FORMER temps with employment agency SOS Limited have fired back at its claims that their recollections of poor treatment by the agency were "exaggerated and distorted".

They insist the allegations reported in the Mid-Ocean News last week are true, and that any outrage felt as a result of their comments by company president Barry Capuano and personnel manager Maryanne Scott, paled in comparison to all they were forced to endure while under contract with SOS.

Their accounts were supported by other temps once employed by SOS who contacted this newspaper in response to the article to share similar experiences.

"The upshot is this ? we've moved on from the situation in Bermuda. We now live in the Middle East, Australasia, Europe, the UK etc., so exactly what reason would any of us have to engage with newspapers and tell lies about some employment agency in Bermuda?" questioned one temp quoted in last week's article.

"It doesn't make sense. What's the motive? There are too many of us with the same kinds of stories ? going back years. We're grown women from professional backgrounds with excellent references from senior level, high-profile management.

"The only reason I (spoke out) was to tell the truth to unsuspecting girls considering going to Bermuda to temp in the future. It's not right that they fall victim to unscrupulous agencies and it should not be allowed to continue.

"SOS are clearly taking it personally but the bottom line is they need to clean up their act and, more importantly, they need to start displaying some measure of integrity in how they treat their employees."

She and the other temps who spoke to this newspaper alleged they were hired by SOS with the understanding they would be provided with suitable accommodation and regular employment for six months, after which the company would seek a full-time position on their behalf.

Said another who was threatened with eviction by SOS after she requested it make repairs to Hayward Manor, a property it uses to house temps: "Everything I have told you has been the absolute truth. When something as horrendous as that happens, you remember it. Trust me. I remember our conversation as if it was yesterday."

The women, who lived and worked here at various times between 2001 and mid-2006, claim the agency failed them in every respect. A rent of $175 deducted from their paycheques afforded residence in Hayward Manor ? an SOS-owned accommodation they argue was filthy on arrival and in need of repair. A second hit-or-miss option was a room in a private home.

It is the temps' accusation that SOS withheld work and threatened eviction whenever complaints were made about living or employment conditions, that the company hired them out to do jobs for which they were overqualified, and that it made little to no effort to place them in permanent positions.

SOS has denied the allegations, calling them "exaggerated and distorted".

A full and comprehensive response by SOS to the allegations was published verbatim in the at the request of SOS which prides itself as Bermuda's leading employment agency with more than 45 years of service to the businesses of Bermuda.

In an advert which ran in newspapers this week, the company explained its stance: "We are in the business of providing temporary staff with permanent placements. If our temporary staff does not work, SOS Limited does not get paid. If our temps go permanent, we receive a placement fee. Ask yourself how it benefits the agency to keep the staff out of work."

Mr. Capuano was contacted yesterday and asked to provide this newspaper with any information which would disprove the temps' allegations. He expressly refused to do so.

The women who spoke with this newspaper however, maintain their case.

Explained one: "I was kept out of work for two weeks after complaining to SOS. It benefits the agency to keep people out of work because (we become so desperate for work) they can force us into taking jobs for which we are overqualified and that (the company) might not otherwise fill.

"I left England as the personal assistant to the director of a leading company and I was forced to work in Bermuda filing, or not at all. By keeping girls out of work it warns temps not to complain about their treatment and allows SOS to fill short-term, temporary jobs that no one else wants to do."

A document entitled 'Becoming a Temporary Secretary with SOS Limited Employment Agency' provided to this newspaper by Ms Scott, supports the temps' understanding that after six months of temping, SOS would do its best to find them permanent employment.

It reads in part: "Our primary goal is to keep you employed 100 per cent of the time that you are on contract with one of our agencies. We keep our non-Bermudian temp staff to a level where we can ensure this rate of employment.

"After temping for a minimum of six months with the agency, (the Department of) Immigration provides for you to accept a permanent position with a local company. This placement is handled by the agency. Ideally, we do aim to place our temps in permanent positions as close to their six-month temping period. We realise that while many temps enjoy temping and the exposure it affords, however, we do not expect you to survive indefinitely on a temp salary. We will assist you in obtaining your goal."

The document lays out relocation costs, pay and weekly deductions, and advises would-be temps to "bring some savings" in order to maintain a comfortable standard of living.

Temps are expected to pay their own airfare to Bermuda and to fork out $293.50 to have their work permit processed by the Department of Immigration. The work permit fee is reimbursed, should the temp remain for six months.

The women are promised between 35 and 40 hours of work a week, at $17 an hour. Lunch hours, holidays and sick days are taken without pay. Our calculations indicate that without overtime pay, a temp's maximum earnings after rent and such weekly deductions as social insurance, basic medical insurance and payroll tax, is $424.19 per week.

"I realised that if I didn't leave Bermuda they would leave me temping indefinitely and I just did not want to live my life like that any longer," stated a former temp. "In the first six weeks that I 'temped' for SOS, my lowest paycheque was $9.28 ? yes, you read that correctly ? my highest was $352.18. That doesn't exactly speak to full-time employment does it? Thereafter for the next seven months my income varied but the highest paycheque was $581.50, courtesy of overtime."

She added that although her work permit described her as an executive secretary, in truth she spent a great deal of time working as a file clerk and delivering mail.

"Did it never cross their mind to (explain the situation) to us before we actually left our respective homes to traipse halfway across the world and file documents for $17 an hour? Effectively, we had no option but to stay on for a certain period of time in those conditions just to recoup our losses. I know for a fact that many girls save money for a long time to make the trip over and then lose even more money by having no work provided once they get there. And it can take anything up to a year ? generally longer ? before you will become permanent, if even then."