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Investor Urges Analysts International to Consider Sale

Twin Cities Business (Minnesota) (12/18/12) Jake Anderson

In a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Heartland Advisors Inc. introduced a shareholder proposal requesting that Analysts International Corp. pursue a sale. The proposal asked Analysts International’s board to “immediately engage the services of an investment banking firm to evaluate alternatives that could enhance shareholder value, including, but not limited to, a merger or sale of the company.” Heartland Advisors, which said it owns more than 9% of the company, claimed that Analysts International’s “high quality talent and client lists have real value”—but due to its market capitalization of only $16 million, the company has difficulty attracting attention on Wall Street, and would therefore be better off as part of a larger entity or as a private company, which would eliminate the costs of being a public company.

‘They Weren’t Thinking of Him as a Human Being’

Huffington Post (12/20/12) Jim Morris; Chip Mitchell

A narrative account of the accident that killed Carlos Centeno on Dec. 8, 2011—and a description of conditions inside the Raani Corp. plant in Bedford Park, IL—are included in a U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration memorandum obtained by the Center for Public Integrity. The OSHA memo, dated May 10, 2012, argues that safety breakdowns in the plant warrant criminal prosecution. On May 15, OSHA proposed a $473,000 fine against Raani for 14 alleged violations, six of which are classified as willful, indicating “plain indifference” toward employee safety and health. Centeno’s family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Raani and a workers’ compensation claim against the staffing firm that employed him, Ron’s Staffing Services Inc.

The American Staffing Association notes that using temporary or contract workers allows employers to staff up at their busiest times and downsize during lulls, and enables employees to have flexible hours and “provides a bridge to permanent employment.” However, a study published this year of nearly 4,000 amputations among workers in Illinois found that five of the 10 employers with the highest number of incidents were temporary firms. Another study, published in 2010, found that temporary workers in Washington State had higher injury rates than permanent workers, based on a review of workers’ compensation claims. Leone José Bicchieri, the executive director of the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative, which advocates for temporary workers, says OSHA should target employers known to make heavy use of staffing agencies.

Stephen Dwyer, the American Staffing Association’s general counsel, cautions against an OSHA crackdown on temporary firms. “To the extent that efforts become heavy-handed, there can be a disincentive, then, to using temporary workers,” Dwyer says, to the detriment of the workers, client employers and “the overall economy.”

Third-Quarter U.S. Growth Revised Higher to 3.1%

MarketWatch (12/20/12) Steve Goldstein

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.1% annual rate in the third quarter, more than previously reported, reflecting the first gain in state and local government spending in three years, more consumer purchases, and a smaller trade gap, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported today. The gross domestic product numbers are well ahead of the government’s initial estimate of 2% growth and its revised tally of 2.7%. The 3.1% figure is the fastest rate of growth since the 4.1% pickup in the final quarter of 2011.

Get Ready for Health Care Reform at the ASA Staffing Law Conference

The Affordable Care Act is the law of the land and will have a major operational impact on staffing firms. What are the steps your firm should be taking to prepare? In an interactive panel discussion at the 2013 ASA Staffing Law Conference, May 7–8, in Washington, DC, hear from staffing firms and legal experts on the challenges they’re facing and their plans for implementing the law.

“Health Care Reform Panel Discussion—What Are Staffing Firms Doing to Prepare?” is just one of several can’t-miss sessions at the ASA Staffing Law Conference, the only program devoted to legal and regulatory issues facing staffing firms. Visit americanstaffing.net/lawconference for the agenda, registration information, and more.