TIP OF THE MONTH: GETTING INSIDE THE AVERGE TEMP'S HEAD

Last month we took a brief survey of our active temps and applicants for temporary employment to gain some insight on their thought process about issues temps face every day. While the results was not all that shocking to us it may serve some use to those using temporary staffing services to get the most bang for your buck.

For example, the number reason why a temp quits an assignment before it is over is because it became apparent that there was no chance for permanent hire. Next was inadequate job training ahead of the pay rate being too low.

When it came to deciding to accept a temp assignment permanent hire opportunity was again the most important factor followed closely by pay rate and somewhat surprising, job location.

A combined total of 55% of those responding rated the quality of job training received at the start of the assignment as either excellent or very good. Those less satisfied felt they were just handed over to another worker, sometimes another temp to teach them the ropes. Similarly, 38% thought the safety training received was very thorough while 24% said they received no real safety training beyond using their own common sense.

We all know that the "first day" on the job comes with some anxiety. We found 48% reported having a client rep waiting for them and spending a fair amount of time orienting them on expectations and helping them get off to a good start. The negative was the 34% that arrived with nobody to greet them and not being sure where to go. Another 10% reported being turned over to another production worker upon arrival and told to do whatever that person tells you to do....not a great start. Imagine, not one of our survey participants said the first day was the greatest time of their life because they were put in an air conditioned conference room with unlimited coffee and donuts to devour while watching videos about the client for four hours.

Given a choice 41% described their last temp experience as one where they were given the impression that they were nothing more than cheap labor without any future working for the client and that they could be replaced tomorrow....OUCH! On the plus side, 21% felt as though they were an important part of the process by the way they were treated by others and that there was some potential future at the client. About 31% put their impression somewhere in the middle.

We also directed a few questions towards how our staff was perceived. About 45% said that our staff did an excellent or very good job in the overall placement process from start to finish. Nearly 14% seemed to think that we did not present the job accurately or that the placement was a complete waste of time and that they would not be returning. On a similar note 59% graded the Ryan Staffing experience positively with 24% not being happy campers at all mostly due to never being placed on assignment.

One of the biggest problems in the staffing industry is the temp that accepts an assignment and then fails to show up for the first day of work without calling anyone. This is the dreaded NCNS..no call/no show in industry lingo. The number one reason why this happens according to our survey is that the temp after the fact gets home and decides that the job is to far away for the pay rate and that the staffing company will have no problem finding someone else to take their place (35%). A close second is that they receive a better off from another service and they know they will never return to the original service anyway so "what the heck" (31%). It's funny but 14% used payback for not being placed quicker s the reason.

It would seem from both the perspective of the supplier and the user that some easy opportunity exists to make the temp experience more productive by putting ourselves in the temps shoes and asking how we would like to be treated.....is that not true about a lot of things in life?

Tim's Talking About Ohio's Minimum Wage, Election Season and Canada's Job Push

Ohio Minimum Wage To Go Up

In case you have not heard, the Ohio minimum wage will increase by 30 cents from $7.40 per hour to $7.70 per hour on January 1, 2012. This impacts all Ohio employers with annual gross receipts of $283,000 or more. Those with less can pay the Federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Sometimes I think I should own stock in those companies that make all the bulletin board legal posters.

Staffing Employment Up

Staffing employment went up 3 percent in September from August according to the ASA. The index stands at 90 for the first time this year but is still 1.2 percent lower than the year ago reading.

World Series OF Wine Winner

Renee Seitz, Wellman Products is last month's lucky winner of a pair of tickets to the 2011 World Series Of Wine at the Terrace Club in Progressive Field. The 16th annual event provides a spectacular wine weekend with a variety of 400 wines from over 150 fine wineries. Proceeds from this charity event all go to support local public television programs.

Election Day Fast Approaching

With election day fast approaching on November 8th keep in mind that Ohio election law can impact the rights of your employees.

Specifically, you cannot threaten to discharge or discharge an employee for taking a reasonable amount of time to vote (reasonable of course is not defined).

It against the law to refuse to permit an employee to serve as an election official.

And of course you cannot beat an employee up for not voting the way you want....I simplified it.

