Headline News
Temporary Employment Hiring Is Improving
U.S. Metropolitan Area Employment Report for February
New Orleans Health Care Staffing Company Acquires Oklahoma Firm

ASAPro Webinar Tomorrow—Never Negotiate Direct Hire Fees Again
Protect Your Business With Free Resources From ASA

Legal Watch
Maryland Bill Preventing Employers From Asking for Social Media Passwords Has Passed
Chamber Wants Review of EEOC Background Check Guidance

Trends and Research
Staffing Revenue Rising Faster Than Expected in 2012
Business Executives Cheerier on Economy, Hiring—Chase Survey
Small Businesses Are Less Upbeat, But Jobs Are Open
Boston High Tech Job Openings Increase 18%

Headline News

Temporary Employment Hiring Is Improving
Daily Markets (04/10/12) Mark Perry

The American Staffing Association's weekly Staffing Index of temporary and contract employment increased to a year-to-date high of 90 for the week ending April 1, nearly 6% above the year-ago level and 0.74% above the previous week. This was the highest week 14 reading since 2008, and just a bit below the 91 index level for the comparable week in 2007. The upward trend in the ASA Staffing Index this year and the upward trend in temporary employment for the last two years suggest that conditions in the labor market will continue to improve.

U.S. Metropolitan Area Employment Report for February
Bloomberg (04/10/12)

The U.S. metropolitan area employment report for February by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that in the 372 metropolitan areas covered, unemployment rates decreased year-over-year in 344, rose in 19, and held steady in nine. The number of metropolitan areas with jobless rates of 10% or more fell to 77 from 137 in February 2011, and the number of metropolitan areas with unemployment rates under 7% climbed to 90 from 54. The highest jobless rates were recorded in El Centro, CA, and Yuma, AZ, while the lowest rates were posted in Bismarck, ND, and Midland, TX. Meanwhile, nonfarm payroll employment rose year-over-year in 267 metropolitan areas.

New Orleans Health Care Staffing Company Acquires Oklahoma Firm
New Orleans Times-Picayune (04/10/12) Jaquetta White

In an $18 million deal, New Orleans-based health care staffing firm Gifted Nurses has acquired Oklahoma-based Robison Medical Group. The merged company will provide staff for intensive care units, operating rooms, and emergency rooms, along with traveling nurses, throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. P.K. Scheerle, chief executive of Gifted Nurses, says, "Merging with Robison introduces new talent to our already extraordinary pool."

ASA for You

Tomorrow afternoon, don't miss the ASAPro Webinar "How to Never Negotiate Direct Hire Fees Again." Neil Lebovits of the Dynamic Sale will share a technique that will help you stop negotiating direct hire fees so you can maximize your profits.

And mark your calendar for the April 24 Webinar "Recruiting in the Cloud."

All ASAPro Webinars are free for ASA members ($295 for nonmembers) and qualify for continuing education hours toward ASA certification renewal. Webinars take place 3–4 p.m. Eastern time. Register online at americanstaffing.net.
Turning to an employment law attorney every time you have a question can be impractical and costly. But your firm needs information from experts who know the staffing industry and understand your business. As an ASA member, your company has access to legal and legislative resources that help protect your business.

Working with seasoned experts in business and labor law, ASA has developed specialized tools for staffing firms—such as model contracts, issue papers about critical business and employment topics, guidance on staffing-specific employment law, and information about pending legislation.

Many of these legal resources are available on americanstaffing.net. You can also view the ASA Staffing Professional Catalog for information on materials designed to enhance your understanding of employment law. And you can contact the ASA legal department at 703-253-2020 for the support you need.

Legal Watch

Maryland Bill Preventing Employers From Asking for Social Media Passwords Has Passed
Baltimore Sun (04/10/12) Kevin Rector

A bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly and awaiting Gov. Martin O'Malley's signature would bar employers from asking current and prospective employees for social media user names and passwords. Maryland is the first state to pass such legislation, but similar bills are under consideration in Illinois and California. Social media privacy issues have garnered attention from federal lawmakers, with U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) calling for investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Chamber Wants Review of EEOC Background Check Guidance
Law360 (04/04/12) Abigail Rubenstein

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce wants the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to make it mandatory for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to seek public comment before issuing any new guidance. In a letter to the OMB, the chamber said the EEOC is planning to issue two guidance documents that both relate to "interaction of disparate impact" under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One of the documents is about employer use of credit history, and the other is about employer use of criminal convictions. "By all accounts, the EEOC is now preparing to approve these significant guidance documents without making them available for public comments and without seeking review by the OMB," the letter claims.

The chamber says its members are worried that the guidance could eliminate or limit the use of the two tools used by employers when making hiring and other decisions. The letter also says the guidance might not interpret Title VII in a balanced way, so a pre-adoption comment period would help control the more controversial aspects of the guidance. Attorneys assert that the EEOC's upcoming guidance may make employers more vulnerable to discrimination claims over their use of background checks.

Trends and Research

Staffing Revenue Rising Faster Than Expected in 2012
Workforce (04/10/12)

U.S. temporary staffing revenue increased 14% last year, with growth higher than anticipated for this point in the business cycle, according to Staffing Industry Analysts. "In a year marked by modest GDP [gross domestic product] growth of 1.7%, the strong growth in temporary staffing revenue in 2011 is further evidence of a secular shift in demand above the expansion predicted by GDP growth, based upon the trend of the past 16 years," says SIA research associate Timothy Landhuis. "We project that U.S. staffing industry revenue will expand by 10% in 2012."

Business Executives Cheerier on Economy, Hiring—Chase Survey
Wall Street Journal (04/10/12)

Fifty-five percent of the executives recently surveyed by Chase Commercial Banking plan to hire additional employees this year. Just 4% said they intend to cut jobs. Some 49% of the executives said they are optimistic about the U.S. economy, up from 39% last year. Chase surveyed executives at 1,000 U.S. companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $500 million.

Small Businesses Are Less Upbeat, But Jobs Are Open
Wall Street Journal (04/10/12) Eric Morath

Higher energy prices are pressuring small businesses, and many plan to begin charging more for goods and services. The National Federation of Independent Business small-business optimism index declined to 92.5 for March from 94.3 in February. But a separate report from the U.S. Department of Labor found the number of job openings across the country at the end of February—3.5 million—was unchanged from January.

Boston High Tech Job Openings Increase 18%
Boston Business Journal (04/10/12) Joe Halpern

The Boston market saw an 18% increase in the number of technology job openings at the beginning of April compared with a year earlier, according to a survey by Dice Inc. Boston, the sixth largest technology market in the U.S., saw the largest percentage increase of tech job openings among the top tech markets. The New York and New Jersey market, the biggest technology market in the country, saw a 3% decline in job postings. Technology consulting added more than 70,000 jobs in 2011 and 16,000 in the first quarter of 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.