What is outstaffing in simple words? How is outstaffing different from outsourcing? Which agencies provide staffing services and what is their cost?

Hello, dear readers! With you is one of the authors of the business magazine HiterBober.ru Dmitry Shaposhnikov.

One of the ways to solve problems associated with hiring personnel and optimizing the size of an enterprise is outstaffing - a service for providing personnel.

For 7 years I headed a large division in Stavropol of one of the leading telecommunications companies in Russia. Our company actively used outstaffing, especially in recent years.

Outstaffing can help you properly distribute the workload among employees, free you from many problems, and save money and nerves.

By correctly implementing this tool in your business practice, you will revive your business, increase income, and partially avoid the problem of hiring staff. You will have free resources for development and more time for planning.

Do you also want to use this tool in your business, so that neither the labor nor the tax authorities consider the law to be broken?

Then close the extra tabs in your browser and read this article carefully!

1. What is outstaffing in simple words?

Let's start with a definition.

Outstaffing- a form of hiring temporary employees to perform different categories of work.

For example, you have just opened your store and you need:

• train your consultants in sales technologies,
• Hire someone to do general weekly cleaning;
• periodically, 2-3 times a month, unload and unload heavy goods.

And during the New Year's sale, you will need additional sales consultants, who will then need to be fired. In addition, your full-time employees periodically get sick and go on vacation. It would be desirable to have a person who could substitute if necessary.

If you enter into employment contracts with all these people, you will encounter the following difficulties:

1. Difficulty of selection. No one wants to go to work for several days before New Year's, once a week or several times a month. It is almost impossible to make money with such a schedule.
2. Difficulty of dismissal. Even if there are people willing, you must conclude an employment contract. Usually it is concluded for an indefinite (long) period, but you need it for 2 weeks. If the employee does not agree, problems may begin.
3. Paper work. A lot of documents are prepared for each employee and soon you will be faced with the need to hire another HR inspector, and this is an additional expense.

Outstaffing will save you, as the director of a store or any other enterprise.

In simple words,

Outstaffing- is the provision of personnel for rent by a third-party company. At the same time, these personnel are employed by the outstaffing company.

To implement such an idea, three parties are needed: the employee himself, the company that needs him, and the recruitment agency. The latter draws up an agreement with the candidate in accordance with the Labor Code, pays insurance premiums for him, but the workplace is located in an interested company.

You set the requirements and position profile for the agency that provides outstaffing services, and it takes care of loading the employees’ work schedule, paying fees, and its readiness to come to you upon request.

Do not resort to outstaffing if you are hiring core staff. With consultants and cashiers in a store, with engineers and key workers in production, with doctors and nurses in a hospital, if you plan to employ them full-time for a long time, you can and should conclude indefinite employment contracts and provide them with all guarantees and social benefits.

2. How does outstaffing differ from outsourcing?

Until now, in many contracts and even in court definitions, outsourcing refers to the selection and provision of personnel at the disposal of the customer, but this is outstaffing.

These two concepts have nothing in common. In the table below you will clearly see these differences. We previously wrote about.

Comparison table between outstaffing and outsourcing:

Thus, outsourcing and outstaffing are different forms of contractual relations and forms of performing company tasks. Confusion in concepts can lead to incorrect interpretation of the terms of the contract by different parties, and, therefore, to conflict, severance of relations, fines and other unpleasant consequences.

3. New in legislation: is outstaffing prohibited since 2016?

I’ll say right away that no, no and no again! The ban on outstaffing is a myth invented to create excitement around the topic. What exactly has changed? The legislator introduced a new concept - Agency labor, which has been vetoed since 2016.

Agency labor- this is an uncontrolled rental of any personnel for any purpose and any work. In Russia he prohibited since 2016.

Outstaffing has not been prohibited since 2016, subject to compliance with legal restrictions.

The benefits of outstaffing, if used correctly, are obvious.

Companies can save on temporary, seasonal employees, on performing work in secondary (non-core) activities, in places that do not require serious training or special education.

