Within easy reach of a labourer saving time (2,4)
I believe the answer is:
at hand
'within easy reach' is the definition.
(close by or easy to get to)
'a labourer saving time' is the wordplay.
'labourer' becomes 'hand' (hand is a kind of labourer).
'saving' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'time' becomes 't' (abbreviation).
'a'+'hand'='ahand'
'ahand' enclosing 't' is 'AT HAND'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for at hand that I've seen before include "Close or nearby - just reach" , "Like a neighbour" , "Imminent" , "Available nearby" , "Close or available in manual way" .)