The Construction Industry Council has today published a skills plan for the industry that identifies more direct employment as a necessary precursor to a better trained industry.
The prevalence of self-employment in the construction industry has long been an issue of concern to many. But the real life practicalities of contractors needing to take on operatives quickly when winning work and let them go when contracts finish stands in the way of achieving a fully directly employed workforce.
However, page 25 of the new skills plan provides a case study from the electrical contracting sector that might have the potential to be rolled out further across the wider construction industry, it is suggested.
This is what it says:
The suspension of almost all electrical work at Gatwick Airport during lockdown presented a major challenge for Leading Electrical Services Ltd, most of whose work is
Gatwick related. Company director Sandra Rumbold-Koch feared for the future, but then spotted an email from her trade association, Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), explaining that another member firm in the region was looking for short-term ‘top-up’ workers under ECA’s long-established Loan Labour Scheme. ECA put her in touch with Delron Services Ltd and the two firms agreed to the loan of four electricians for a 10-day period over the October half-term break – enabling Delron to complete an accelerated installation contract at a school in Croydon.
For Sandra, this and four other loan arrangements organised through ECA have helped the firm ‘battle our way through’ – with work prospects now, at last, looking up.
Delron’s technical manager Ben Scofield was also very happy with Sandra’s electricians: “They all got on with the job straight away. Everything went in quickly and well.”
After some bad experiences with employment agencies, he sees real advantages in 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.”
Further information about the ECA Loan Labour Scheme can be found on the ECA website.
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