Crossword Genius

Time without permanent employees captured in paint (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tempera

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'paint' is the definition.
(type of paint)

'time without permanent employees captured' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'time' could be 'era' (an era is a period of time) and 'era' is found within the answer.
The remaining letters 'temp' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tempera that I've seen before include "Method of drawing" , "vehicle" , "A paint and a painting technique" , "decorative style" , "Egg-yolk and water painting medium" .)

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