Pro’s & cons of using sub-contractors

Should a business use sub contractors?
When your business needs more help, you can hire employees or use a sub-contractor to do the work for you.  The use of sub-contractors enables the company to undertake more complex projects whilst not unacceptably increasing their risk.

Pros & cons of sub-contracting:
Flexibility – If your business goes through seasonal peaks and troughs hiring a sub-contractor for your busy periods makes sense.

Specialised services – Sub-contracting allows you to offer your customers specialised services when they’re needed.  By hiring in specialised staff you don’t have the cost of staff training.

Labour cost – You may pay a higher hourly rate of pay for a sub-contractor than you would one of your own employees but you are not responsible for the true cost of an employee;   national insurance, sick pay, holiday pay, healthcare, pension, training.  All these costs added up can make hiring sub-contractors less expensive than finding and hiring staff of you own.

Insurance & Liability – You do not need to take out liability insurance for a sub-contractor, so this yet again is another saving for the business.  However, you should always verify that your sub-contractor carries his own liability insurance.

Control – With your own employees you have total control.   A sub contractor working for you represents your company so care should be taken when selecting subcontractors and refuse to use any that don’t meet your standards.

If you would like to discuss further do not hesitate to contact us.