Temper submits position paper to Dutch Parliament

In a dynamic 21st century, the added value of entrepreneurship is increasingly important. Entrepreneurs and their companies are of great importance to economic activity and thus the earning capacity of an economy. With Temper, we give thousands of people a crash course in entrepreneurship. We stimulate:

• Benefits for the contractor, client, consumer and economy
• Social security and pension savings for platform workers
  

Temper is a marketplace for freelancers in the hospitality industry. It is an on-demand service where freelancers can be employed by hotels, bars, restaurants, and clubs without the intervention of an employment agency. The freelancers are screened by Temper and are immediately available. They choose where, when and for whom they want to work. Clients then choose the person who best suits their company and the assignment, based on their skills and assessments. The database of freelancers has grown in a short time to more than 33.000 people in the Randstad and expands daily.

Contractor benefits

Contractors consciously choose autonomy and flexibility with payment per assignment, and work a maximum of 660 hours per year for the same client. Temper is especially popular among students, who, with obligatory contact hours and the elimination of study financing, benefit more from arranging their own schedule to earn extra money. Flexibility is the most important reason for 68% of the contractors to work through Temper, according to a survey among the entire database. Reviews about Temper from contractors confirm that they do not just do it for the money. "Working where and when you want! Super!"

Self-employed people determine their own working hours, enjoy more variety and more often feel fit and energetic. They are most often satisfied with their work, according to research by CBS and TNO. Within the hospitality industry, Temper does not experience the much-discussed 'race to the bottom', but rather a 'quest towards quality'. For this reason, Temper stimulates clients to be good clients: to be attractive for contractors as a catering business, by emphasizing communication, work atmosphere, and generosity in terms of tips and breaks. The result: an hourly rate that did not drop in the past year, but increased by 7.2%. The hourly rate for contractors is established by supply and demand, without mediation by the platform. In addition, Temper does not profit from the higher hourly rate; market equilibrium is maintained because we apply a fixed amount of €2 per hour in user fees.

Benefits for the client

Temper positions itself as a digital platform for hospitality businesses with a high degree of flexibility, efficiency, and transparency. Temper connects the hospitality industry with the millennial. By quickly bringing in manpower in case of illness or busy times, hospitality businesses generate more revenue in an industry that is struggling. Despite the fact that the hospitality sector is benefiting from an improving economy, a larger flow of tourists and improving purchasing power, the differences between, for example, the large cities are increasing. Strong competition is also a challenge. Temper offers its 293 weekly active clients - of which 94% belong to small and medium-sized enterprises - a powerful, flexible shell of permanent contractors: the evolution of the expensive temp agency. Motivating long-term relationships distinguishes Temper from other platforms, which mainly work on demand.

Social security and pension savings

We do not yet offer a social security solution, but we consider insurance against disability and building up a pension extremely important. Although research among the entire Temper database shows that 78% are not currently aware of disability insurance and retirement savings, we are integrating a Broodfonds based on the principle of reciprocity, and may connect contractors to online pension bank Brand New Day in the near future.

Current laws and regulations do not take new technologies into account and are therefore unintentionally restrictive. Temper is growing by 20 percent every month - we are meeting a demand. We are willing to think along on how our platform - thanks to its central role very suitable for collective social welfare - can contribute to the solidarity principle that is so important for the Dutch welfare state, provided that it is organised in such a way that the contractors who work through the platform have no employment relationship with the clients, nor with Temper. The employment relationship is unnecessarily inflexible and therefore difficult to reconcile with the spirit of the times and the platform as we know it. The question that has been going through our heads since Temper was founded is: how can we contribute to the social system in case of long-term disability?

Sustainable solution

The evolution of our labour market towards more flexibility and individualization is inescapable, and moreover a global phenomenon. Temper considers it its duty as an innovative platform to find a sustainable solution in the socio-economic and labor area, where the core of permanent employees goes hand in hand with a flexible shell of contractors. Temper is open to all feedback. We are ready to work with everyone in society to create a strong and dynamic Netherlands.

Download the PDF version here.

Sources:

1. Temper research. The main reason I work through Temper.
2. Temper. Reviews on Trustpilot. Link to website
3. Research by CBS. Self-employed most satisfied, temporary agency workers least. Link to article  
4. SRA. Branches in View 2016. Link to report
5. Temper research. I am consciously working on AOV and pension savings.

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