runs into the next month, but hours are already fully finalised, subsequent authorisations or corrections may arise. Conversely, ending an assignment too early can mean that confirmed remaining hours, allowances or absences are not processed appropriately.
The approval of hours by the client links the actual working time to the payroll run of the employment agency. If the time recording, internally reported hours and confirmed hours do not match, it must be clarified which values are to be billed for the employee and what adjustments are necessary in the following month.
In practice, discrepancies arise from delayed approvals, manually added shift times, overtime, or premiums for night work, Sundays and public holidays. If such information is not promptly reflected in the system, the initial payroll run is often completed arithmetically, but not yet finally resolved from a technical perspective.
sequence of treatmentsA delayed timesheet approval can affect not only the number of hours, but also overtime, assignment-related pay components, cost centres, idle hours or a recalculation in the following month.
For temporary employment agencies, it is therefore important whether the confirmed hours match the assignment notification, the agreed activity and the stored Lohnarten. Deviations do not have to be dramatic, but they should be processed comprehensibly so that retro-calculations can be neatly explained later.
Industry supplements are among the points where minor allocation errors can have a significant impact. What is decisive is whether the client industry, duration of assignment, pay grade, confirmed hours and the appropriate Types of remuneration match.
An incorrect assignment occurs, for example, if an assignment is listed only generally as assistance work, but the surcharge-relevant industry of the client company is not properly recorded. Likewise, an incorrect Wage type can lead to a surcharge being recognised, but not calculated or shown appropriately in the payroll run.
operational sectorThe industry of the client organisation can be relevant if a specific surcharge logic applies to the assignment.
Duration of deploymentSupplements can be linked to periods of deployment or tiered logic. Incorrect start dates will shift this check.
Wage typeThe correct Wage type determines whether the contract award can be processed, evaluated and subsequently traced correctly.
Another deviation lies in the surcharge basis. If the basic wage, the pay group or the confirmed hours do not match the stored surcharge logic, the Gross pay may deviate. Such discrepancies often only become apparent when employees query things, the hirer confirms different values or several months have to be recalculated.
Equal pay is a technical control point in temporary work pay as soon as assignment duration and remuneration components become relevant. An incorrect calculation can arise if assignment periods with the same user company are not tracked continuously or if interruptions are assessed incorrectly. Then points in time, comparison components or later adjustments can be incorrectly classified in the Payroll.
In addition, the statutory minimum wage in Temporary agency work is neatly separated from the general Minimum wage to be distinguished. For temporary employment agencies, it can trigger its own checking logic in the payroll run, particularly regarding hourly rates, pay grades and Gross pay.
As of July 2026The collective pay grade 1 in the Temporary agency work will be 14.96 euros from 1 January 2026, 15.33 euros from 1 September 2026, and 15.87 euros from 1 April 2027. These values do not belong in the monthly run as a large collective wage table, but must be taken into account in current payroll runs where affected.
An incorrect pay grade can trigger several subsequent discrepancies. The basic wage will be wrong, assignment-related pay components will be based on an incorrect foundation, and later payouts will become more complex. If this changes the Gross pay, the Wage tax and social security contribution in the Payroll may also need to be reassessed.
Absences are properly handled in temporary work pay when they match the deployment planning, hour reporting, and Continued remuneration. Therefore, an illness, a day of holiday or another absence affects the employee's details in the master data and the specific assignment at the client company.
Discrepancies arise when hours lost are valued differently from the planned deployment hours, when the hirer has already confirmed hours, or when the absence period does not match the deployment period. Missing or incomplete information regarding sickness, holiday or other absences can also trigger incorrect daily values, unsuitable Lohnarten or subsequent adjustments.
Sickness during active deploymentThe absence must match the shift planning. Otherwise, planned hours, lost hours and confirmed hours may diverge.
Holiday with changing shift patternsWhen changing assignments, it must remain clear to which period the absence is assigned and which billing items are affected.
The discrepancy often lies not in the absence itself, but in the connection to the operational reality. If the operational site reports different times than were planned internally, the payroll run needs a traceable basis for further processing.
