Quick answer: Choose a permanent chef for work you expect to keep: running the pass, owning the menu or covering a stable rota. Choose a temporary chef for an absence, a peak or a vacancy while you recruit. If the work is ongoing but you have not found the right person, use cover with a separate permanent brief. Agree any temp-to-perm terms before the assignment starts. An agency can supply temporary chefs and recruit permanent employees; using one does not decide which model you need.
A head chef resignation leaves you with different jobs to fill: somebody needs to run tomorrow’s service, and somebody needs to own the kitchen after the gap. Trying to solve both with the same rushed appointment is where the choice goes wrong.
What will still need doing after the immediate problem has passed? Start there when making a temporary vs permanent chef decision.
Match the hire to the gap
Test these routes against your rota and budget.
| What has happened | Route to consider | What to settle first |
|---|---|---|
| A chef is off sick or on booked leave | Temporary cover | Dates, station and handover |
| The head chef has resigned | Interim cover alongside a permanent search | Who holds the pass and who approves the permanent brief |
| A seasonal booking peak adds services | Temporary cover for the extra work | Which dates are confirmed and which remain provisional |
| A new venue is opening | Permanent recruitment for ongoing roles, cover for gaps | Opening rota and responsibilities after launch |
| The same vacant section keeps appearing on every rota | Review a permanent hire | Whether the hours and budget support an ongoing role |
| A chef on assignment wants to stay and the role will continue | Discuss temp to perm | Transfer terms, employment offer and the chef’s agreement |
For an immediate absence, the relief chef cover brief should say what the chef must do on arrival. A permanent brief needs more: authority over the brigade, expectations for menu changes, reporting lines and the shift pattern you can actually offer.
Don’t disguise a retention problem as a cover problem. If every replacement leaves after discovering split shifts that were missing from the brief, changing the recruitment route will not fix the rota.
Permanent chefs: ownership with a continuing commitment
My recommendation is to hire permanently when the role needs someone to make decisions that carry into the next service and the next menu. Recipe development, supplier choices and training junior chefs are easier to assign when responsibility is clear and ongoing.
The benefit is continuity. Build a handover, development plan and review process around someone expected to stay. The cost is committing payroll and management time through quiet periods. A permanent appointment also needs cover when that employee is away.
Recruitment can be direct or through an agency. Either way, write the actual job before advertising it. A head chef who must rebuild food-cost controls needs a different assessment from someone maintaining an established menu. Decide who interviews, who makes the offer and who manages the chef once they start.
At Chefs Bay, we supply temporary chefs and provide permanent chef recruitment. The service page carries the permanent terms. Choosing that route still starts with deciding whether the vacancy should be permanent.
Temporary chefs: a defined assignment with a proper handover
Temporary cover is the route I would choose when the gap has an end date, or when you need service covered while the permanent decision remains open. It lets you brief the immediate work without rushing the ongoing appointment.
There are trade-offs. An unfamiliar chef needs your recipes, equipment instructions and a named person to answer questions. Changing chefs repeatedly means repeating that handover. For an ongoing assignment, ask whether continuity can be arranged, then record what has been agreed rather than assuming the same chef will return.
Specify the station, prep workload, service pattern and who signs off the hours. Include access arrangements and any setting-specific checks. A booking labelled “chef” leaves too much open if what you need is somebody to run the hot section alone.
Our temporary chef cover page explains the temporary service. Before choosing a supplier, use the questions in how to choose a chef agency to compare the written terms and the briefing process.
Which route fits your sector?
These recommendations start with the work involved.
Restaurants, hotels and pubs
For hotels and restaurants, separate the kitchen’s continuing work from extra services. A restaurant menu owner or hotel kitchen manager may justify a permanent appointment. Banqueting dates, terrace service and holiday cover can sit in a separate temporary brief. In a pub, check whether the missing chef is also responsible for ordering and stock control; covering cooking alone leaves those duties unattended.
Care homes
For care home kitchens, I would prioritise familiarity with residents’ dietary requirements and the records behind each meal. That can support a permanent appointment, but temporary cover needs an equally careful handover.
CQC’s Regulation 18, as checked on 1 October 2026, requires sufficient competent staff. It does not prescribe permanent chefs. Choose the arrangement that lets you meet the work safely, then give the chef the site’s diet information and escalation process.
