American Staffing Association (03/20/12) Stephen Dwyer

Late last week, a revised version of House Bill 1393 was passed out of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Labor and Work Force Development. As originally drafted, HB 1393 would have prohibited staffing firms from charging permanent placement and conversion fees with respect to certain employees, potentially required in-state offices, and potentially prohibited staffing firms from sending candidate résumés to clients for purposes of generating client interest and job orders.

ASA and its affiliated chapter, the Massachusetts Staffing Association, met with the bill’s sponsor and proponents on several occasions, explaining how the original draft would harm the state’s staffing firms. As a result of these efforts, an entirely new bill was passed out of the committee.

Although the revised bill takes into account some of ASA’s and MSA’s concerns, it still would impose a significant administrative burden on law-abiding staffing firms. ASA and MSA will continue to meet with legislators to explain why the bill would harm staffing firms by imposing burdensome new requirements and detracting from their main mission of finding workers jobs.

Riverside Press-Enterprise (California) (03/19/12) Jack Katzanek

California Assembly Bill 1450 would make employment status a protected class—along with age, race, and disability—that cannot be considered during the hiring process. If the bill passes and is signed into law, it would prohibit companies from turning away applicants because they are unemployed. The bill also would crack down on employment firms and online job boards that require candidates to be “currently employed.” New Jersey and the District of Columbia have adopted similar laws, and measures are pending in about a dozen other states.

Some who work in the human resources field say the law is not necessary. Sarah Cullins, president of staffing firm Finesse Personnel Associates, says she has never accepted a listing from a company that ruled out anyone who is currently unemployed. She says some companies could skew things the other way. A company wanting to hire someone immediately could favor someone who is unemployed and doesn’t have to give two weeks notice.

JDSupra (03/16/2012)

To protect themselves, companies must ensure their employee handbooks are updated regularly. Employee handbooks should include updated information on the Family and Medical Leave Act, including the FMLA notice poster or all the provisions found in the poster. Handbooks should also include a Fair Labor Standards Act safe harbor policy that asks employees to report all deductions they think are improper. Companies that monitor their employees’ e-mail or use of the Internet should include an employee authorization within the employee acknowledgement.

In Michigan, companies should have a Social Security privacy policy that outlines how the company obtains, uses, disseminates, and disposes of records that contain employee Social Security numbers; Michigan companies may also want to include an employee consent for a shortened statute of limitations.

Business Management Daily (03/18/12)

Having a witness during any employee meetings involving bias complaints can help protect the company during potential litigation.

In a recent case, Johnson v. Labor Force, Ronald Johnson, an African-American employee who worked for a temporary staffing firm, alleged that he was paid less than employees who were not African American. He asked for a meeting with the company owner and said he told the owner about his suspicions and informed the owner that he planned to file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Johnson was allegedly told that he did not need to return to work, so he sued.

The owner said a conversation about discrimination or equal employment opportunity complaints never took place. The court said a jury should determine who was telling the truth.

Lexology (03/19/12) Chris Pelkey

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service has introduced its Voluntary Classification Settlement Program with a YouTube video geared toward employers uncertain about whether workers should be designated as employees or contractors. At less than two minutes long, the video provides an overview of the VCSP and stresses that the program offers relief to employers who voluntarily reclassify workers as employees. Relief will be granted to employers who consistently classified workers as contractors or nonemployees, filed Forms 1099 for these workers, are not being audited by the IRS, and are not being audited by the U.S. Department of Labor or a state agency regarding worker classification. Employers that wish to apply for relief should access IRS Form 8952 on the agency’s Web site.