Sharing Workers

TG · March 2003

Has anyone ever done employee sharing - meaning your slow season, instead of laying workers offf - work with another local company during their busy season. Employee stays employee of company A and bills company B for the manhours.

jimlegal · March 2003

Interesting concept... I would be interested in how that concept would work, considering the liability.

POPEYE · March 2003

I have never been involved with anything like this but just thinking about legal and liability issues makes my skin crawl. I am assuming that benefits for the EEs is part of your concerns. If you and this other company work out an agreement and could both obtain a waiver on the "waiting" period for eligibility for re-enrollment from your insurance co., why could you not both terminate and then rehire as business demands would dictate?

jimlegal · March 2003

Popeye you bring up an interesting point. If Company A is invoicing Company B, then is Company A acting as a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) or temporary staffing company? If so, then Company A would have a host of additional laws to adhere to. To much risk and liability exposure for me!!!

POPEYE · March 2003

You are so right. I spent a couple of years as a Manager for a staffing company and even with all the signed contracts etc., co-employment issues were lurking around every corner. As Don D put it on another post, "Standing on the top of a slippery slope". No where to go but down!

TG · March 2003

Employee would stay covered with benefits of parent company and these in turn would be recouped through an overall rate per hour to second company. My biggest concern is workers comp, not the cost, but the liability. This would probably fall into the same category as a temporary agency's legalities.

Balloonman · March 2003

The Kansas City Star had a fantastic article on this a month or so ago. I wish I would have saved it. The hardest part was finding a company that had the opposite seasonality. They being slow when you are busy. Really not a big liability issue, just being used as a sub. Think of it that way.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Ruskanen · March 2003

The company that Balloonman was referring to was Western Forms, in Kansas City, Missouri. They share their welders during their slow season with other companies in the city and it has worked out really well for them. Their website is [url]www.westernforms.com[/url]

TG · March 2003

Thank you, that was the article I was looking for. If there are any more out there, please let me know.

Sharing Workers

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