When we explain what we do, the first question is usually: "So you supply workers?" We don't. But the confusion is understandable. Three different models sit close together, and the difference between them matters for who carries the legal risk and who controls your workforce.
1. Staffing or labour-hire agency
A labour-hire agency recruits workers, employs them, and places them on your site. The agency is the legal employer. It pays the workers and invoices you, usually with a markup on each worker's rate.
Works well when you need short-term labour quickly and don't want the workers on your books.
Watch out for less control over who works on your site and how they are managed, and costs that rise with every hour worked.
2. Employer of record (EOR)
An employer of record becomes the legal employer on paper for people who in practice work for you. It's common when a foreign company wants staff in Kenya without setting up a local entity.
Works well when you have no legal entity in the country.
Watch out for being a poor fit for a Kenyan business that already employs its own workforce and wants to keep it.
3. Managed workforce services
This is what we do. You stay the employer. Workers remain on your payroll, under your contracts and your HR policies. We run the administration around them:
- attendance and shift records
- timesheet reconciliation
- disciplinary processes and HR cases
- payroll, including PAYE, NSSF, SHIF and the Housing Levy
You fund payroll in one bulk transfer, we pay each worker and send you a reconciliation, and we charge a management fee per employee.
Works well when you want to keep your workforce but take the administrative load, and the risk of getting it wrong, off your HR and operations team.
A quick comparison
| Staffing agency | Employer of record | Managed workforce services | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legal employer | Agency | EOR provider | You |
| Whose contracts and policies | Agency's | EOR's | Yours |
| Who pays workers | Agency | EOR | Us, from funds you provide |
| How it's priced | Markup per worker | Fee per worker | Management fee per employee |
Which one do you need?
If you need extra hands for a few weeks, an agency may be right. If you have no Kenyan entity, look at an employer of record. If you have your own workforce and the problem is the administration around it, a managed service is the better fit.
Not sure which applies to you? Get in touch and we'll talk it through.