Tip of the Month: Embrace Technology Offered By Your Staffing Supplier

I don't know any person who prefers high cost versus low cost. It would make no sense. So when your staffing company embraces technology to lower its cost structure to keep your bill rate low this should be viewed as a good thing. . . right?

In our March 2009 “Tip of the Month" we touched on the overall advantages to working with your supplier to keep costs down. The “win-win” mentality for the success of both supplier and client was addressed and included such things as safety, workers comp claims, UC claims, payment of invoices, etc.

Getting attention this month is the trend throughout the staffing industry to eliminate paper paychecks. The process to do this is called “electronic pay distribution” and its purpose is twofold.

We're throwing out the paper, and switching to electronic pay cards. Click here to read about the program.


The first is to increase the productivity of your staffing service as they desperately try to keep their costs (and your rates) down.

The other is to provide a more effective, efficient and timely method to deliver a temps wages in to their hands. Let’s face it; temps are not at the high end of the pay scale.

I’m not sure, but the term “living paycheck to paycheck” may have been first coined by a temp. They need their money and they need it yesterday.

ELECTRONIC PAYCHECK DISTRIBUTION ACCOMPLISHES BOTH.


Ryan Staffing is in the process of establishing an EPDS using a payroll debit card or “pay card” which works just like a bank debit card.

We have decided not to establish direct deposit as part of our system for several reasons. The diversity of our workforce by being both physically disbursed and transient in nature would eliminate the desired cost saving goals.

Can you imagine the cost of establishing (and maintaining) direct deposit accounts of about 6000 employees per year residing in multiple states involving hundreds of different banks? In fact, about 11% of the US workforce do not have bank accounts and that number in our industry probably exceeds 50%. This defeats the purpose of moving to a paperless system.

Our method relies on the payroll debit card. Instead of receiving a company issued paper check our employees will receive wages earned on their “pay card." Employees can make purchases using the card just like any other debit card or withdraw cash from the cards balance at ATM’s.

If using the card is too scary for a temp to use they can simply authorize a “convenience check” which is a paper paycheck that is self-issued by the employee, not Ryan Staffing.

Let’s face it, the post office is becoming obsolete for many purposes these days. The internet has become to the dismay of the USPS what the telegraph was over 150 years ago.

Paper paychecks are routinely lost in the mail or stolen. They are fraudulently modified and they can impose unnecessary expenses on temps depending on how they cast them.

And, I’ll be the first to admit to being more “lime” than green but paper paychecks do kill a lot of trees and pose environmental issues. According to the Electronic Payments Association producing and delivering paper checks uses 674 million gallons of fuel each year producing 3.6 million tons of green house gases.

It’s no wonder Al and Tipper are splitting!

It costs the U.S. Government 98 cents to issue a paper check versus 10 cents for electronic distribution.

The U.S. Treasury Department has reported that 85% of all those receiving Federal Benefits receive them electronically. If you don’t believe that I double dare you to hit a Wal-mart store at midnight on the first of the month and watch the cards fly.

What about pay stubs you ask? Well, a few years back Ryan Staffing invested in on-line technology that not only lets applicants apply on-line but also allows access to weekly paycheck data for all of our employees. Providing this info is mandatory for those establishing EPDS. And, I might add that the Obama administration recently stopped issuing paper pay stubs to some Federal employees so it can’t be bad right?

So, what are the “Tips” in all this?

• Support your staffing company as they implement an electronic paycheck distribution system. These are their employees and policies.
• Review the materials provided by your Staffing service about the program and if they don’t provide them request them.
• Don’t attempt to answer question you may be asked by temps about the program. Your service and their card provider have the knowledge to answer questions with 100% accuracy; also, it will take up a significant amount of your time.
• Remember what while change can be difficult for some, technology is good and serves to improve the quality of life.

It was interesting to learn that only 20% of all Social Security payments are issued via paper checks yet they accounted for 90% of the reported 1.4 million annual inquires SSA receives pertaining to mis-placed, damaged, stolen, mis-directed and missing paper checks.

Tim's Talking about Pay Cards, Growth in the Temp Industry, and Webinars...

Full Steam Ahead for Pay Cards
The process of converting all of our employees from paper checks to pay cards is in full swing and is for the most part being well received.

