As others have said, it depends on their agreement, but usually you have to fulfill the agreement and hours first. I landed a great temp job and was on the way to full hiring when another opportunity came up at the same company, not through the agency. It worked out because I was temping in HR and they knew the rules. I ended up staying at that new job for four years.

I think I initially misread this one, but in a way that may be of interest. Of course if a company has an agreement (i.e., a contract) with a staffing agency (better: a headhunter) it would not be right to try to circumvent that contractual obligation. I now think this is what the question is asking. What I originally *thought* the question was about is a staffing agency or headhunter who tells you that to get a position you have to work all hours of the day no matter how destructive to your health and mental state. In particular, one recruiter told me: "If the manager tells you to jump, you ask: 'How high?'" This is an abuse of basic human dignity which a person may need to "eat" if they need the job to be able to eat, but if not under duress, this kind of supercilious heartlessness is just not acceptable even for a job in a fast food restaurant where presumably they have a manual telling (metaphorically) how high managers are allowed to make employees jump. There are these kind of heartless human traffickers out there.

I am assuming you asked a supervisor about this, and were told that they cannot discuss hiring you full time until your contract is fulfilled? As someone who has worked for a lot of temp agencies and have then been hired by a few companies after having worked as a temp, I will say that companies will and DO buy out the contract, they can negotiate the terms before or after you have worked for the agency for the contracted amount of hours. Usually for office staffing, it's a great way to get to see different types, sizes, fields, and management styles of multiple businesses, and it also gives the hiring company the benefit of a "working interview" and they can find just the right fit. When they find the right fit, they will want to pay the agency, usually its a percent of the yearly salary of the hire, or a set amount of hours. Its a way for them to see if you are going to work or not work well for them, and its also a way for the candidate to get a peek into the business to see if its a role they are truly interested in.

You can, but most likely won't. There is a contract in place that the company will pay the agency x per hour for you until the hours are up. They would have to buy out your time from the agency. I know most companies will not do this.

It largely depends on the Agreement the company has signed with the agency. The terms usually state the number of temp or contract hours a candidate must work so that the agency earns their cut. If they want to bring you on sooner before the allocated hours are work, the company must pay the agency the difference. Either way the agency must earn their fee either by hours worked by the candidate or by the company paying agency the difference. This is the agency's life blood. They are performing a service by supplying the correct and tested talent, the payroll support, benfits, etc. In exchange the company pays them a fee either by way of invoice for the hours worked by the candidate (bumped up of course) or by a lump fee owed at the time of hire. I hire under agencies all the time and have never hired outside of my Agreement with the agency. I have always had the candidates work the agreed upon hours and then brought on the best candidates for hire. It didn't make economic sense or professional sense to do otherwise.

The short answer is yes, but your company will likely have to buy you out of their contract. It's usually a couple of thousand dollars. At any rate, it's between them and the temp agency they contract with. Hope that helps!

Many companies that have hiring agencies also have contractual agreements with the hiring agency that they will not hire direct, until the hours are met for the candidates. Check with the local HR office and see what their policy is regarding direct hire from a staffing office.

Depends on the company. Apply directly to the company before you start working their. If they offer you a position direct and you haven't started working yet, than yes.