As employers continue to navigate the easing (again) of restrictions, labour availability remains a challenge. Contributing factors range from Covid-related absences to a squeezed labour market, with ONS figures to December 2021 showing job vacancies at a record high.
ECA has continued to adapt its services to support Members through the crisis and beyond. Our popular Loan Labour Scheme enables Members either to offer surplus labour for loan to other Members or to request top-up labour for a set period or project. Central to the scheme is the potential to source skilled and productive local labour from a reliable company.
The scheme is managed through the ECA regional managers. drawing on their local contacts and expertise. It is available in all regions although take-up has varied with employers in the Eastern Region, the biggest users in 2021, followed by the South East and Midlands.
Once an arrangement has been brokered it is down to the parties to agree a business-to-business commercial arrangement: in essence, a labour-only sub-contract. This agreement does not involve ECA, although comprehensive Member guidance is available here.
Apprentices can also form part of this arrangement and guidance on the extra provisions required in this case can be found here.
The Loan Labour Scheme proved invaluable during the pandemic, and has remained popular since, with 115 requests made in 2021, compared to 52 in the period June to December 2020.
81% of applications received in 2021 involved requests for labour, a demand we have struggled to meet. We are keen therefore to encourage more Members to make under-utilised employees available through the scheme. By contrast, of the Members that offered labour for loan in 2021, 50% were satisfied through the scheme, double the success rate in 2020.
One benefit of the scheme that some employers value is that it provides an alternative to agency labour. Instead, Members are able to supplement their workforce with trusted quality staff from another ECA Member.
For example, Ben Scofield – Technical Manager of Delrons Services– , was especially pleased with the electricians he sourced through the scheme from fellow ECA South East Member, Leading Electrical Services. According to Ben: ‘‘They all got on with the job straight away. Everything went in quickly and well”. After some bad experiences with employment agencies, Ben appreciated the advantages of using direct employees on a loan arrangement: “The fact that their employer wants to keep hold of them – you know you are getting decent guys.”
If you would like to explore this option or take advantage of the Loan Labour scheme, please complete the application form found here or speak to your ECA regional manager for further information.