And that's not it. Resourceful employers have come up with a simple but effective system using HR outstaffing:

1. Pay less for accident insurance. A company that is engaged in high-altitude, underwater, underground and other dangerous/harmful work, then for each employee such a contribution will be high. But if you hire a specialist whose employer is a recruitment agency, the insurance premium will not exceed a hundred rubles, because the main activity of an outstaffing agency is not high-altitude/underwater/underground and other dangerous and harmful work, but personnel selection. Only workers with injuries and occupational diseases received at work suffer from such a scheme - they cannot count on full insurance.
2. Save on insurance premiums for employees. Contribute smaller amounts to the Pension Fund for employees who are entitled to early retirement due to their working conditions. A miner whose employer is a recruitment agency will not receive an early pension, although he actually works in conditions that imply such a pension.
3. Save on vacation. Do not pay for additional leave, which is due to some categories of workers, because they are employed in an outstaffing company, and not in hazardous production.
4. Replace employees quickly. For example, “undesirable” and “obstinate” workers who go on strike can be quickly replaced with others. To avoid downtime, the company hires suitable specialists and continues to work.

Such manipulations and games with the law could not go unnoticed by the legislator for long, so outstaffing has undergone changes and restrictions since 2016.

For some categories of workers, in order to protect their rights, only a direct employment contract is provided with all the benefits required by law: additional payments for harmful or dangerous working conditions, early retirement, additional paid leave, and accident insurance.

4. Outstaffing and agency work: the main differences

Until 2016, when no form of leasing personnel was regulated by law, these two concepts could be considered synonymous.

Let me remind you that agency labor involves the replacement of any workers, for any period, for any purpose, without restrictions. This form of outstaffing is now prohibited in our country. Moreover, since 2016, a third party has appeared - the employee himself. In case of agency work, his opinions could not be taken into account - the employer’s order was sufficient. And during outstaffing 2016, he acts as a full partner, consciously entering into an agreement and giving voluntary consent to work in the company.

In order not to “slide” into illegal hired labor, when concluding an outstaffing agreement between a recruitment agency and a company, very specific requirements must be met.

The company is prohibited from using hired personnel:

• during strikes of key workers, during downtime associated with non-payment of wages to regular staff;
• at hazardous facilities, in workplaces with hazardous working conditions;
• when the qualifications and education of employees are necessary to obtain licenses, accreditations and permits (doctors in medical institutions, teachers in educational institutions, chief engineers and mechanics in production - all these employees must be on staff and cannot be rented out.

5. Sample outstaffing agreement for download

In addition to legal restrictions, when concluding a contract for leasing personnel through outstaffing, you need to provide for many details, which, if neglected, will cause additional costs. For example:

• Are recruitment and selection services included in the price or are they paid separately?
• Can the contractor (recruitment agency) change employees without the consent of the customer company?
• What should the parties do if the submitted candidate does not meet the requirements?
• many other minor details that are paid attention to only if problems arise with them.

To immediately foresee all possible situations and insure yourself against potential problems, you need a qualified lawyer. What if his services are too expensive? The Internet will come to the rescue! For example, a service such as QuickDoc with a sample outstaffing agreement can help you in drawing up an agreement. By changing positions, you can get different terms of the agreement.

6. Which agencies provide personnel services and commissions from outstaffing companies?

Personnel provision services since 2016 can be provided by:

• accredited recruitment agencies;
• legal entities or entrepreneurs - under contracts with affiliated companies and with the consent of the employee.

In St. Petersburg and Moscow, the following agencies provide outstaffing:

1. Zest-Personal(zest-personal.ru)
2. Interprime(interprime.rf)
3. Contact Service(okcall.ru) - call center
4. Credence(credence.ru)
5. Personnel Advisor(outstaffing-sovetnik.ru)

The following requirements are imposed on outstaffing companies: they must apply only the basic taxation system, operate without arrears in payments to the budget, have at least a million rubles of authorized capital, and the head of such an agency must have a higher education and work experience in the specialty.

The customer pays the agency a single invoice, which includes:

• employee salary;
• personal income tax;
• contributions to the Pension Fund, Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund, Social Insurance Fund;
• vacation pay, payment upon dismissal;
• agency commission. It provides compensation for personnel records management, accounting and tax support for personnel, and submission of reports for each employee. The increased commission may include recruitment services.
• other services: provision of workwear, uniforms, training, medical examinations, etc.

The average agency fee is on average 1-5 thousand rubles for each employee. Most performers offer a discount based on the number of employees.

The cost of outstaffing is low, otherwise there would be no point in it.

To better understand what outstaffing is and in what cases companies resort to it, watch the video from Stolitsa FM radio:

7. Conclusion

Now you have learned more about this method of working with personnel as outstaffing, as well as about new legislative requirements in this area. We hope you found this article helpful. Today, this service can be used by any company that wants to legally reduce labor costs.

