Have you ever considered taking up temporary work over Christmas for some extra cash? If so, employment law specialist Gill Brown, from Phillips Solicitors, has some important advice for you.

IT'S the time for turkey and tinsel again, and many businesses in the Basingstoke area are recruiting temporary seasonal staff to tide them over the busy Christmas period.

If you are thinking of becoming a temp, here are a few things you should know:

Minimum wage

You are entitled to be paid the national minimum wage, even if you are part-time and/or a temporary seasonal worker.

Since October 1, 2004, this is £4.85 if you are 22 or older, £4.10 if you are between 18 and 21 and £3 if you are 16 or 17.

There are a few exceptions, such as family members working for a family business, trainees and apprentices, etc.

If you are not getting the national minimum wage, you should look into this right away.

Other benefits

The provision of uniforms, meals or similar benefits does not count as making up part of your entitlement to the national minimum wage.

Irritating Christmas music

Surveys suggest that repetitive Christmas jingles can make shop assistants confrontational and aggressive. But, sorry, there is currently not much you can do about it unless it is exceptionally loud and might damage your hearing!

Holidays

You will accrue an entitlement to paid holiday from the first day of your employment and this will be on a pro-rata basis based on the statutory four weeks per year.

It is also likely that you will have a right to statutory sick pay, even if you are on a fixed-term contract of less than three months.

Notice periods

If you are on a fixed contract that ends on a certain date, then your employment will simply end on that date.

However, if there is just an arrangement that you will work until business dies down again, then once you have been employed for a month, you become entitled to one week's notice to end your employment, unless your contract provides for more than that.

Temperature problems

There are limits to how cold your indoor working environment can be. The minimum acceptable temperatures are 13 degrees Celsius if you are doing strenuous work and 16 degrees Celsius otherwise.

Christmas partying

The Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations may apply to you if a permanent employee is receiving better treatment for doing broadly the equivalent work for the very same employer, and that the better treatment cannot be justified.

This can apply to all kinds of situations including that all-important invitation to the Christmas party - you should be invited.

If you are not getting equivalent treatment then you can write to your employer pointing this out and asking for an explanation, which you are entitled to receive within 21 days.

These regulations don't apply to you if you are an agency worker working for a third party.