黑洞社区

With around 50% of employees seeking work through agencies, it鈥檚 no secret that the m&e business model is changing. Yet it鈥檚 fair to say that the JIB鈥檚 national agreement recalls a bygone era; one of direct employment and electrical-only firms.

The industry has become somewhat two-tiered. Whilst the majority of SMEs are still following the JIB鈥檚 recommended direct labour route, a large number of major contractors favour agency labour.

Steve Brawley, employee relations officer at the ECA, puts the industry鈥檚 reliance on top-up labour down to increasing client demand. 鈥淢ore projects are becoming fast-track and clients want things done yesterday,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he ability to rustle up, say, an extra four electricians from an agency makes eminent sense. You can鈥檛 get direct labour like turning a tap on and off.鈥�

Jim Simms, industrial relations manager for labour agency Beaver Management Services (BMS), also sees major benefits for the employee, which reflect the current labour market. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a flexible workforce, which is not transient,鈥� he explains. 鈥淲e can employ people continually. We don鈥檛 hire and fire because we have that many contracts. Our people have a degree of choice in what jobs they go on 鈥� if someone wants three months off to go backpacking they can.鈥�

However, Amicus-Unite鈥檚 national officer Tom Hardacre believes employers have moved towards agency labour because they don鈥檛 want the liability of employing people. 鈥淭hey want to be able to maintain an extremely lean nucleus of employees and then be able to hire people at will in order to circumvent the statutory positions that employers are faced with,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure the employees have the option 鈥� it鈥檚 the only means by which they can get the work.鈥�

Employers and clients may provide the push for electricians, but the mobility factor is certainly a major pull. 鈥淚f workers are on the books for a main contractor, they could be sent around the country, which just doesn鈥檛 suit some people,鈥� says Brawley. 鈥淚f they work for a labour agency in London, they can pretty much rely on staying in London. If an agency can鈥檛 find them work there, they can always move on to another that can.鈥�

Legal loopholes mean that employees also view this method of working as an opportunity to lessen or avoid tax and national insurance payments. The loophole that legitimised the formation of composite, or managed service companies, where workers are paid a low wage with a dividend on top, was closed in April this year. However, when one loophole closes, another usually opens soon afterwards.

We鈥檝e got a flexible workforce that isn鈥檛 transient. our People have a degree of choice in what jobs they go on.

Jim Simms, BMS

For some, being paid a direct wage without the inevitable reductions necessitated by insurance and other deductions is also a draw. 鈥淭hey may think, 鈥榠f I work for an agency I get 拢600, but if I work for an employer I only get 拢500. The benefit鈥檚 worth 拢100 or more, but many would rather have the 拢600 in their hands,鈥� explains Brawley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a short term way of looking at things and you are taking a risk. However, it鈥檚 a bit like pensions. You might think, 鈥榳hy should I bother taking a pension out? I鈥檓 only 22鈥�. At 42 you鈥檒l probably be thinking differently. But then, electrical contracting has traditionally been a young man鈥檚 game.鈥�

Brawley acknowledges that Rule 17 of the JIB national agreement, which deals with labour agencies, does not work particularly well and that few are happy with it. 鈥淚t says that agency labour should not be in the majority on a contract. It should be less than 50%. But you鈥檒l easily be able to find sites where that isn鈥檛 being applied,鈥� he says.

In the short term, top-up labour is extremely useful to a large number of companies. However, Brawley is uneasy about the lack of training. 鈥淟ooking ahead, you don鈥檛 have a continuous input of labour coming into the industry, numbers will decline, which they have done. We still have 2500 recruits per annum coming into the sector, but it used to be more like 5000,鈥� he says.

Hardacre shares his fears. 鈥淭he only thing the agencies want to do is peddle flesh. They鈥檝e no concerns about training,鈥� he says.

The criticism is perhaps a tad unfair. Two years ago, labour agency BMS teamed up with the ECA, training provider JTL and firms in the ECA/HVCA Joint Major Contractors鈥� Group (JMCG) to take on a number of apprentices who moved between JMCG companies to experience different types of work. The aim was to offer trainees an apprenticeship with participating major contractors. The pilot scheme remains the only one of its kind in the country.

Hardacre distrusted it from the beginning. 鈥淭o be quite frank, I think it was just a bit of tokenism,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd we don鈥檛 want apprentices to fall into that kind of culture at such a young stage in their developments. We would rather have them employed properly so that way of working becomes their futures.鈥� Brawley is also dubious about the scheme. 鈥淛TL had no reservations concerning the quality of the training, but the numbers were too low. They managed to get 15 onto the scheme, which is only equivalent to the intake of one company out of the 16 in the JMCG,鈥� he says. But Simms says it鈥檚 wrong to blame the agency approach for this. 鈥淚f it was up to us, we鈥檇 take 200 apprentices. It鈥檚 the clients who find it too costly and time consuming.鈥� Simms claims that the ECA wound the scheme up due to internal disagreements with BMS over unrelated subjects. He adds: 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e still starting apprenticeships outside of that scheme. I鈥檝e just started one this morning in the Midlands. We have 240 clients and we have a seamless supply chain. We just move people around to get the best training.鈥�

Simms also refutes claims that the safety and welfare of employees are always compromised by the agency model. 鈥淲e鈥檙e affiliated to the ECIA and we鈥檙e members of Welplan, so we can provide welfare benefits to any client who wants them. We believe that clients and trade associations should make that a priority,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where Amicus-Unite has it wrong. Instead of attacking the concept of labour agencies, they should make agencies provide welfare benefits.鈥�

The only thing the agencies want to do is peddle flesh. They鈥檝e no concerns about training.

Tom Hardacre, Amicus

Perhaps what鈥檚 actually needed is more dialogue between the ECA, the union and the labour agencies. The idea is a sound one, but easier said than done. It鈥檚 been more than a year now since the ECA revealed plans to set up an Employment Business Forum to instigate formalised discussions with agencies over common issues.

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 quite get there with the forum,鈥� admits Brawley. 鈥淏ut it certainly hasn鈥檛 gone away. It鈥檚 a thorny subject and it might have been a bit of a surprise if people had managed to get an agreement first time. Perhaps it鈥檒l be something we can come back to when we鈥檝e completed the wage agreement this year.鈥�

Certainly, first time round the plan came under attack from contractors who did not wish to see agencies legitimised to such an extent that they could become competitors pricing for work rather than mere suppliers of top-up labour.

Yet Brawley sees agencies in an altogether more positive light. 鈥淚n terms of the industry as a whole, they are significant, so it makes sense to explore how we could bring them into a more formal relationship with the ECA so they start to contribute to the industry,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you did have a forum, you could contemplate issues such as agencies providing apprenticeship opportunities.

鈥淎lso, there鈥檚 a big distinction between agencies being involved in some kind of forum and having a situation where agencies are in the ECA,鈥� says Brawley.

One thing鈥檚 for certain, there鈥檚 no turning back the clock. So perhaps by welcoming labour agencies into the fold, the ECA can ensure operatives have the same skills and wage rates as JIB electricians, creating a more level playing field for all.