All that is required is to follow the basic provisions:

1. The temporary nature of the work of hired personnel;
2. The employee’s consent to own rent;
3. Workplaces without harmful or dangerous factors;
4. Working with an accredited outstaffing agency.

Compliance with these points will allow you to work calmly, saving money and without violating current legislation. I wish you success!

In modern commercial activities, personnel technologies such as outstaffing and outsourcing are widely used. They are often confused with each other, and therefore both terms need clarification.

Explanation of terms

They call the transfer of secondary areas of the company's activities for servicing to another company. Among these areas it is worth mentioning accounting, legal support, human resources management, and technical services.

This is called a personnel management scheme in which one organization (outstaffer) hires specialists, and another company (customer) rents them. Outstaffing is used in all areas of the economy, from production to trade.

The main differences between outsourcing and outstaffing

1. 1. Design and work schedule. The representative of the outsourcing company has a flexible work schedule. He is not assigned a workplace. He is paid only for the work performed (although advances are not excluded). His colleague, hired as an outstaffer, receives a salary every month, but is forced to work, as a rule, on the customer’s premises.
2. 2. Recruitment procedure in outstaffing differs from the hiring procedure in outsourcing. In the first case, hired specialists enter into legal relations with the performing company (outstaffer), but perform the functions of the customer company. In the second case, employees fulfill the terms of the contract concluded between the customer company and the outsourcing performing company.
3. 3. Application area. Outsourcing is used mainly to solve “intellectual” problems. This concept is often associated with accounting and legal services, information technology. Outstaffing is more universal. Representatives of blue-collar professions often work under outstaffing agreements.
4. 4. Interaction diagram. Outsourcing almost always follows the same scenario: the customer company transfers some of its functions to representatives of the outsourcing company.

   Outstaffing involves two schemes of interaction between the parties:

   The customer company officially fires several employees, and the performing company officially employs them. From now on, they are listed as an outstaffer, and continue to work for the customer (under the same conditions and in the same place). The relationship between the customer and the contractor is regulated by the contract for the provision of personnel.

   The performing company selects qualified workers and then provides them for temporary use to the customer. These workers may be part of the outstaffing staff, or they may be recruited externally.

It has been noted that in terms of economic benefits, outsourcing is more effective, since when implementing this model, the outsourcing company controls the quality of work of its employees. An outstaffing company does not have such an opportunity. When outstaffing, responsibility for the quality of work is assigned exclusively to the staff.

Today, outstaffing is becoming increasingly popular. This concept is often confused with outsourcing. These terms are not complete synonyms, but the phenomena themselves have similar features.

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In some cases, the legislation in force on this matter overlaps in relation to both phenomena.

In fact, the use of outsourcing and outstaffing pursues the same goal - performing certain tasks at the expense of hired workers.

But at the same time, the process of interaction between the employer and such an employee is significantly different.

General information

The very concept of outstaffing, like outsourcing, came to us from abroad. Back in 1970, a crisis arose in the United States of America, as a result of which the number of workers in many enterprises was reduced to a minimum.

But at the same time, the need to perform a certain amount of work remained. This issue was resolved by attracting outside employees.

Today in the Russian Federation, many enterprises, due to the difficult economic situation, are also switching to austerity mode.

That is why the use of outstaffing and outsourcing is becoming increasingly important. Since in this way you can significantly reduce the costs of implementing certain tasks.

It is important to remember that the legislative framework regulating this issue is still under development. That is why outsourcing and outstaffing are on the edge of the law.

To avoid various kinds of problems and predicaments, you should familiarize yourself with the following questions:

• definition of concepts;
• functions performed;
• legal framework.

Definition of concepts

To understand the peculiarities of procedures for interaction with personnel, you should first understand the very concepts of outsourcing and outstaffing.

Phenomena of this kind have many similar features, but the process of implementation itself is significantly different. It's worth familiarizing yourself with the differences.

In fact, both concepts represent a special format for citizens of the Russian Federation.

Outstaffing is a special labor relationship. Moreover, all employees working on this basis perform their functions only in one organization.

In this case, the contract itself is directly concluded between individuals and the organization. It is as if she “rents out” her employees to carry out a specific task.

The distinctive features of outstaffing are the following:

• there is a workplace;
• a job description has been created;
• wages are calculated;
• employment takes place in one enterprise, but the actual work is carried out in another.

