Two-person candidate review
Every candidate EPIQORE submits is reviewed by a Recruiter and an Account Manager against the job description before it reaches you.
Direct hire, temporary staffing, contract staffing, temp-to-hire, recruitment process outsourcing and payrolling — compare the six models, see who employs the worker in each, and choose the one that fits the role.
Staffing services are workforce arrangements in which a staffing firm recruits, screens, employs or places workers on behalf of a client company. Six models are in common use: direct hire, temporary staffing, contract staffing, temp-to-hire, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) and payrolling. What separates them is who legally employs the worker — your company, or the staffing firm as the W-2 employer of record — and how long the engagement is meant to last.
Direct hire staffing, also called permanent placement, is the recruitment of a permanent employee by a staffing firm on behalf of an employer — at EPIQORE, the person you select becomes your employee on day one.
Direct hire staffing is built for roles where a targeted search beyond active applicants is justified. EPIQORE aligns on the role and must-have qualifications, sources and validates candidates, then applies a two-person quality gate: a Recruiter and an Account Manager review every candidate against the job description, and only candidates meeting the 90%+ match threshold are submitted. The fee is typically a one-time, employer-paid placement fee defined in the service agreement, and the exact amount depends on the search and agreed terms; EPIQORE never charges the candidate. Eligible direct placements carry a 90-day guarantee prorated at 1/90th per day. EPIQORE does not promise a fixed time-to-fill, and is not the employer of record once your new hire starts.
Read the full direct hire staffing services page for the process, responsibilities and frequently asked questions.
Temporary staffing, also called temporary help, is a workforce arrangement in which a staffing firm employs a worker on its own W-2 payroll for a short-term assignment while the client directs the daily work.
Temporary staffing adds capacity for a defined period without creating a permanent role: seasonal and demand peaks, leave or vacancy coverage, and urgent operational gaps. EPIQORE handles W-2 onboarding, payroll administration, tax withholding, workers’ compensation for its assigned employees, unemployment administration and weekly pay processing, with Thursday direct deposit. Your company keeps day-to-day direction, worksite safety, job-specific training, accurate time approval and the decision on how long the assignment runs. The bill rate combines pay, employer payroll taxes, coverage, recruiting and EPIQORE’s service margin, and is agreed before the assignment starts. Temporary staffing carries no 90-day guarantee, and it does not eliminate every joint-employer, wage-and-hour or workplace-safety obligation.
Read the full temporary staffing services page for the process, responsibilities and frequently asked questions.
Contract staffing, also called staff augmentation, is a workforce arrangement in which a staffing firm employs a specialist on its own W-2 payroll for a project or defined period while the client’s managers direct the work and own the outcome.
Contract staffing is staff augmentation, not a fixed-price statement of work: EPIQORE supplies the skills, your team sets priorities, oversees deliverables and approves time. A Recruiter and an Account Manager review each candidate against the job description, and only those meeting the 90%+ match threshold are submitted. You pay an agreed bill rate for approved hours, set before the assignment begins, covering the contractor’s pay, employer payroll obligations, insurance and unemployment costs, recruiting, administration and EPIQORE’s service margin. Contract staffing does not carry the 90-day direct-placement guarantee and does not guarantee retention, a fixed project result or a universal fill time.
Read the full contract staffing services page for the process, responsibilities and frequently asked questions.
Temp-to-hire staffing, also called contract-to-hire or temp-to-perm, begins as a temporary W-2 assignment with the staffing firm and creates a defined, written path to possible permanent employment with the client.
Temp-to-hire replaces interview guesswork with observed performance: the person works in the real role, on EPIQORE’s W-2 payroll, while both sides assess fit, reliability and team interaction. Conversion terms are agreed in writing before the assignment starts. The temporary bill rate applies during the evaluation period, and any conversion fee or adjustment follows the written agreement and can depend on assignment length. EPIQORE will not advertise free conversion or a fixed waiver unless that exact policy is confirmed for the engagement. Conversion is never guaranteed, and the 90-day direct-hire guarantee does not apply here — the evaluation period itself is the risk-reduction mechanism.
Read the full temp-to-hire staffing page for the process, responsibilities and frequently asked questions.
Recruitment process outsourcing, or RPO, is an arrangement in which an external recruiting partner operates all or a defined part of an employer’s recruiting process — sourcing, screening, candidate coordination and reporting — while the employer keeps interviews and final hiring authority.
RPO supplies recruiting capacity, not workers on assignment. EPIQORE can operate all or a defined part of your recruiting process: scoping the roles, hiring volume, process stages, responsibilities and success measures, aligning intake and screening criteria, running the agreed stages, then reporting on workflow measures and adjusting the plan. Four engagement models can be scoped — Project RPO for a defined hiring program, Modular RPO for selected stages such as sourcing or candidate coordination, Ongoing RPO for continuing capacity, and on-demand support during hiring peaks — subject to agreed availability and to the models EPIQORE confirms it offers. Pricing is defined in the service agreement. For direct hires made through RPO, the new employee is yours, not EPIQORE’s.