The point is employees have election day rights and before you get in trouble for trampling all over them you might want to check out the basics.

One Way To Cut Our Unemployment Rate-Canada's Hiring

According to the federal immigration minister of CANADA of all places, it is looking into ways to tap the U.S. labor force for anticipated shortages in parts of our northern neighbor. While our rate remains stuck over 9% the rate in Alberta is 5.6% mainly from a renewal in oilsands development.

According to the minister, "a lot of skilled tradespeople in the U.S. could walk straight into productive jobs here". Canada imported some 185,000 of these workers from around the world last year.

Lookout Independent Contractor's

Last month the U.S. Department of Labor held a "ceremony" where that department signed an agreement with the IRS to coordinate efforts to nab those posing as independent contractors to avoid paying taxes. Amnesty is being offered to companies that may be violation of the provisions related to this misclassification" issue.

Changes In Background Checking Coming?

As expected Governor Jerry Brown of California signed Assembly Bill 22 in to law which greatly restricts an employer's ability to use credit reports in the hiring process. While it excludes most positions that have confidential access or financial/proprietary information duties it does start a trend that has led to the "Ban the Box" movement across the country.

Staffing on the rise, hot start for Browns and background check reform in this edition of Tim's Talkin

STAFFING INDUSTRY GROWING JOBS...DOING ITS PART!

Despite the recent dismal August jobs report nationally that produced a net zero for new jobs, staffing employment rose 5.4% in the second quarter fm the first quarter and 8.6% from the second quarter last year. According to the American Staffing Association this is the six straight quarter of temporary and contract growth since industry began its recovery from the recession in 2009. This has amounted to 200,000 new jobs in the past twelve months.

ANOTHER HIRING OBSTACLE TO WORRY ABOUT

Do you have to hire an applicant in drug treatment on methadone? According to the EEOC you cannot automatically rule out hiring a person that tests positive for methadone which is a medication prescribed in drug treatment programs for recovering opiate addicts.

Under the American with Disabilities Act (ADA)" recovering addictions" are considered disabilities. United Insurance Company of America is finding this out the hard way as did Hussey Copper in Leetsdala, PA which paid out $85,000 to settle a similar case before hiring the addict to a mason utility laborer position.

Makes you wonder what the EEOC would do in hiring to fill a position within its ranks with a recovery addict? My guess is that they are exempt!

BIG SEASON AHEAD FOR THE BROWNS!

According to the experts that participated in our survey of how the Browns season will go it will be a very good year on the shores of Lake Erie. Our pundits have the orange and brown finishing the season at 10-5-1 but not doing well within the tough AFC North. Optimism always runs wild on the Browns this time of year.

And congrats goes out to Eric Spradling of Power Direct Energy for his participation in the survey. He will be going to the Browns-Miami game on September 25th as last month's winner of a Browns prize package.

BACKGROUND CHECKING REFORM PICKS UP STEAM

We have reported in this column recently about meetings conducted by the EEOC concerning the use of criminal background checks in the hiring process.

Well, according to recent reports the EEOC is definitely leaning towards revising their 20 year old background check guidelines. Frustrations over inaccurate and incomplete background checks have gotten them to this point.

In short, the view of the EEOC is that criminal background checks should not come in to play in the pre-employment.

10 Mistakes Users of Temporary Staffing Make

While the premise of giving the customer what they want certainly applies to all of us in the very competitive staffing industry sometime you have to take a step back and make sure you're truly getting the most bang for your buck.

Now I know some of you are saying to yourselves why would I believe every sales pitch thrown at me by the greedy commission based sales rep that my staffing supplier throws at me. After all, are they not in to make the most money they can? Perhaps, but if you trust your supplier to be looking at your best interests first (like we do at Ryan Staffing)  you may want to give this list some consideration. So here we go...

1. PICKING THE SUPPLIER WITH THE LOWEST RATE

                  This usually means the supplier with the lowest pay rate as well and as we all know you get what you pay for these days. The "savings" you gain is more than eaten away by quality issues such as turnover, absenteeism , training and skill level.

