Recruiters insist they continue to be committed to carrying out necessary background checks on the agency workers they supply to the Royal Mail, following allegations in the Daily Mail that temporary workers were being hired on the minimum wage, while some have criminal records and were given only ‘cursory’ interviews.

The Royal Mail announced plans to hire 30,000 temporary workers, doubling the number of people Royal Mail would normally hire in a week when workers staged a 48-hour strike.

A spokesperson for Manpower, which along with Reed supply temporary staff to the Royal Mail, told Recruiter.co.uk that it works closely with Royal Mail to ensure that all its staff comply with industry regulations and the specific requirements outlined by its client to safeguard anyone using Royal Mail’s services.

The spokesperson said: “We consider our responsibility to carry out and provide evidence of these checks to be of the utmost importance and we will continue to work with our client to deliver this high standard of service.”

A spokesperson for Reed also told Recruiter: “We do reject the newspaper’s accusations. Reed has a contractually agreed process in place for Royal Mail security and vetting. Reed also has a robust audit and compliance process to ensure that candidates placed into an assignment are fully compliant.”

Reed added that it complies with Royal Mail’s security and vetting procedure for all candidates, which include a number of checks in what it says is a robust and comprehensive service.

Rob Crossland, chief executive of employment services firm Parasol, told Recruiter that the industrial action could lead to the Royal Mail looking at the opportunities posed by a flexible temporary staffing model.

“From the agency perspective, they would want to persuade Royal Mail to look at flexible working as an option,” said Crossland. “It will give the Royal Mail the opportunity to look at future staffing models.

“The unions will be nervous if the agencies can prove that using a flexible workforce is advantageous to the future of the Royal Mail.”