We anticipate full implementation by August 1st.  As you can imagine change is not easy for everyone, but we are working hard to make the process as pain free as possible for all of our valued employees.

Just as we all survived the Government’s conversion to digital television with the converter boxes, this upgrade will greatly improve our ability to get money into people’s hands quickly and safely.

Staffing Firms Provide 76% of Private Sector Job Growth
The American Staffing Association reports temp employment was up 19% in May 2010 from the prior year and 3% from April

Based on National Unemployment rates remaining high (9.7%) this suggests employers are using temps due to uncertainty about the economy’s future.

Making It Up...Tall Ships and the Phantom
Ok, if you noticed last month we didn’t have any fantastic prizes to give away to our loyal followers.  So this month we’re going to make up for it.

We have five pairs of tickets to the Cleveland Tall Ships Festival taking place between July 8th and July 11th at the harbor behind the Browns Stadium.

Also, we’re giving away a pair of tickets to see the longest running show in Broadway history, The Phantom of the Opera.  The show is at the Allen Theater on Friday, August 13 at 8:00 p.m.

If you are reading this column now you are eligible to win . . . it’s that simple.

Trends in Staffing Industry Technology
Technology is not passing by the staffing industry.  In fact, it’s exploding as clients continue to push their providers for more services at lower costs.

The future holds the promise from suppliers providing electronic delivery of invoices, check stubs and automated matching time cards and invoices at the time of invoice creation.

Using social media and all the networking potential it holds for recruiting is hot.  Integrating these applications into the flow of recruiting software will allow staffing services to fill orders with better candidates in a cost effective manner.

The use of mobile and wireless technology is also growing.  The ability to communicate with applicants without them sitting by the phone at home can dramatically improve service levels.  And, all of this is pushing the industry towards becoming a “paperless” industry.

It’s all good stuff that will require staffing suppliers to prioritize the needs of their client base before diving into the tech pool.

Do You Like Webinars?
Take a moment to answer this month’s survey question about webinars.  We’ll let you know the results next month.

Remember to Remember This Memorial Day

The sun will be out. The grill will be sparked. The sodas (and beers) will be cold. You will (probably) get a day off work.

Just don't forget why we celebrate every fourth Monday in May.

The first Memorial Day was celebrated in 1866 by a group in Waterloo, NY, celebrating the Civil War veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.


View Larger Map
President Johnson declared Waterloo, NY the birthplace for Memorial Day in 1966, 100 years after the initial celebration. 

The holiday evolved into a day of remembrance of all military who have died in service. 

Generally, people associate days like Memorial Days and Veterans Day with World War II veterans. The driving force behind the DVA has been baby boomers, so an emphasis on Vietnam will probably increase in the coming years. 

But as a young man, the same age as many soldiers stationed overseas right now, I can't help but wonder about the military reputations of Generation X and Generation Y's service men and women.

Neither of the two generations has had a definitive "international conflict" to deal with, on the scale of World War II. And the conflicts that these two generations have dealt with do not have the philosophical subtext like Vietnam did in regards to the Cold War and communism vs. capitalism.

I know there's religion and a West vs. East mentality out there today, but in the moment it does not feel the same.

Here's what this all boils down to at this juncture in time

I like to celebrate holidays on this blog by pulling movie clips off YouTube. So in commemoration of the men and woman who served this country, I'm going to share clips from movies dealing with the conflicts of Generations X and Y, starting with ...

The Panama Deception


I'm starting the list off with a documentary that may not commemorate the service of military vets, but it sets the stage for military conflicts to come.

The Panama Deception won the 1992 Academy Award for best documentary film.

It won that most prestigious award for nonfiction film by detailing the failings of mainstream media to accurately report what happened in Panama in 1989.

Media portrayed the conflict as "America Helping the Poor" while not mentioning the U.S. agenda behind its involvement. Specifically that meant the renegotiation of the Torrijos-Carter treaty, which may have not happened if the nation state was not settled.

Possibly as a result of this event (and this movie), future conflicts would be looked at with a critical eye, leaving the service men and women of that and this current serving generation to be viewed differently than the heroes of past wars.