Recurring discrepancies in temporary staff pay often reveal themselves as patterns during the payroll run: the same queries, repeated corrections, delayed timesheet approvals or variances between assignment notifications and confirmed hours.
An objective check reduces the risk of error because the cause is examined beyond the current month. What is crucial is which specialist area is affected, which deadlines are impacted during the monthly cycle, and whether an incorrect assignment can also lead to formal errors in the billing process.
| Source of error | Typical cause | sequence in the payroll run | Sensible checkpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start of assignment incorrectly maintained | The start date from planning and Payroll do not match. | Surcharge stages or equal pay dates can start incorrectly. | Reconcile the start of the assignment at the user company with the assignment notification and billing master data. |
| Incorrectly assessed break in employment with the same hirer | Resumption is treated like a completely new deployment. | Earlier deployment times may not be taken into account during examinations. | Document the duration of the interruption and the renewed assignment with the same temporary work agency. |
| Timesheet approval is delayed or differs | The hirer is confirming different hours than were reported internally. | Corrections, retroactive calculations or back payments in the following month will be necessary. | Check the release status before completing the month-end run. |
| Industry supplement does not match the sector of assignment | Customer operation or activity is not correctly classified. | Surcharges are missing, applied too late or calculated incorrectly. | Check the industry sector, activity and surcharge logic for each client business. |
| Wage type incorrectly created for surcharges | Surcharge is recognised, but processed in a technically unsuitable manner. | ID card, calculation or subsequent evaluation do not match correctly. | Compare Wage type, the surcharge basis and the billing item with one another. |
| Equal pay date not recognised | Duration of deployment or previous deployments are not carried forward. | Subsequent review and retroactive calculation of multiple months may become necessary. | Continuously track assignment periods with the same temporary work agency. |
| Lower wage limit or pay band not updated | Hourly rate or master data remain unchanged. | Gross pay may be too low or calculated incorrectly. | Check current salary values and salary group prior to the monthly run. |
| Absences not processed in accordance with the assignment | Sickness, holiday or downtime doesn't fit the roster planning. | Cancellations, Continued remuneration or corrections become prone to errors. | Check absence time, assignment period and hours report together. |
| Deadlines or formal details are overlooked | Variations, approvals or master data reach the billing process too late. | The creation of Lohnabrechnungs is delayed or has to be subsequently adjusted. | Check the deadline calendar, date of receipt and formal completeness before completion. |
The basic connection of personnel, deployment, time and payroll data is shown in the overview for Payroll Temporary employment agency classified.
Errors in temporary employment pay can be reduced primarily where the technical audit points are clear before the month-end run. These include assignment data, confirmed hours, client reference, pay grade, minimum wage, assignment-related pay components, equal pay-relevant dates and the appropriate Lohnarten.
A billing system that takes over individual values and recognises their interrelationships is helpful. A differing start date of deployment can affect a surcharge check. A delayed time-sheet approval can touch upon overtime and public holiday work. Media discontinuities between rostering, payroll and wage programs increase the risk of data being entered multiple times or assessed differently.
If such cases occur regularly, the decision also becomes relevant, when companies should outsource their Payroll. For temporary employment agencies, a key consideration is whether the external partner can process the ongoing Payroll accounting with regard to deployment data, hour approvals, corrections, proofs and the handover to the Financial accounting.
The BAS takes over the running Payroll accounting for temporary employment agencies, when HR, deployment, hour and remuneration data are available in a traceable manner for the monthly run and must be brought together professionally for the creation of Lohnabrechnungs.
Brasser Accounting Solutions GmbH is a specialised accounting service provider that supports companies with financial accounting, payroll accounting, and the structuring of modern digital accounting processes. The aim is a collaboration that is professionally sound, organisationally relieving, and reliably functional in everyday use.
Brasser Accounting Solutions GmbH is part of a corporate group with Quint GmbH Tax Consultancy & Auditing and the Swedish accounting and tax firm Service Place Årjäng AB.