Outsourcing, in turn, represents the procedure for transferring various types of non-core functions of an organization to the outsourcing department.

Most often, agreements of this kind are concluded to implement accounting procedures, personnel matters, and other specific functions.

The outsourcer simply does not have a permanent workplace, but his schedule is flexible, and payment for work is carried out on an actual basis. It is worth studying in as much detail as possible all the differences between the concepts.

Functions performed

The difference between outsourcing and outstaffing primarily lies in the functions performed by hired workers.

Outsourcing implies the implementation of any specific tasks. At the same time, outstaffing is the process of attracting employees to perform core work.

That is why this phenomenon always arouses the keen interest of the Federal Tax Service. Outstaffing is often a way to evade taxes.

This is due to the peculiarities of tax and accounting. Therefore, despite the lack of a clearly defined legislative framework, the use of outstaffing is possible only in special cases.

For example, if any enterprise practices a continuous production cycle. But at the same time, the required amount of labor resources is missing.

Outstaffing is often used in trade, production, and other circumstances. Also, outsourcing and outstaffing can significantly reduce the costs of conducting any activity.

Involvement in performing certain tasks for a short period of time makes it possible to minimize the cost of paying employees.

Often the measures under consideration are part of tax planning and financial optimization of the enterprise.

Legal basis

Despite the absence of any specialized regulatory documents covering this issue, it is important to remember the need to work only within the framework of the law.

The fundamental regulatory documents in this case are the Labor and Civil Codes of the Russian Federation.

The most important NAPs addressing these issues are the following:

It is important to know that concluding an outstaffing agreement or outsourcing on the basis of a contract for the implementation of certain tasks should not violate Articles.

Otherwise, the labor inspectorate and the Federal Tax Service may become interested in this kind of incident. Many enterprises often try to avoid paying taxes in this way.

It is also worth familiarizing yourself with the judicial practice on the issues of hiring external personnel to perform core and non-core work:

An important document is. Since in essence both contracts (atstaffing/outsourcing) fall under the definition.

The concepts of contracting and household contracting are applied. You should also remember the importance of compliance with the provisions of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. Violation of its basic provisions is not permitted.

What is the difference between outsourcing and outstaffing?

To avoid unintentional violation of legal norms, it is imperative to understand what the difference is between outsourcing and outstaffing of working personnel.

The most important differences between this concept include:

• the format of labor services varies;
• procedure for selecting and hiring personnel;
• performing certain functions;
• payment for work performed.

Thus, outsourcing always implies the completion of all assigned tasks on a turnkey basis; the contract always defines the boundaries of responsibility.

Outstaffing is the removal of personnel from the staff, the provision of an employee from another company to perform certain tasks. The hiring procedure differs in the format of the contract.

When outsourcing, agreements are signed directly by the hired employee and the employer; when outstaffing, they are signed between two legal entities.

Implies specific and narrow tasks. This is personnel matters, tax accounting and other similar things.

At the same time, outstaffing may imply both the solution of complex, intellectual problems and simple physical labor (skilled and not very skilled).

One of the most important differences concerns the payment procedure. In the case of outsourcing, the contractor receives the amount due to him in fact - immediately after completing the assigned task.

In the case of outstaffing, all hired personnel are actually “on the payroll.” Usually payments are made twice a month, all in accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.

To understand all the features of procedures of this type, it is necessary to familiarize yourself with the following questions in advance:

• procedure for outstaffing and outsourcing;
• main differences;
• Advantages and disadvantages.

Order of conduct

The outsourcing procedure may differ depending on the field of activity of the enterprise and various nuances. In standard format, this procedure looks like this:

Outstaffing is carried out as follows:

It must be remembered that the outstaffing process itself does not necessarily imply a final action - like a contract agreement for outsourcing.

Video: outstaffing in a crisis

Therefore, the contract can be indefinite and can be terminated only if there is a corresponding desire on the part of one of the organizations.

Main Differences

In the current economic realities, it is becoming increasingly popular, which many confuse with outsourcing. Of course, these concepts are similar in many ways, but there are also some differences. So what are the main differences between outstaffing and outsourcing and what is this anyway?

To begin with, I would like to say that both of these processes associated with attracting hired workers from outside. But the pattern of their interaction with the employer is different, so in today’s article we will look at all the main points relating to these two phenomena.