Schools and nurseries
Build the brief around the meal timetable, dietary instructions and the work expected during closures. A recurring role can support a permanent appointment; a defined absence can support temporary cover. Avoid assuming the same contract suits a term-time school kitchen and a nursery operating across the year.
DBS guidance updated on 11 September 2026 says the check level depends on the duties and setting. The word “temporary” does not settle it. Ask what checks the actual role requires before confirming the start.
Contract caterers
For contract catering, decide at site level which responsibilities continue through the contract and which hours depend on bookings or absences. Put the ongoing site-management role into the permanent brief where appropriate. Keep planned extra services and cover dates visible in a separate schedule so purchasing can compare the commitment accurately.
Location belongs in both briefs. Give a postcode and realistic travel requirements, whether the kitchen is in London or elsewhere. Confirm early starts and late finishes before selecting a chef; an agreed rate does not answer how they will get home.
Compare the costs on the same basis
Permanent salary and temporary worker pay are different from the total you pay as an operator.
The ONS ASHE occupation tables, released on 23 October 2025, put full-time chefs’ median gross annual pay at £30,010 and mean pay at £31,213 for April 2025. Those provisional figures predate the April 2026 wage rise and cover chefs across grades. Use them as a dated reference, then check the actual role in the chef salary guide.
For a permanent employee, budget beyond salary:
| Component | Dated statutory reference |
|---|---|
| Wage floor | GOV.UK: £12.71/hour for workers aged 21 and over from 1 April 2026 |
| Employer National Insurance | HMRC, 2026/27: 15% above the £5,000 annual secondary threshold |
| Minimum employer pension contribution | GOV.UK, 2026/27: 3% on qualifying earnings between £6,240 and £50,270 |
| Paid holiday | GOV.UK, checked 1 October 2026: 5.6 weeks, capped at 28 days; bank holidays can count within it |
| Statutory Sick Pay | HMRC, from 6 April 2026: the lower of £123.25/week or 80% of average weekly earnings, payable from the first day of sickness |
Eligibility matters, particularly for pension contributions and employer reliefs. Add recruitment and induction, and decide how you will cover paid absence. The chef cost calculator lets you work through your own assumptions alongside the agency versus direct hire cost breakdown.
CIPD’s Resourcing and Talent Planning report, published on 22 September 2026 using its April to May survey, reports median recruitment costs of £2,000 for other employees and £3,500 for senior managers and directors. These are cross-sector figures including agency fees, advertising and internal time. They are not chef tariffs, and adding them to a separate recruitment-fee allowance could double-count costs.
For temporary cover, ask for the venue charge and what it includes. GOV.UK’s 2026/27 employer guidance places employer NI and pension duties with the agency where it employs the PAYE worker. Recovery through the charge is a commercial matter. GOV.UK’s holiday reforms, applying to leave years starting from 1 April 2024 in Great Britain, use 12.07% accrual for irregular-hours and part-year workers only. That percentage is not a universal rule for every temporary chef.
Compare the hours you expect to buy, the assignment terms and the cost of covering the same work directly. Our temp chef rates guide distinguishes worker pay from the invoice. There is no verified national average temporary charge rate in the research behind this guide.
Permanent agency fees need their own comparison
How much do recruitment agencies charge? The written package matters more than a general percentage.
HtE Recruitment’s published hospitality terms, last updated in July 2025, list packages at 12%, 15% and 17%, plus VAT. Chef Agency’s undated terms, read on 1 October 2026, state 10% of first-year remuneration with a £2,000 minimum. Those are examples from named agencies, not a market average or Chefs Bay prices. Their fee bases differ, so comparing percentages alone is misleading.
Read the refund clause separately. HtE’s package-one terms describe a weekly cash rebate starting at 100% in week one and ending at 10% in week ten. Chef Agency’s terms state no refunds and a discretionary replacement within six weeks. Both sources have the dates above. A replacement promise and a cash rebate protect you differently.
Ask for the fee base, minimum fee, VAT treatment and conditions in writing. GOV.UK’s Conduct Regulations guidance, updated on 22 June 2026, explains that charges to hirers are business-to-business agreements without a statutory fee cap. Don’t assume a published percentage tells you the whole bill.
