Working with agencies
Book agency staff onto event shifts alongside your own team. You book the places; the agency names its people in its own portal, and they don't need a Pair account.
Before you start: the event needs its customer and location, and your shift roles must be set up. Upload your logo in Settings › General so it shows in the agency portal and its emails.
Add the agency. Select Add agency and enter the company name, main contact and phone. Add every email address that should hear from you: each request, reminder and cancellation goes to all of them. Use Notes for anything your team should know, such as rates or an account number.
Add the agency's shifts to the event. In the event's Shifts tab, add an area if you use them, then Add shift. Choose the shift role, the agency, the number of places, the times and the agency rate.
Send the request. Select Send to agency on a shift, or Send to the agency at the top to send several at once. Add an optional message, such as where to collect hi-vis, check the email preview, then select Send and email.
The agency replies. It accepts or declines in its agency portal, or replies to the email. If it replies by email, select Record reply on the shift to log its answer.
The agency names its people. In its portal, it adds the name, SIA licence and mobile of each person. If it emails you the names instead, select Add names and paste them, one per line, or upload a CSV. Names over the number of places booked aren't added; add places to the shift first if you need them.
On the day, named people appear on the roster and the kiosk. A name can be changed until that person signs in, then it locks. Every change goes to the event log.
After the event, approve the hours. Supervisors can score each person in Performance.
Each shift shows its status, such as Not sent, Awaiting reply or Accepted, and how many places are named, such as 2/2 named. Select Places to see and change the names, or Resend the request. On the Staffing Roster, each agency has its own row showing how many places are named.
Managing your agencies
For admins
The list shows each agency's contact, email and how many shifts it has worked this year. Filter by Active, Inactive or All, or search by agency, contact or email.
Select the menu beside an agency for:
Edit details: change its name, contact, phone, emails or notes.
Download pay list: download what you owe the agency, one event at a time.
Deactivate: inactive agencies can't be booked, but their history stays. Turn Active back on in Edit details to book them again.
What the agency sees
Agencies don't need a Pair account or password. They sign in to the agency portal with the email address you have for them, and get a sign-in link by email. The link works once, for 15 minutes, and keeps them signed in on that device for up to 12 hours.
Requests: each request, with the shift role, date, times, place and rate. They Accept or Decline, then add their people. Filter by To do, Coming up, Past and closed, or All.
Your events: how many places are named for each event, and anything needing their reply.
Each request's page: a map of the venue with Google Maps and Apple Maps links, the zone and rate, and their people, who they can edit or remove until each person signs in.
Results: once you approve the shift, they see each person's approved hours and the expected charge. If a supervisor scored their people, they see the performance scores too.
How long agency people's details are kept is set in Settings › Staffing › Hours and pay.
Updated 2026-10-24