2. TREATING TEMPS MORE LIKE A COMMODITY THAN A VALUABLE EMPLOYEE

                  In some organizations temps are viewed as a necessary evil rather that a valuable asset, one that can be easily replaced. Those that get the most out of the labor being purchased treat temps pretty much like they treat their own employees realizing that a happy worker is a productive worker.

3. NOT TAKING THE TIME TO "KNOW" YOUR SUPPLIER

                  Much like you would not buy a new car without kicking the tires or taking a test drive companies will select a staffing service without really performing due diligence on the suppliers ability to service their needs. Knowing how your service recruits employees, guarantees its result, manages its finances, protects its reputation etc. are too often ignored .

4. GIVING THE KEYS TO THE OFFICE/SHOPTO  THE TEMP

                  It might be hard to believe but over the years we have seen temps elevated in to positions of authority ahead of permanent staff that involved giving access to confidential information, negotiable financial instruments and supervision. Much like we don't pick up hitchhikers or let strangers in to our homes after dark why would you give so much to someone you know so little?

5. ENDING TEMP ASSIGNMENT FOR ALL THE WRONG REASONS.

                  This goes back to the commodity issue which temps are not...they are employees with rights that are shared through co-employment laws involving both the client and the supplier. Ending temps after they get hurt on the job or make a complaint about being harassed because you think you have no dog in the fight is the wrong approach and can/has been costly to both the client and the supplier.

6. THINKING THE TEMP ARRIVES AS A FINISHED PRODUCT THAT REQUIRES NO TRAINING

                  It is not realistic to think that any new employee temp or other can show up to that first day at work and know how everything is done. Hopefully a temp shows up full of potential, with a good attitude and the basic physical skills to perform. It is up to you to maximize all this good that comes through the door by providing the training and motivation to achieve your expectations.

7. LACK OF COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR SUPPLIER

                  Starting with the initial job order providing your supplier with enough detail so that they can perform up to your expectations is sometimes lacking between the parties. Think about buying a new car and all the specs you give the dealer before you purchase. Your staffing supplier needs the same support from you in the form of a job description to make certain you get a great fit. Communicating injuries, incidents, hours and performance issues are other examples of the need for dialogue.

8. THINKING SIZE MATTERS

                  Locally owned and operated independent suppliers of staffing services often times have all the capabilities and more to fill your needs than the big boys. We might not have all the pretty bells and whistles of the national suppliers but we do have a vested interest in your needs and the flexibility to perform customized solutions without all the levels of bureaucracy in the way. Think about this. Over the years Ryan Staffing has had several "national" suppliers contact us to partner with them to service clients they could not. The shoe has never been on the other foot...funny huh?

9. BEING REALISTIC

                  Let's face the facts....you can't buy a Rolex for $50 right? So why would you think a staffing company can provide a temp with 20 years of CNC experience and pay him/her $9.25 per hour with no chance for permanent hire?  In some regards it boils down to two things. Some jobs are not meant to be temp jobs. And, you get what you pay for in this business.

10. THINKING TEMP SUPPLIERS ARE LIKE FAST FOOD RESTAURANTS

                  It is no secret that you have a lot of choices out there when it comes to picking temp suppliers. While we all perform the same basic service some of us like to think we do it better than others. The reason is that while we are all the same we are different...if that makes sense. We all provide the burger and the bun but some of us know you don't want pickles without asking....if that makes sense. What it all boils down to is having a comfort zone and seeing value in maintaining long ter

TIP OF THE MONTH: TRY AS YOU MIGHT, YOU CAN'T IGNORE COST

In most any service business, the one that charges the most will almost always try to justify their existence by pushing value. In our business this usually includes such things as saying they supply better temps or that they guarantee no turnover or that their temps have benefits. It's most always fluff. The truth is, we all draw from the same labor pool, temps almost never qualify for the benefits and they are not always the most reliable bunch by nature.

This being said, the bottom line is that the staffing industry is built around saving you money. We do this by accepting many of the insurance risks for you, by providing "on-time" contingent labor built around your work schedule, and by reducing your hiring costs. One report has shown that 80% of all temp users do so because of variable or unpredictable workloads.

