Personnel outstaffing - what is it? Services, contract and essence of outstaffing

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Any company forms the staff of its employees, based on the criteria for ensuring business performance. Nevertheless, sometimes one has to face a situation where spending money and time on the selection, adaptation or professional training of new specialists is not economically feasible. In this case, outstaffing comes to the aid of entrepreneurs, acting as an effective tool for attracting freelancers.

Let's consider what the essence of these services is, what is the subject of the contract with an outstaffer, what advantages a customer receives, working in conditions of fierce market competition, what risks he may face and how to avoid them.

Outstaffing: revealing the concept

Acting in the interests of the client, the outstaffer provides him with competent specialized specialists with the necessary level of qualification, experience and professional knowledge for the period of implementation of a specific project or seasonal work.

In other words, outstaffing of personnel is the registration in the staff of the provider company, in factwhich is a formal employer for the involved personnel, part of the employees of the customer company. At the same time, all routine work related to personnel management, compliance with civil and labor law (including the provisions of federal legislation on the hiring of foreign citizens), transfer of taxes, accrual and payment of wages falls on the shoulders of the outstaffer.

Briefly about foreign experience

USA, Canada, Western European countries are well aware of what outstaffing is. In the decades that have passed since the appearance of the first outstaffers (the period of the economic recession of the 70s of the XX century), they have managed to appreciate the potential for material benefits from the temporary provision of freelancers.

For clarity, only a few numbers can be given. So for example:

• Outstaffing services market volume indicators are estimated at billions of dollars (7 billion - Germany, about 38 billion - Great Britain, 80 billion - USA);
• number of workers employed under the contract with outstaffers - from 7 to 10 million people (in the countries of the European Union and the USA, respectively);
• Growth in demand for the supply of the outstaffing industry is about 30% annually

Russian market specifics

In Russia, the start of the popularity of this type of service began in the late 90s of the last century. This was primarily due to the economic crisis, persistently pushingentrepreneurs to address the issue of optimizing personnel policy through the rational and economically sound use of labor resources.

Today, staff leasing (outstaffing) is a completely common and familiar practice in Moscow and many other large Russian cities. Initially, the ranks of the “outsourced” employees were replenished by narrowly qualified specialists who performed a small segment of work of a certain profile, and top managers. Over time, they were joined by ordinary freelancers (for example, cooks, workers in packing shops or warehouses, stewards, waiters, porters, etc.).

Drawing up a contract

Personnel outstaffing services are provided to the customer on the terms of the contract. In order to really ensure the economic benefit of the agreement being concluded and to prevent the possibility of unwanted questions from representatives of the supervisory authorities, this document should be given due attention. Without fail, it must include specific and as complete information as possible about the rights and obligations of the parties, the limits of their powers, the conditions of interaction and the services provided.

The functions performed by the selected specialists in the interests of the customer, as well as the qualification requirements for these freelancers, are described in detail. The amount that will be paid to the outstaffer for the services rendered is clearly stipulated. At the same time, the contractor undertakes to bear the costs of providing social guarantees (payment for sick leave, benefits andetc.), transfer taxes and insurance premiums, pay wages to employees involved in the framework of a civil law contract being drawn up. In addition, the outstaffer takes care of resolving labor disputes and disagreements.

When is outstaffing necessary?

Let's consider the expediency of attracting a certain number of employees for temporary work using the example of a commercial organization.

• The company is expanding its product line to market and needs sales representatives to actively stimulate demand for new brands. There is no doubt that in this situation it is much more profitable to use employees "from the outside" than to register them in the state, taking into account the subsequent dismissal.
• The company has an employee who does his job well, perhaps he is not even fully loaded. However, for the period of his illness or vacation, the services of outstaffers will be quite appropriate.
• The staffing table does not provide for additional specialists for the implementation of a seasonal project, or there was a need to perform work that was not planned within the current budget.

Benefits

In comparison with the direct hiring of labor, outstaffing allows the customer to receive a number of tangible benefits. What is it about?

• The burden on the HR department and the accounting department is reduced, as a result, administrative costs are reduced.
• No risksrelated to liability for violations of labor legislation (including laws on the labor activity of foreign citizens) and the occurrence of insured events.
• It becomes possible to ensure the maximum correspondence of the number of employees to the actual volume of work and flexible personnel management.
• Funds needed to organize training and staff development are saved.

What is the difference between personnel outsourcing and outstaffing?

Outsourcing means the actual transfer of certain functions of the customer organization to a third-party (external) contractor. Thus, human and financial resources are freed up, which can be directed to solving issues that require priority consideration and increased attention. What else is the key difference between such business models as outsourcing and outstaffing?

The task of employees hired under an outsourcing agreement is to provide the agreed service (accounting, personnel records, legal support, or otherwise). At the same time, they are employees of the outsourcing company and can perform their activities on the territory of the customer or on the territory of the contractor without direct interaction with the client of the outsourcing company.

Outstaffing is different. This service involves the provision to the customer of certain specialists who work at his location, without directly entering into labor and civil law with him.relationship.

Outstaffing as a tool for hiring migrant workers

It's no secret that hiring foreigners in the Russian Federation is associated with certain difficulties due to the strict requirements of migration legislation, which provides for significant pen alties for violations, and the presence of quotas. Under these conditions, outstaffing of foreign personnel avoids many problems.

The outstaffing company carries out all personnel procedures within the framework of applicable laws, issuing a full set of permits that give the right to hire foreign citizens. As a result, the customer of services saves on the purchase of specialized methodological manuals or magazines and training of full-time specialists in courses and seminars on hiring labor migrants. But most importantly, he saves himself from any claims from the labor inspectorate, the migration service or the prosecutor's office.

“Pitfalls” of the procedure

For objectivity, it should be noted that, in addition to advantages, outstaffing of personnel can also be fraught with hidden risks. In particular, there is a possibility of concluding a deliberately unprofitable contract with a company specializing in the provision of services of this profile.

Such a document, containing provisions that are contrary to the law, may be invalidated by the courts, and therefore, will become the starting point for consideration of the issue ofbringing the customer to legal liability and imposing pen alties. Negative consequences will be avoided by cooperation with professionals who take into account all the requirements of the Federal Migration Service and the Federal Tax Service when developing an agreement.

When is outstaffing prohibited?

Only legal entities with the appropriate accreditation have the right to provide personnel (No. 116-FZ of 05.05.2014). The ban on outstaffing (as a type of activity) applies to individual entrepreneurs and companies that do not meet certain criteria in terms of the size of the authorized capital, the length of service of the head, etc.

In addition, federal law prohibits the use of outstaffing services to replace workers participating in strikes when hiring crews of river-sea and sea-going vessels, specialists to perform work at production sites with harmful working conditions (3, 4 degree) and dangerous objects (I, II class).

In other cases, with a responsible professional approach, outstaffing is an excellent solution for business representatives interested in optimizing staffing, reducing costs and maximizing focus on solving strategic problems.