Jarhead


This 2005 film detailing Operation Desert Storm through the eyes of one skeptical marine may not have been one of the most popular films of the past 10 years.

Jarhead was based on the 2003 best selling autobiography from Anthony Swofford, a marine serving in the early '90s. The film and book are not war movies in the sense of Patton and Full Metal Jacket. But that's because it was a different conflict.

Operation Desert Storm was the first in a slew of unpopular U.S. conflicts in Iraq, a country we still occupy today.

Dealing with an unpopular war in a different generation, the movie tackles skepticism, an evolving military culture and comparison/contrasting of different generations of service men and women.

Blackhawk Down


This was the most entertaining and most popular movie to appear on this list. Because I'm getting long winded, I'll cut to the chase.

This movie was important because it captured an evolving theme in U.S. foreign policy. That is, we pick-and-choose when we step in to help during an incident of genocide (see Rwanda). And it doesn't always work out so well for us.

Generation Kill


This HBO mini-series details the early years of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Generation Kill provided civilians with a look into the dangers of this war, specifically in terms of friendly fire. There are several scenes in the series where soldiers are killed as a result of mistakes, not combat. While World War II has its heroes, like Patton and Eisenhower, what will the conflicts in Iraq have 50 years from now? I would argue every military operation has a hero, but will these men and women struggle to find the image that defines themselves 50 years from now?

The Hurt Locker


Combine a traditional military movie character who has a "maverick" type mentality and a plot that revolves around explosions; you get a thrilling film (an Academy Award).

I recently saw the Hurt Locker for this first time this weekend and here's what I got from it.

You can find stories in the New York Times every day about a bomb going of in the Middle East, killing dozens of people. But it seems impersonal. It's just another clip from the 24-hour news cycle.

This movie does a good job of focusing in on that aspect of military conflict, road side bombs set by civilian-style militants.

This movie, more than the others on this list (arguably), depicts why we should celebrate service men and women on days like Memorial Day. It showed that there are still American citizens dying over seas and that commemorative days need to be about more than barbecue and blockbuster summer movies.

Ryan Staffing Plans Switch To Pay Cards

Ryan Staffing is pleased to have partnered with Skylight Financial to offer the Skylight One card to all of its employees.

The Skylight ONE card will replace paper checks.  It will allow cardholders to make purchases wherever Visa debit cards are accepted in addition to more than 48,000 surcharge free ATM’s. 

As we all know people’s paychecks are sacred.  The Skylight One card will offer convenience, flexible, affordable and secure net pay access without having to rely on the Post Office.

Our clients will no longer be involved in paycheck distribution and using Paycards has proven to increase productivity, lower turnover and improve the morale of temps.

The program will be phased in over the next 60 days and informational packages will be sent out to all of our clients in the next few weeks.

For a program overview click on FAQ’s – Skylight One Card.com. Click here to view the brochure.

Case Study Part II: Do-Overs During the Recession

Back in January we started telling the tale of our situation here at T/A Industries.  I’m sure you remember me.

My name is Roger Dorn and I am the Plant Manager.  We make auto parts and thanks to programs like “Cash For Clunkers” and other government goodies being given away our business is growing and we needed to increase the size of our staff by 25.  Not being certain that the good times here to stay we went the “temp” route to solve our staffing needs.


It's sure easy to "stay down on the ball" when you have a quality staffing service backing you up.