Read the full recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) page for the process, responsibilities and frequently asked questions.
Payrolling is a service in which a staffing firm becomes the W-2 employer of record for a worker the client has already identified, administering agreed payroll and employment responsibilities while the client directs the work.
Payrolling is not a PEO relationship. A PEO is a broader co-employment arrangement covering your existing workforce; EPIQORE’s payrolling applies only to the individual workers it accepts and employs under the service agreement, after you refer them. Once EPIQORE confirms the assignment fits its payrolling service, it handles W-2 onboarding, employment records, payroll processing and wage statements, tax withholding, workers’ compensation and unemployment administration, and benefits administration where the agreement provides it — on a weekly timecard cycle with Thursday direct deposit. The payrolling rate covers employment costs and administration only; it carries no recruiting fee, because your company sourced the worker. Payrolling does not remove every joint-employer, classification, wage-and-hour or workplace-safety responsibility. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Read the full payrolling services (employer of record) page for the process, responsibilities and frequently asked questions.
The fastest way to narrow the choice is to answer two questions: who should legally employ the person, and how long the need will last.
| Service | Duration | Who employs the worker | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Direct Hire | Permanent, long-term role | Your company, from day one | The headcount is approved and permanent, and the role is critical to operations, growth or leadership. |
| Temporary Staffing | Short-term, defined period | EPIQORE (W-2) for the assignment | You need coverage for a peak, a leave or an operational gap without creating a permanent role. |
| Contract Staffing | Project or defined term | EPIQORE (W-2) for the assignment | A project or deadline needs a specialist skill for a set term. |
| Temp-to-Hire | Evaluation period, then possible conversion | EPIQORE (W-2) during the trial; your company after conversion | You want to see real performance before committing to a permanent hire. |
| Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) | Project, module or ongoing program | Your company for direct hires made through RPO; EPIQORE supplies the recruiting capacity | Hiring volume or a fragmented process is the bottleneck, not a single vacancy. |
| Payrolling | The assignment term you define | EPIQORE (W-2) as employer of record | You already selected the worker and need W-2 employment administration. |
The same quality gate applies whichever model you choose, and the commercial terms are written down before anyone starts work.
Every candidate EPIQORE submits is reviewed by a Recruiter and an Account Manager against the job description before it reaches you.
EPIQORE does not send a résumé simply because keywords appear — candidates below the threshold are not submitted.
If a direct placement is let go in the first 90 days for job or performance reasons, the fee is prorated at 1/90th per day. It excludes layoffs and headcount reductions, applies to direct placements only, and is a prorated-fee policy, not a replacement promise.
EPIQORE agrees on a realistic search plan for the role and market instead of committing to a deadline it cannot control.
Thursday direct deposit on temporary and payrolling assignments.
Rates, responsibilities and conversion terms are agreed in writing before an assignment begins.
The main types are direct hire (permanent placement), temporary staffing, contract staffing, temp-to-hire, recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), and payrolling. They differ on two points: who legally employs the worker, and how long the engagement lasts. EPIQORE offers all six, with responsibilities and rates defined in the service agreement.
EPIQORE is. For temporary, contract, temp-to-hire and payrolling assignments, EPIQORE employs the worker as a W-2 employee and administers payroll, tax withholding, workers’ compensation and unemployment, while the client directs the daily work. In direct hire, the opposite applies: the candidate becomes the client’s employee on day one.
In direct hire, the person becomes your employee immediately and the role is permanent from the start. In temp-to-hire, the person works on EPIQORE’s W-2 payroll during an agreed evaluation period, and conversion to your payroll happens only if both sides agree, under terms written before the assignment begins.
Both place a worker on EPIQORE’s W-2 payroll while your team directs the work. Temporary staffing covers a short-term capacity need such as a peak, a leave or a vacancy. Contract staffing supplies a specific skill for a project or defined period, where the engagement is scoped around a workstream rather than around coverage.
Yes, on eligible direct placements only. If a direct placement is let go within the first 90 days for job or performance reasons, the placement fee is prorated at 1/90th per day under the agreed policy. Layoffs and headcount reductions are excluded. It is a prorated-fee policy, not a replacement promise, and temporary or contract assignments carry no such guarantee.
In payrolling, your company sources and selects the worker, and EPIQORE becomes the W-2 employer of record for that one agreed assignment. A PEO is a broader co-employment arrangement covering your existing workforce. EPIQORE’s payrolling service applies only to the workers it accepts and employs under the service agreement.
EPIQORE works across industries and functions for employers throughout the United States: manufacturing, software and IT, finance, insurance, machinery, telecommunications, industrial, administrative, data processing, broadcasting and management roles among them. One exception applies — within medical and legal organizations, EPIQORE staffs every function except physicians, nurses and attorneys.
Tell EPIQORE the role, the required skills, the timeline and whether the headcount is permanent. We will recommend the model that fits and confirm scope, responsibilities and rates in the service agreement before any work starts.