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Definition of concepts

Both of these processes are on the issue of hiring personnel from outside, but this is a fairly general characteristic. In order for us to distinguish between both of these concepts, it is necessary to clearly understand their specifics, functions and definition. That is why you need to start with terminology, i.e. with a precise definition of the concept itself.

Outsourcing is a special form of labor relations between a company and a provider organization specializing in providing a certain type of service. The specificity is that the company resorts to the help of third-party labor directly at the moment when it is really needed.

For example, a company produces a product and then prepares it for sale. Naturally, in order for a product to be promoted, we need advertising services so that the product is known everywhere.

It is not always practical or profitable to maintain an advertising department from the moment the product is produced, so the company resorts to available for outside help- advertising agency.

The same practice occurs when involving a system administrator or programmer. The company may not need it on an ongoing basis, because the need to install programs or software does not arise so often.

The most preferable option, in this case, is to hire an outside programmer and pay for his services. based on the work completed.

As for outstaffing, the interaction pattern here is slightly different. The company has its own staff, but hires a certain part of it from other provider organizations.

When outstaffing employees continue to work at their jobs, i.e. in the company itself, although officially they are registered in another organization.

The company that will employ such employees is called an outstaffer. There is another scheme of cooperation. Outstaff company has a staff at its disposal, whose services may be in demand by other companies. These could be loaders, welders, bank employees and other professions.

An outstaffing agreement is drawn up, on the basis of which the company transfers its staff to another organization to perform core tasks.

Functions

One of the main differences between these two processes is specifics of the functions performed by the involved employees. If outsourcing involves performing a number of fairly specific tasks that are not core to the organization, then with outstaffing the situation is slightly different.

Referred employees perform specialized functions and tasks, i.e. carry out activities that are core for the company.

In particular, outsourcing performs the following functions:

Outstaffing has a wider range, because it is characterized by the removal of employees from staff, although they continue to perform their professional duties.

Such cooperation patterns are typical for banking organizations, although they can occur in other industries.

Legislative regulation

Legal regulation of these concepts appeared relatively recently, despite the rather long practice of such actions. In particular, the outstaffing process became regulated only in 2014, when the corresponding chapter appeared in the Labor Code - 53.1.

This chapter talks about the possibility of attracting employees from another company to carry out a certain type of activity, but subject to full respect for their rights and freedoms. It also talks about the nuances of concluding agreements between two companies so that the rights of both parties are not violated.

As for outsourcing, this process is regulated by other regulations. In this case, the Civil Code, or rather the article, is taken into account. It clearly defines all processes for providing services on a contractual basis.

Main differences

In order to be able to understand these phenomena, it is necessary clearly understand the difference between outsourcing and outstaffing. Let's look at all these nuances in the table below.

Also, the difference between these two processes is the specificity of the work performed. Outsourcing is usually aimed at performing intellectual work, while outstaffing involves performing absolutely any work.

Look video about the differences between these two concepts:

Order of conduct

We examined the main differences between these two processes regarding the specifics of the labor relationship between the employer, i.e. the customer company and the contractor. But there is a difference in the procedure of outsourcing and outstaffing, so we will consider this issue as well.

Outsourcing is carried out approximately according to the same principle, regardless of the sector of activity of the customer company. The standard process is as follows:

As for outstaffing, it is carried out somewhat differently:

1. The performing company that provides hired employees carefully studies the specifics of the customer company’s activities. Problems that can be solved with the help of attracted labor are taken into account.
2. Between two sides a corresponding agreement is drawn up. It should indicate the cost of the service itself.
3. After the contract is signed, employees begin to carry out their professional activities.

It should be noted that The outstaffing agreement does not imply the final result, which distinguishes it from a service agreement, which is drawn up during outsourcing.

Advantages and disadvantages

Both of these processes are aimed at reduction of costs for the customer company Therefore, the practice of using outsourcing and outstaffing is quite wide. But we cannot help but note the fact that each of these processes has its own pros and cons, so let’s try to compare them from the point of view of the positive and negative aspects of such types of cooperation.

If we talk about the advantages of outsourcing, then the absolute advantage for the customer is the optional provision of a workplace.

In addition, payment is made only upon actual delivery, i.e. for the final result. As for the disadvantages, it is quite difficult for the employer to control the progress of the work itself.

Outstaffing presupposes the constant presence of workers on the territory of the customer company, so it can completely control their actions.

Accordingly, in case of violation of labor discipline or incompetence of individual employees, the employer may apply various punitive actions.