1. As part of the supplier selection process we identified ten points of concern for our potential new supplier to address as part of the competitive bidding process.  The provider selected best fit our needs in the following ways.  Oh, by the way, they were not the service with the lowest rates. Our new provider has a business mix that is 80% light manufacturing and 20% office and clerical.  They work with a variety of industries and no single client makes up more than 10% of their total business.  We checked two business references.  One they provide and one from our own source.
2. A detailed recruiting plan was presented that met our challenges to utilize non-traditional recruitment sources.  We felt it desirable to expand the pool of available workers beyond newspapers and the unemployment office.
3. Concerning our multiple shifts and the potential for problems on each we selected a service that had office hours around our shift start and stop times including Saturday. When their office was not physically open a contact person was available on call.  This allowed us to replace call-offs and no shows quickly with less resulting down time in production
4. The turnover and no-show problems of the past were addressed with the submission of a retention plan.  Part of the solution dedicates a member of their full time staff to be on site 6-8 hours per week.
5. Our new service performs a felony background check and e-verify of social security numbers.  We have established a policy that eliminates job candidates with drug or theft related felony convictions.
6. All employees provided by our new service must pass a six panel drug test before starting work.  Random drug tests are also done on a monthly basis.  We like the fact our supplier is self-insured for workers compensation purposes as it gives them a vested interest in the safety of everyone working at our facility including our own employees.
7. Two levels of staff from the office of our staffing service physically toured our plant and observed firsthand the positions they would be filling.  By mutual agreement we decided to require at least 6 solid months of manufacturing experience and applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent.  Pre-employment tours have been offered as an option should turnover or safety issues get out of hand.
8. Through internet access our provider has a system in place that allows us access to our account at any time to track such things as order status, invoices, usage.etc. We transmit hours worked by temps electronically by each Monday afternoon and pay our invoices by electronic bank transfers of funds.  This is all part of our efforts to save time and save the trees 
9. As was previously mentioned the service we selected did not provide us with the lowest hourly bill rate.   What they did provide in addition to a very competitive rate included:
1. A 1.4% rate for all overtime hours
2. Discounted rates for long term temps
3. No liquidation fees for us hiring a temp
4. Credits for no-show or non performance
5. No extra charges for drug testing, background checks etc.

     10.  Perhaps the most impressive thing about the package presented and accepted by us from our new supplier is that we were given the home phone numbers of all the owners/officers of the company to use if needed.  Try getting those from Manpower or Kelly! While our new supplier has been on the job only three months, we have noticed significant improvements in “temp” productivity over our pre-recession supplier. 
Granted three months still puts us in the honeymoon stage it’s still a good start.  I guess if you think about it selecting a new staffing provider is a lot like picking a wife. . . or maybe not.

Oh, by the way, our new staffing service is Ryan Alternative Staffing.  No surprise there I suppose.  So far, they’re major league in our book… couldn’t stop myself!

Tim's Talking About Mothers Milk, the Temp Industry and I-9 Checks...

Mothers Milk
Did you know that the recently passed Health Care Reform legislation requires employers to provide nursing mothers with an unpaid break to “express milk”?

The break must be provided “each time such employee has need to express the milk” for one year after the child’s birth. It also requires employers to provide a private break area (not restroom) shielded from view and free from intrusions. Just something to think about in the coming months.

Temp Help. . . A Growth Industry?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics 117,000 temporary jobs were created in the second half of 2009. This is despite the economy as a whole shedding traditional jobs by the thousands.

Further predictions call for employment services to be among the fastest- growing segments of the economy adding 637,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

Top 10 jobs for the temps 2008-15
Occupation Jobs added (thousands)

Laborers and freight stock & material movers       40.0
Customer service reps                                                      34.2
Construction laborers                                                        33.7
Team assemblers                                                              31.7
Other production workers, assemblers                           29.3
Helpers – production workers                                          28.3
Employment, recruitment, placement specialists           24.5
Registered nurses                                                             20.0
Office clerks – general                                                      16.2

Total                                                                                    599.7


Independent Contractors. . .Be Careful
Now that business activity is picking up. . .sort of, the temptation to save a buck by utilizing independent contractors instead of permanent hires (or temps) is ever present. It’s also time to be careful.

During a 16 month investigation in 2007-08 the U.S. Dept of Labor caught 12,300 cases of mis-classification in New York alone. They catch you by comparing employer generated 1099-Misc statements with individual returns.

For more information on how the Federal Government determines independent contractor status visit IRS.gov.

Staffing Index Continues RiseAccording to the American Staffing Association U.S. staffing employment is 22% higher than the first week of 2010 and 17% higher than at the same time a year ago.

The index has some history for identifying recession ending trends and predicting increases in stock market indexes.

Take a look at these major staffing company stock prices: (04.20.10)

                                         Current               Year Ago           %Change
Manpower (Man)              56.93                   42.01                   +35.6
Kelly Services (Kelya)      17.27                   10.69                   +61.6
Adecco (Ahexy)                 29.27                   20.50                    +42.8
Robert Half (RHI)               30.09                   23.46                    +28.3
Randstad (Ranjy)               25.45                   15.00                    +69.7


Did you know?

