The platform is free to use for all companies. To help the employers more efficiently, Share Force One is also cooperating with the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund.

Due to the COVID-19 crisis many companies are in desperate need of additional workforce while other companies face the reality that there is no work for their employees. This is where Share Force One steps in to enable temporary exchange of workforce between companies.

The platform was launched just 8 days ago at the online hackathon Hack the Crisis led by Accelerate Estonia and Garage48, which was supported by both Kersti Kaljulaid, the President of Estonia, and Kaimar Karu, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Information Technology. Share Force One was one of the 5 winners of the hackathon and was awarded the special prize with mentorship from Bolt. Although the winners received 5000 euros of funding, which will cover the initial development and business costs, the Share Force One’s team works on a voluntary basis.

Sharing your workforce is caring for our community

On last Wednesday Share Force One joined forces with the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund. “The state of emergency resulted in an odd situation where there was a simultaneous need for and surplus of workforce. Whilst the Estonian Unemployment Insurance Fund gives a chance for people to search for different temporary jobs, Share Force One is aimed at the employers, who either have a large amount of employees in a so-called standby mode, or need additional hands on deck fast,” explained Livia Laas, the Head of Employer Services.

Sharing workforce through Share Force One is simple. A company representative fills out one of two application forms on the website, depending on if they have extra employees or are in need of employees. Based on these applications, Share Force One matches companies with one another. After a match is made, Share Force One provides the two companies with relevant contract templates, which were written up in collaboration with RASK Attorneys-at-Law. From there, the two companies can communicate directly with each other.

In order to temporarily transfer their workforce, the matched companies have to sign a service agreement where the fee of such service is also agreed on. The signed service agreement takes effect as soon as the company who is renting workforce has had their employee sign the annex to their employment agreement. The work conditions set by the company that needs workforce are agreed upon in the annex to the employment contract. Naturally, the employee has the final say if he/she wants to work at the new company before signing the annex. The employment contract stays valid for the renting period and the original employer continues paying salary to the employee as agreed in the annex. The company making use of the workforce reimburses the original employer as agreed in the service agreement.

Share Force One does not take any service fees, and does not take part in working out the specific terms and conditions of the agreements. Nevertheless, Share Force One assists companies with any questions they may have regarding the platform, and legal issues are resolved in cooperation with RASK Attorneys-at-Law.

The platform also offers support to businesses after the crisis  

The role of Share Force One becomes even more vital after the state of emergency has passed, when the workforce market starts to slowly recuperate. The aftereffects of the COVID-19 crisis could last for months, even years to come. Thus, this platform could prove to be of key importance to companies that operate within the more slowly recovering sectors. It may take over a year for some of these companies to regain their pre-crisis turnover and employee numbers.

The platform is up and running and already matching companies with each other. Most of the excess workforce comes from hotels, restaurants, entertainment businesses as well as technology and construction companies. The need for workforce is greatest in the service and social welfare industries as well as for commerce businesses.

Share Force One has also established co-operation with national institutions, including the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, and the City Government of Tartu. Moreover, several foundations and companies have reached out to support the platform, such as Enterprise Estonia, Bolt, design agency Velvet, RASK Attorneys-at-Law, start-up Fractory, digital marketing agency Convertal, and GoWorkaBit.

 
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For more info about the platform visit www.shareforceone.ee 

For further inquiries contact info@shareforceone.ee