Consider this, a recent Staffing Industry Analysts survey indicated that a third of contingent labor buyers said that their expenses would increase 25% if they did not use temps. The same survey cites buyers claims of cutting labor costs by 10 percent, 20 percent or more by using contingent labor. Imagine the impact on your business if your hourly labor cost went from $20/hour to $25/hour overnight?

According to Alexi Zelenev in research done for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, it's about flexibility. Flexible temporary labor smoothes out unpredictable demand. "The presence of temporary help services in a region reduces job search costs and informational asymmetries by helping to match the workers who are looking for a temporary work opportunity with the firms that need the temporary help" according to Zelenev. Survey participants said that "unpredictable workload levels" encouraged them to use contingent labor which produced a 44% savings over those that said flexibility was not a factor. Rapid growth and difficulty finding qualified applicants were the two most common factors after flexibility cited by buyers for using contingent labor at 68% and 51% respectively.

A Staffing Industry Analyst survey taken in 2004 found that the attitude of buyers toward using contingent labor was that 31% of the organizations participating discouraged its use and only 10% encouraged its use. The same question asked in 2010 produced almost the exact opposite with 30% encouraging the use of contingent labor and 18% discouraging its use.

The bottom line to be learned out of all this is that the staffing industry was created to lower your cost of labor....and it does. How you maximize its potential will determine how much of a savings your organization will receive.

Tim's Talking About Criminal Records in Background Checks, the Australian Sex Injury and IRS vs. Independent Contractors

CHANGES IN BACKGROUND CHECKING POLICIES INEVITABLE

Awhile back, we told you about an upcoming EEOC hearing on the use of conviction records in the hiring process. About 250-300 people attended including many interested third party organizations. While statistical data was missing for the most part, the tone of the meeting has been reported to support the position that criminal checks have become a barrier to employment.

It seems certain that existing EEOC guidelines on the subject are sure to be revisited with an emphasis put on responsible use of criminal checking. This means employers giving more attention to the nature of the job, seriousness of the crime and length of time since it occurred in using criminal checks in hiring decisions.

For those that want first hand information, a webcast of the meeting can be found by clicking here. Along similar lines the city of San Francisco is seeking legislation that would prohibit employers from asking criminal history related questions as part of the hiring process. They cite an unemployment rate of 25-30% for ex-cons as the rationale." Ban The Box" laws are on the rise throughout the country.

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU WORK WITH ON STAFFING!

A jury recently convicted the owners of Commonwealth Temporary Services Inc. of Westport Massachusetts of paying more than $25 million in wages under the table to temps between 2000 and 2004.

It would appear that the IRS frowns on this practice as well as the folks at Workers Compensation, Social Security and Medicare. They face up to 20 years each in the slammer and a $250,000 fine on the mail fraud charges alone.

In a related case another Massachusetts staffing firm owner was recently indicted on workers compensation fraud for underreporting the size and scope of his business to avoid paying $110,000 in premiums. This involved not reporting wages as well as misclassifying wages in to lower premium positions.

The possibility that the Feds could go after the users of these temp services for back tax payments and workers compensation premiums is a distinct possibility....so beware!

PROTECTED CONCERTED ACTIVITY AMONG TEMPS UPHELD

The First Circuit has upheld a ruling that the NLRA prohibits a staffing firm from preventing temporary employees from discussing their compensation with others. Enough said here.

THIS WOULD BE AN INTERESTING HEARING TO ATTEND

An Australian woman who was injured while having sex on a business trip is suing for workers compensation benefits. It seems she suffered multiple head injuries and psychiatric issues when a wall-mounted lamp over the bed fell on her during the deed

The victims argument is that she was required to travel as part of the job and stay overnight in the hotel room so she should be entitled to benefits....a "during the course of employment" argument. The woman's lawyer equates the injury to falling in the shower at the motel.

We could have more fun with this but we'll leave it go for now.

IRS CRACKING DOWN OF INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR ABUSE

The federal government is predicting it will reap $7 billion in revenue over the next ten years by cracking down on employee misclassification of "independent contractors".

If you need more information on compliance issues on this subject we suggest that you Google "Darden Factors" and "Economic Realities-Independent Contractors" to read up on the subject.