As for the shortcomings, the employer obliged to pay in full employee, and not for the service itself.

In general, I would like to note that these labor relations schemes are aimed at optimization of organization expenses, so they are quite popular in various fields and industries.

The beautiful word “outstaffing” refers to a type of subcontracting when a company hires employees of another company to provide services. Outstaffing is used to save money. However, when concluding an outstaffing agreement, you must be careful not to violate the legislation of the Russian Federation: according to Federal Law 116, agency labor is prohibited.

What you will learn about:

Outstaffing – what is it in simple words

Outstaffing consists of two English words: “out” - outside and “staff” - staff. Therefore, the article will focus on attracting freelancers.

The essence of outstaffing is that the customer company uses labor that is not on the customer’s staff. Outstaffing personnel are hired by concluding an agreement with another organization, usually a recruitment agency.

This is done most often for seasonal or project work. Employees hired under an outstaffing agreement work closely with the company's regular staff until the end of the season (project).

Example – Your store hires a subcontractor to do inventory. The inventory commission includes both your deputy and your accountant, but technical calculations and reconciliations are carried out by personnel employed by a third-party organization.

The company providing outstaffing resolves all personnel issues:

• draws up an employment contract;
• pays salaries to employees;
• organizes personnel records management.

The customer pays the company a fixed amount under an outstaffing agreement.

What is the difference between outsourcing and outstaffing: table

For example, if a store transfers accounting to a third-party company, then we are talking about outsourcing. If the same store hires a qualified accountant through an agency who can control the documentation before a tax audit, then we are talking about outstaffing.

Let's look at the main difference between these concepts in a visual table.

Thus, the difference between outstaffing and outsourcing is huge: these are two opposite directions of hiring personnel “for staff”.

Pros and cons of using outstaffing

Like any non-standard form of recruitment, outstaffing has pros and cons.

For a company entering into an outstaffing agreement

• the company saves money as office costs are reduced;
• you don’t have to have a personnel officer on staff at all;
• as the company grows, you can maintain the opportunity to work under a special regime (as a small enterprise);
• it is possible to quickly attract employees for a short period of time;
• all issues related to staff turnover are handled by the recruitment agency;
• You can attract cheap migrant labor.

• there is no outside control when hiring employees; a third-party organization may attract personnel that you do not like;
• limited incentive tools for out-of-state personnel;
• the form of hiring third-party personnel is limited by Federal Law 161, which came into force in 2016 and prohibited agency work - you must be careful when drawing up an outstaffing agreement;
• there is a chance to conclude an agreement with an unscrupulous company, which in case of problems will simply disappear, leaving the showdown with government agencies to the customer.

You can control the work of employees in the Business.Ru CRM system. It allows you to set a personal daily routine for each employee, distribute tasks according to importance and designate those responsible for their implementation.

For employee

• This is a part-time job for a student or seasonal worker;
• By contacting a recruitment agency, you can go to work the very next day, since large companies hire hundreds of people outside their staff and are interested in such hiring.

• Outstaffing work is usually not very qualified and not very well paid;
• employer and place of work can change at least every day;
• the chances of moving up the career ladder are minimal.

Also, when leaving the employee out of staff, the employer can reduce some payments and allowances. Thus, there is a well-known case with Unilever in Omsk, when when workers were removed from the staff they lost their bonuses and received payments of 11 thousand instead of 18 thousand rubles. Fortunately, the union helped the employees.

Personnel outstaffing scheme

There are three parties involved in outstaffing:

• customer - a company that needs to hire freelance specialists, or remove its employees from the staff;
• recruitment agency - a company that takes care of all paperwork related to employee registration and hiring;
• freelance worker – a person who works on the client’s side, but is employed by a hiring agency.

The staff outstaffing scheme looks like this:

1. The customer contacts the hiring agency, describes what kind of employees he needs;
2. An outstaffing agreement is drawn up and signed;
3. Employees of the recruitment agency are engaged in processing documents for employees (if necessary, they re-register from the customer’s staff). If the personnel is foreign (for example, seasonal workers), the recruitment agency organizes all notification procedures with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Migration Service;
4. Freelance workers go to work for the customer in accordance with the terms of the outstaffing agreement;
5. In case of inspections and problems with personnel, the recruitment agency assumes responsibility before the law;
6. An employee, working on the staff of a recruitment agency, receives wages on time from the agency (usually by transferring money to a bank card).

