Despite government incentives, the system to help companies in difficulty is still struggling to win. When a company suffers a temporary decline in activity, the labor loan allows it to put employees at the disposal of another company and to reinstate them some time later. A “win-win” exchange process for companies which allows them to adapt to the vagaries of the activity while preserving the employment and remuneration of their employees. On paper, labor lending is an attractive tool for declining businesses. However, despite government incentives and the context of the economic crisis, labor exchanges between companies are still very rare.
The labor loan, a device that struggles to? to reduce – iStock-martin-dm
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A firmly framed system
The labor loan is characterized by the occasional exchange of employees between two companies. Thus: a company in difficulty makes some of its employees available to another company. Governed by a strict legal framework, the loan of labor is carried out with the agreement of the employee (s) concerned. In return, the employee benefits from the full maintenance of his salary and has the assurance of being reinstated within his original company in his position or equivalent position and at equal salary. The company wishing to make an employee available must therefore first obtain the agreement of the employee concerned and draw up a secondment agreement with the company to which it wishes to “lend” its employee. The document will specify the identity and qualification of the employee, the specific duration of the “loan”, as well as the exact amounts of salaries, social security charges and professional expenses which will be invoiced to the host company. The lending company must also draw up an amendment to the employment contract which indicates the work that will be carried out in the host company, the hours, the place of work and the particular characteristics of the workstation. This rider must be signed by the employee concerned by the loan procedure.
An exchange of good practices
This system was initially designed to maintain the employment and salary of the employees of a company which occasionally suffers a drop in activity and turnover. However, labor lending is not limited to economic hardship. For example, an SME which is looking for a specific skill to develop a project and does not manage to find a corresponding profile can thus be “loaned” an employee by another SME or a large group. The loan of labor between companies is a non-profit operation. This therefore means that company A, which lends one of its employees to company B, invoices him for the amount of the salary, social security charges and professional expenses concerned to company B.
Measures relaxed by the state
At the heart of the crisis in 2020, the State has put in place a number of measures to support and promote this system. The administrative procedures to have recourse to the loan of labor have thus been relaxed. Since January 1, 2021, companies that have implemented partial unemployment can provide employees and invoice the host company an amount lower than the salaries, social security charges and professional expenses of the employees they make available. . Always with a view to facilitating the procedures between companies, the Ministry of Labor offers simplified models of employment contract riders and labor loan agreements. Companies can also benefit from the support services of their attached Regional Directorate for Companies, Competition, Consumption, Labor and Employment (DIRECCTE). Despite the impetus given by the government, exchanges of personnel between companies remain rare. If the economic actors affirm themselves convinced of the interest of the device, they agree on the fact that the companies will need time to assimilate it and put it in place.
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