Temp assignment confirmation email: what to send before day one

A temp assignment confirmation email is the message a staffing agency sends a worker after the pay rate and start date are agreed, covering everything they need to actually show up and start work: site address, shift times, who to ask for, what to wear or bring, and how to log hours. Skip any one of these and the agency, not the client, gets the call when the worker is standing in a lobby with no badge and no name to give security.

This is different from the offer conversation itself, which is about pay and dates. This email is about logistics, sent once those are settled. For the paperwork that has to happen around the same time — I-9, tax forms, E-Verify where the client requires it — see the contractor onboarding checklist.

What the email has to settle

Every temp no-show or first-day complaint an agency handles traces back to one of five missing facts. Put all five in every confirmation, even for a returning worker at a familiar site, because the site, the supervisor or the dress code can change between assignments without anyone telling the recruiter.

• Where and when. Full address, entrance to use, parking, and the exact clock-in time, not the shift's nominal start.
• Who to ask for. A name and phone number, not just a department. "Ask for the warehouse office" sends a first-time worker in circles.
• What to bring or wear. PPE, steel-toe boots, a specific badge or ID, closed-toe shoes, a laptop.
• Pay and hours. Rate, expected hours, overtime rules if any, and how and when the worker logs time.
• Who to call if something goes wrong. A number that is answered, not the general office line, for a no-show at the site, a late start, or a worker who gets lost.

The temp assignment confirmation email template

Copy this and fill in the brackets. Cut any line that does not apply rather than leaving it half-filled.

Subject: Confirmed: [Client name] assignment starting [Start date]

Hi [Worker first name],

You're confirmed for the following assignment. Please reply to confirm you
received this, or call/text me if anything below doesn't match what we discussed.

Client: [Client name]
Role: [Job title / what you'll be doing]
Start date: [Date], report by [Time]
Shift: [Days and hours], [expected length of assignment or "ongoing"]
Location: [Full address]
Entrance / parking: [Instructions]
Report to: [Contact name], [phone number]
Dress code / PPE: [Specifics — steel toes, hi-vis, closed-toe shoes, business casual]
Bring: [ID for badge, laptop, tools, etc.]
Pay rate: [$X/hour], overtime after [X hours] at [rate]
Timesheet: [How and when to log hours — app, paper, client system]
Pay day: [Weekly/biweekly], [day of week], [direct deposit or check]

If you're running late or can't make it, call/text me at [phone] before your
shift starts — not the client. If I don't answer, text and I'll call back.

[Your name]
[Agency name] | [Phone] | [Email]

A filled example

An invented worker and assignment, written the way a usable confirmation reads:

A short version for text message

Email is the record; text is what gets read before a 6 AM shift. Send both, and keep the text to the five facts a worker needs in the parking lot, not the full template:

Confirmed: Northgate Distribution, Mon 9/28, report by 6:45am
4410 Freeport Blvd, Dock 3. Ask for Dana, (555) 201-4477.
Steel toes required. $19.50/hr. Reply YES to confirm.
Running late? Text me first: (555) 340-9012 - Priya

A text that asks for a one-word reply gets answered far more often than an email that asks the worker to "let me know if this works." The specific instruction does the work; a general one gets skimmed.

Why each field earns its place

Sending it and getting a real confirmation

Send the confirmation as soon as the client verbally accepts the worker and the details are set, not the morning of the shift. If the worker uses text more than email, send both: the email as the record, a text with the essentials (site, time, contact) because that is what actually gets read on a phone at 6 AM.

Ask for a reply, even a one-word one. A confirmation that goes unread is not a confirmed assignment, no matter how clearly it was written. If a worker has not replied by the evening before a first shift at a new site, call. The five minutes it takes beats explaining a no-show to the client the next morning.

For a returning worker at a site they already know, the email can be shorter, but still send it. Sites change dock assignments, supervisors and dress codes between assignments more often than agencies expect, and a returning worker who skips the confirmation because "I know this place" is the one who shows up to a schedule change nobody told them about.

When the assignment changes or falls through

Plans change between the confirmation and the first shift more often in temp staffing than in direct hire, because clients adjust headcount against same-week demand. Handle each case differently:

• Time or site changes: call first, then send a short correction with only the changed line, subject line starting "UPDATED:". Do not resend the full template; a worker who gets two similar-looking emails often acts on the wrong one.
• Start date pushed back: tell the worker the same day you find out, with a reason if the client gave one, and a new date if you have it or a timeframe for when you will.
• Assignment cancelled before it starts: call, do not lead with email. Offer whatever alternative work exists, even if it is a lesser fit, before ending the call. A worker who is called personally and offered something else is far more likely to take the next assignment you offer than one who gets a cancellation email.

Workers who are cancelled on repeatedly, especially by text or email with no call, stop answering when your agency calls next. The relationship is the inventory in staffing; treat a cancellation as a moment to protect it, not just a message to send.

Extensions and multi-week assignments

When an assignment that was booked as one week turns into six, or a client wants the same worker back for a second stint, send a short extension confirmation rather than assuming the original email still covers it. Confirm three things explicitly: the new end date or "ongoing until further notice," whether the pay rate changes at any hour or week threshold, and whether the reporting contact or shift has moved. Sites often shift a long-running temp to a different supervisor or a different shift once the assignment stops being a short-term fill, and that is exactly the kind of change a worker will not know unless the agency tells them.

For assignments expected to run more than a few weeks, ask the worker at the two-week mark how it is going, before the client asks you the same question. A worker who is struggling with a shift, a commute or a supervisor will usually say so if asked directly, and catching it early is the difference between placing them elsewhere on good terms and losing both the worker and the client relationship to an assignment that quietly failed.

A pre-shift checklist for the recruiter

Run through this the business day before the shift, not the morning of:

• Confirmation sent and a reply received, or a call made if not.
• Any required paperwork — I-9, tax forms, background check, drug screen — is complete, not just scheduled.
• The client contact named in the email is actually expecting this worker on this day.
• PPE the agency is responsible for providing has been given to the worker or is waiting at the site.
• The worker has a number to call that someone will actually answer before 7 AM.
• The assignment is logged in your system with the confirmed start date, so a second recruiter does not double-book the same worker.

The last one matters more than it sounds. Double-booked temps are a small, recurring failure in agencies where several recruiters share a talent pool and nobody owns the calendar. A shared placement log, checked before every confirmation goes out, catches it before the worker does.