Temp to perm: agree the conversion route first
Seeing a chef work in your kitchen can help you judge an ongoing appointment. Keep the assignment, the employment offer and any agency transfer terms distinct. Calling it “try before you buy” does not settle the terms or the chef’s wishes.
Regulation 10 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003, checked on 1 October 2026, makes a transfer-fee term unenforceable unless the contract lets the hirer elect an extended hire period instead.
The relevant period ends at the later of 14 weeks commencing on the first day worked, or eight weeks commencing on the day after the last day worked. Supply before a gap of more than 42 days is ignored for the 14-week calculation under regulation 10(6).
GOV.UK’s transfer-fee guidance, read on 1 October 2026, explains the extended-hire alternative. The contract sets its length; there is no statutory sliding reduction in the fee.
Before offering the job, ask the agency to confirm the relevant assignment dates, transfer fee and extended-hire option in writing. These Conduct Regulations cover England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has separate 2005 regulations, checked on 1 October 2026. Keep any separate recruitment assessment within the trial shift rules.
What changes in employment law?
GOV.UK’s employment-status guidance, read on 1 October 2026, says workers have minimum-wage, paid-holiday and discrimination protections, but worker status alone does not give employee rights to ordinary unfair dismissal, minimum notice or statutory redundancy pay. Status depends on the facts. A temporary label does not settle it.
For employees in Great Britain, the ordinary unfair dismissal qualifying period is two years today. The government’s Employment Rights Act timetable, updated on 25 September 2026, sets the reduction to six months for dismissals with an effective termination date on or after 1 January 2027, under SI 2026/559. It is not a day-one right. GOV.UK’s eligibility guidance, checked on 1 October 2026, distinguishes automatically unfair reasons, which need no qualifying service, and Northern Ireland’s current one-year period.
Guaranteed hours, reasonable shift notice and short-notice cancellation payments, including for agency workers, are scheduled for 2027 in that timetable. The detail remains subject to consultation. Don’t treat them as current booking terms.
For agency assignments, GOV.UK’s Agency Workers Regulations guidance, updated on 25 March 2026, explains equal basic treatment after 12 qualifying weeks in the same role with the same hirer in Great Britain. A cost change is needed only where comparable direct terms are better; there is no prescribed uplift. This clock does not make the chef permanent or cancel a transfer fee. The Agency Workers Regulations guide covers the rota details.
If you are the chef weighing both routes
Compare the hours offered, travel, responsibilities and development available. For temporary work, ask how assignments and pay are confirmed. For a permanent job, ask what the rota and authority actually look like. Acas guidance updated on 7 April 2026 says the agency cannot make you pay the transfer fee or stop you taking permanent work with the hirer. Speak to both parties before arranging a conversion.
Frequently asked questions
Is a permanent chef always cheaper than a temporary chef?
Compare the cost of the work you need. A continuing role can justify a permanent salary; a short gap needs a comparison against temporary cover. Include on-costs, recruitment and absence cover. CIPD’s September 2026 recruitment medians are cross-sector benchmarks, not a price for your chef vacancy.
Can an agency recruit a permanent chef?
Yes. At Chefs Bay, we supply temporary chefs and provide permanent recruitment. Decide whether you need an assignment or an ongoing appointment before choosing the service. Read the permanent service page for its terms.
Does an agency chef become permanent after 12 weeks?
No. GOV.UK’s Agency Workers Regulations guidance, updated on 25 March 2026, describes equal basic treatment after 12 qualifying weeks. It does not turn an assignment into permanent employment or remove the separate transfer-fee rules.
Can I avoid a temp-to-perm transfer fee?
Regulation 10, checked on 1 October 2026, requires an extended-hire alternative for a transfer-fee term to be enforceable. Whether a fee is due also depends on the relevant period and your contract. Get the dates and alternative confirmed before making the offer.
Are unfair dismissal rights changing to day one?
No. The government timetable updated on 25 September 2026 confirms six months for dismissals on or after 1 January 2027 in Great Britain. The ordinary qualifying period is two years today. Automatically unfair dismissal reasons are treated separately.
Put the next rota into the brief
The next useful step is a brief that separates the immediate gap from the ongoing job. Give us the role, location, dates and whether the work will continue. Get a quote for temporary or permanent staff.