It is beneficial to use outstaffing if a company hires foreign citizens. Even hiring CIS citizens in Russia requires considerable costs. If the organization has not worked with foreigners before, there is a chance of making mistakes when preparing documents and receiving fines of hundreds of thousands of rubles.

When to think about outstaffing

Outstaffing has disadvantages, so companies usually resort to this measure in special cases. Not every company decides to outstaff (preferring outsourcing).

The most common: the company needs “working hands”, but you don’t want to hire another HR officer and accountant and reduce salary taxes.

A limit of employees is required for work under the simplified tax system.

Seasonal work.

Hiring workers in another city without opening a stationary branch. For example, when the warehouse is located on the other side of the country, where goods are rarely delivered. It’s easier to hire a single full-time manager and regularly contact an outstaffing agency for loaders.

Who is responsible for the personnel

Unlike outsourcing, an outstaffing agreement is concluded so that the party receiving the employees is more responsible for the personnel. Liability standards are prescribed in the Additional Agreement, which acts as an annex to the Agreement.

Usually it is written there:

Additional contributions to the Pension Fund if we are talking about harmful or dangerous work.

Responsibility of the company employing outstaffing personnel in case of accidents. It is borne by the direct employer (and not the recruiting agency).

Another important legal point. There are cases when a recruiting agency does not pay an employee a salary, and he goes to court. According to legal practice, the court can force the company where the employee actually worked to pay money.

How to choose a reliable outstaffing company

If foreigners will work in your company, on the first day of starting work, ask them for an agreement that was concluded with an outstaffing company. There must be a stamp from the Federal Migration Service there. If there is no stamp or document, ask the outstaffer a pointed question: is he violating the law?

If you have chosen a recruitment agency for outstaffing, but are in doubt, carefully study the reviews about it on the Internet. Don’t be lazy to go to social networks: involve open sources for “investigation”.

If the reviews are generally positive (or at least a C), you can enter into an agreement with this agency.

Before concluding an agreement with a recruitment agency, you should find out additional information about it. Otherwise, you can end up with a “black outstaffer”.

Important!“Black outstaffers” do not fully employ people, do not pay taxes and contributions for employees, transferring the proceeds to their accounts. In the event of inspections, “black outstaffers” try to hide, leaving the customer to independently resolve problems with the auditors.

You can check a “black outstaffer”:

• through a contractor verification service, since this type of hiring scheme is usually used by fly-by-night companies;
• through the website of the Federal Labor Service and the register of accredited employment firms (https://www.rostrud.ru/opendata/7712345678-chaz/table.html);
• by requesting an accreditation document.

You should also study the contract and especially the amount of payment for workers. If the wage is lower or slightly higher than the minimum wage, this should alert you.

Restrictions on the provision of outstaffing services

In 2016, Federal Law 116 came into force, which adds Chapter 53.1 of the Labor Code and introduces the concept of “agency labor”, describes the rules of outstaffing, and also prohibits agency labor outside of these rules.

Agency labor is the work of personnel that is carried out in agreement with the official employer, but under the control of another company or institution.

The law prescribes the following outstaffing rules:

1. Services are provided only affiliates(a company that, under a shareholder agreement, can influence the company it controls) and private recruitment agencies.

For example, the head office can send employees to a regional office, which is registered as another organization, but is controlled by a shareholder agreement.

Important! A private recruitment agency can only be a legal entity (not an individual entrepreneur!!!).

1. The salary of non-staff personnel should not be lower than that of full-time employees working in a similar position.
2. If the conditions in which outstaffing workers work are considered harmful and dangerous, then compensation is necessary.
3. The outstaffing period for one employee can be no more than 9 months.
4. The number of freelance workers should not exceed 10% of the total number of personnel.

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Complete ban on outstaffing

There are cases in which outstaffing is prohibited:

• non-staff personnel cannot be involved in work classified as the first and second hazard classes, and work with hazardous working conditions (third and fourth degrees);
• You cannot outstaff workers to replace those who are participating in a strike or fired due to the employer’s downtime;
• You cannot hire outstaffing if bankruptcy proceedings have begun against the company;
• Freelance work is prohibited if the employer introduces part-time work to prevent the dismissal of the main staff (for example, at a factory in the event of cancellation of part of an order).

What should be in a staff outstaffing agreement

The outstaffing agreement must include:

• information about the specialist;
• his salary;
• tasks and the time period in which they are completed.