• 2.6 million temps work each day.
• 2008 sales of temp and contract staffing was $70.7 billion.
• 6000 staffing firms operate 20,000 offices in the U.S.

I-9 Checks?I recently saw an HR person ask if it was proper (legal?) for her organization to spot check their staffing supplier’s I-9 forms on temps working at their place. The simple answer is “sure”. And, I might add it’s not a bad idea when you factor in the potential co-employment liability your firm risks if the staffing company is not accurately completing the I-9 paperwork.

The battle on immigration reform is heating up with the recent law passed in Arizona.

Did you know that Herbert Hoover during the “real” depression ordered the deportation of all illegal aliens to create jobs for Americans? Or that Truman did the same after WWII to two million illegals? And finally the Eisenhower successfully deported millions of illegal Mexican nationals in “Operation Wetback” in 1954?

Anyone think this could happen today?

WSJ.com: Auto Parts Plant Turns Casino

Strapped States Find New Virtues in 'Vice'
May 11, 2010

Voters and politicians in Ohio used to slap down attempts to expand gambling in their state. But last week, many cheered as demolition crews razed an old auto-parts plant in Columbus to make way for a new casino.

Facing high unemployment and the aftermath of a $3.2 billion state-budget shortfall, Ohioans voted to allow casinos in November. Gov. Ted Strickland dropped his longtime opposition to video lottery machines, proposing to add them to racetracks to generate new tax revenue.

"If I had not been confronted with these difficult circumstances, I would have obviously opposed expanding gambling in Ohio," says Mr. Strickland.

Nationwide, the public-funding crisis has led many state and local leaders to similarly reverse course. Hampered by withering funds for law enforcement, health care and other public services, a growing number of officials are condoning activities and businesses they'd be apt to restrict in better economic times.

For fiscal 2011, 38 states project combined budget shortfalls of $89 billion, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan policy research group. Thirty-one states expect budget gaps totaling $73.5 billion in 2012. As a result, says Todd Haggerty, an analyst at the group, lawmakers are "trying anything and everything in order to bring their budgets into balance."

Oakland, Calif., began taxing sales of medical marijuana last year. Now at least a half- dozen states are weighing measures to allow some legal pot sales. Others have loosened decades-long restrictions on Sunday alcohol sales. And about a dozen, like Ohio, have discussed or passed plans to ease restrictions on gambling.

California legislators are debating whether to allow and tax Internet poker, even though such gambling is prohibited by federal law. "It is generally easier to pass something like this in a recession," says Lloyd Levine, a political consultant working for the pro-poker effort. As a state assemblyman in 2008, before the economic crisis, Mr. Levine introduced a similar initiative that failed.

Americans have a time-honored tradition of banking on vice in tough economic times, says David Laband, an Auburn University economics professor who studies the alcohol industry. "Blue laws" restricting Sunday alcohol sales, he says, are a common casualty of recessions.

"Every time there's an economic contraction, sure enough, you start seeing local repeal efforts," says Mr. Laband.

Continue Reading
Copyright News Corp - Wall Street Journal

Happy Mother's Day: A Tribute to Moms

To all our maternal readers out there, The Corner Stool decided to pay tribute this year by compiling a list of famous moms throughout television and film history.

Below you'll find a series of YouTube clips commemorating moms, in no particular order. These characters, though fictional, represent all the comforting feelings us mommas-boys from dear, ole' ma. (Notice I used ole' instead of old). But these characters aren't fit to carry the giant purses and maintain the AOL accounts of today's real moms.

So Happy Mother's Day to all, from Ryan Staffing. Here's our tribute:


Carol Brady


Between 1969's first airing of The Brady Bunch and 2002's made for TV movie The Brady Bunch in the White House, the mother of the lovable bunch of swingin', singin' children was played by just two actresses: Florence Henderson and Shelley Long.

In the television show, Carol was always managing the troops, providing words of encouragement to Jan; helping to milk Marsha's ego; and making sure Cindy didn't get into any trouble.

In the two major motion pictures that came out during my lifetime, she was a comedic compliment to the outrageous dialogue from her husband.



