LabourBase vs a labour agency

What you pay

A labour agency typically keeps 20% or more of the difference between what you pay and what the worker receives. On an £18-per-hour labourer, you pay £18 and the worker may see around £14 — across a five-worker crew, that margin adds up to hundreds of pounds every week.

LabourBase charges the hiring company a flat £1 per hour per worker. That works out at under 4% of a typical rate. The worker receives their full chosen rate, your company pays LabourBase £1 separately, and there's no percentage markup or worker deduction at any point.

Who you get

Agencies send whoever is available, and workers often churn — unreliable labour that lasts less than a week is common, which means re-briefing new faces and paying to fill the same gap again.

On LabourBase you choose from a labour pool of 2,000+ qualified and vetted workers. Every profile shows ratings from previous employers, attendance percentage, verified CSCS cards, qualifications and work history. You pick your crew and keep them.

Visibility and paperwork

With an agency, what happens between your rate and the worker's pay packet is a black box, and timesheet or pay disputes get handled — slowly — by someone else.

On LabourBase, workers log hours in the app, you approve timesheets, attendance is recorded, and payment records are exportable. Workers are verified sole traders, which keeps CIS straightforward. LabourBase does not provide legal, tax or accountancy advice.

Where an agency still makes sense

To be fair: if you need a one-off worker for a single morning with zero admin, an agency can be quick. But for anything regular — crews, multi-week jobs, sites you run all year — direct hiring costs less and gives you better people, because the money that used to fund the agency's margin stays with you and your workers.

Questions