Remember that when outstaffing, unlike hiring personnel, the company that will employ the employees does not sign an agreement with each of them. According to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, this type of cooperation is not required.

The contract is standard, but a company that hires workers through outstaffing can change the nuances there at its own discretion.

For example, it is worth paying attention:

• on the tasks and functions that employees must perform;
• response and payment under the contract in the event of force majeure;
• full price list, fees for additional services that an outstaffing agency can provide.

At the same time, the result of the work cannot be specified in the contract; this is what outstaffing differs from outsourcing. It is assumed that the personnel service selects an employee with a certain qualification to achieve a result.

Sample outstaffing agreement

Typically, a recruitment agency has an outstaffing agreement, which is signed by the customer. A standard agreement includes the following sections:

• subject of the contract;
• duties of the parties;
• period of execution;
• specific conditions;
• price and form of payment;
• force majeure;
• duration of the contract.

Areas of application of outstaffing

Outstaffing is used in areas where many unskilled workers work: from trade to construction, from the hotel business to catering:

• in construction, general workers, plasterers, tilers, painters, and so on are hired as freelancers;
• in catering, outstaffing involves cooks, dishwashers, bartenders, etc.;
• at the warehouse, loaders, storekeepers, drivers and other workers are removed from staff;
• For cleaning, cleaners are also often hired under outstaffing agreements.

What are the requirements for an outstaffing agency to obtain a license?

It is not easy to obtain a document allowing you to be an outstaffing agency. For example, to obtain accreditation it will be necessary:

have an authorized capital of at least 1 million rubles;

have no tax debts;

be on a common taxation system.

The head of such a recruitment agency must not have a criminal record in the field of actions against the person and economic crimes. He must also have at least 2 years of experience in the personnel field and be a certified specialist in this field.

Examples of outstaffing

Outstaffing in a chain of stores

A large retail chain of minimarkets wants to retain the right to use a favorable type of taxation - a simplified system. However, according to the law, for the simplified tax system the number of employees should be no more than 100 people.

The company transfers its storekeepers and drivers out of state, using the outstaffing method, while continuing to use a simplified system.

In addition, the agency signs a liability agreement with the storekeepers.

Outstaffing in a hypermarket

The hypermarket uses freelance workers sent by a recruitment agency, who work from 3 to 6 hours:

• for work in a warehouse;
• for displaying goods;
• to check price tags and expiration dates of goods;
• to work at the cash register.

Basically, students and people who need part-time work work this way.

The hypermarket gets rid of the need to constantly search for personnel due to staff turnover in low-skilled positions.

Outstaffing at the warehouse

The warehouse of a large hypermarket is staffed mainly by migrants from Asian countries. However, the company does not want to expose itself to risks, because for improper employment of foreigners, a fine of several hundred thousand rubles will be imposed.

A separate accountant and several migration specialists are required, which is unprofitable for a hypermarket.

Registration of workers in Asian countries is transferred to outstaffing. As a result, foreigners are employed, which reduces the burden on the HR department, accountant, and staff maintenance.

Outstaffing in the hotel business

A family of entrepreneurs owns two recreation centers on the Black Sea coast, which operate only during the season (from April 15 to October 15). There are two peak months in the season.

In spring, autumn and early summer, family members work at recreation centers independently, without the involvement of hired workers. For eight weeks, entrepreneurs enter into an outstaffing agreement with a recruitment agency, receiving personnel (maids, security guards, administrators) in a short period of time.

The agency helps find a replacement and vets applicants.

In what cases is it better to forget about outstaffing?

Outstaffing is not always a profitable solution.

Tax officials, especially in the regions, have an ambivalent attitude towards such schemes, believing that this is just a way to avoid paying taxes. Therefore, you should refuse outstaffing if tax authorities are already “shaking” your company, suspecting it of gray schemes.

After all, outstaffing is another reason to organize an audit. You will need to explain why the outstaffing scheme is beneficial (and it’s not about tax evasion!).

In addition, you should not use outstaffing when hiring staff for intellectual work. The fact is that a recruitment agency can change groups of workers. And not always the same person who worked for you yesterday will come to the same place today.

To work with personnel hired through outstaffing, a separate employee must be hired (or this task falls on the shoulders of the administrator). After all, new people need to be explained the main tasks and given instructions. It is important to ensure that employees do not steal anything and perform their duties efficiently.