I personally appreciate the satire of 1970s home life.

Kitty Foreman


Speaking of '70s satire, the mother of Eric and Laurie Foreman oozed of down-home comedy. She babied her whimsical son, while dispersing tough love to her rambunctious daughter. All the while she openly talked about sexuality with her conservative husband, Red.

Compared to Carol, Kitty was a real feminist, working as a nurse during most of That 70's Show eight year run, 1998 - 2006.

For this blog post, I used this Web page for TV Moms as a launching off point. Not a lot of moms on that list were working mothers in their respective shows, so hats off to Kitty.


J.C. Wiatt 


While television's most famous moms may not have been career-women, film took the working-mom angle to the big screen, especially during the span of 1985 - 1995.

Diane Keaton portrayed a businesswoman turned parent in the 1987 film Baby Boom.

While her lack of maternal instincts provide comic relief throughout the movie, Keaton eventually decides that she can juggle the diaper-changing board with the executive board room.

Elaine Miller


Played by Frances McDormand, Elaine brings the single-mom demographic to our list.

This character from the 2000 film Almost Famous is interesting because she goes through a real conflict in the movie. It is revealed that she lied to her son, William, about his age. So he is actually two years younger than his classmates.

To make up for this, she allows him to spend a month working as a rock-n-roll journalist. She doesn't quite let him go off on his own though, providing maternal wisdom along the way.

A college professor, Elaine has the famous line of telling her class, "Rock stars have kidnapped my son!"

Her hands-on parenting approach does push her daughter to leave as a flight attendant in the early stages of the movie. But the two do reunite for a heart-felt family moment.

Career Builder: 'Unemployed Workers Slowly Being Rehired'

About 51 percent of workers laid off in the past year have been rehired for full or part time positions, according to a post on the Hiring Site, the HR blog published by CareerBuilder.com.

The blog, which is working with the USA Today, conducted a survey of 900 workers who were laid off in the past year as part of their study.

Employers will be affected by this increase, as well, the blogger wrote:

* While many job seekers are willing to negotiate a lower salary, this may be temporary, as indicated by the nearly 4 in 10 workers who’ve indicated that they plan to look for new jobs as the economy improves, making it crucial that you start thinking about a talent compensation strategy to ensure you’re offering the salary that is not only fair to your organization, but also competitive enough to attract new employees and compel your current ones to stay.

* And while offering competitive compensation can go far in attracting and retaining talent, you also need to think about the intangible benefits employees crave, such as career growth opportunities and work/life balance. Learn more about ways to retain your best talent.

* Perhaps you only want to consider local candidates, but if you’re having a tough time getting the right talent in your area, think about how 42 percent of workers report that they would consider relocating for a job opportunity, and consider expanding your geographic talent search.

* Finally, as the need for talent increases, don’t discount former employees as talent sources. (Even if your open positions differ from those the former employees occupied, consider the 64 percent of workers who made use of their transferrable skills by taking jobs in a different field). After all, former employees are already familiar with the culture, have established relationships and may have an easier time making the transition to a new role in a familiar environment than someone completely new.

Read the entire article by clicking here.

National Hiring Program Provides Incentive for Hiring Unemployed Workers

The job market just got a little bigger for employers. While the recession trend for hiring has ignored unemployed workers, a new bill President Barack Obama signed into law last month encourages employers to give those workers a look.

The bill, titled the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, contains more than $17 billion in tax credits aimed at stimulating the hiring.


Under the HIRE Act, an employer would not have to match the 6.2 percent Social Security portion of a qualified employee's wages in 2010. To qualify:

    * an employee must be hired between Feb. 3, 2010 and Jan. 1, 2011
    * the employee cannot be hired to replace an exisiting employee
    * the employee cannot be related to the employer
    * the employee must not have been employed, working more than 40 hours, in the two months leading up to the hiring.

Employers can also receive a tax credit on their 2011 return for each new employee retained for 52 weeks.

The idea is to ensure job creation, rather than job filling. So think about that in the coming months.

Here are some links to Web pages with more information on the program.
SHRM: Job Law Provides Tax Breaks
Chicago Tribune: Tax Credits Encourage Hiring
The Bill's Text