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Cross Country Healthcare Announces Agreement to Sell Its Clinical Trial Services Business

Cross Country Healthcare Inc. News Release (02/04/13)

Cross Country Healthcare Inc. has entered into an agreement to sell its clinical trial services business to ICON PLC for $52 million, plus an earn-out of up to $3.75 million related to certain performance-based milestones. ICON, based in Dublin, Ireland, is a global clinical research organization for drug development. Pending completion of certain closing conditions, the transaction is expected to be completed within the next 30 days.

“Selling this business is a logical step as we narrow our focus and concentrate our resources on our core nurse and allied staffing and our physician staffing businesses, which pro forma would represent about 90% of our consolidated revenue,” says Joseph A. Boshart, president and chief executive officer of Cross Country Healthcare.

Jobs Report Points to Hiring Growth in 2013

USA Today (02/03/13) Paul Davidson

The U.S. Department of Labor reports average monthly job growth of 181,000 last year and 175,000 in 2011, which is much higher than the estimated monthly gains of 153,000 for those years and occurred even while the economy grew only 1.5% to 2%. Experts say the recent jobs report indicates that the economy has been quickly creating jobs, although such a level of job growth generally requires economic growth of more than 3%. They note that employers eliminated more workers than necessary during the recession and placed bigger burdens on existing employees during the recovery, and they believe such a strategy is unsustainable over the long term. Tom Gimbel, chief executive of the Chicago-based staffing firm LaSalle Network, reports a 30% increase in placements last year and an 80% jump in placements this year compared with 2012.

Manufacturing Activity Rises for Second Month in a Row

Associated Press (02/01/13)

An increase in new orders and more hiring at factories drove manufacturing activity in the U.S. last month, according to the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM’s index of manufacturing activity rose to 53.1 in January from 50.2 in December. The January reading is the highest since April, when the index reached 54.1. Any reading above 50 points to expansion.

Got Health Care Reform Questions? ASA Has Answers

The administration has released proposed regulations that detail the obligations of employers under the Affordable Care Act. Be prepared for how the law will affect your firm—join the American Staffing Association.

ASA will keep you informed on key provisions of the proposed regulations that are of particular interest to staffing firms—for example

  • How the “look-back” rule will apply to new “variable hour” employees
  • The new “break-in-service” rules
  • The common law status of staffing firms (and why it matters)
  • The proposal to allow businesses to determine their coverage and penalty obligations on a “disaggregated” basis

Plus, by joining ASA today, you can attend the free, members-only ASAPro webinar “Health Care Reform Update” Tuesday, Feb. 14, and access a new online calculator for estimating your staffing firm’s costs under the “play or pay” provision of the Affordable Care Act.

Get Answers to Your Employment Law Questions at the ASA Staffing Law Conference

Do you have specific employment law questions? Many of them are sure to be answered during sessions at the 2013 ASA Staffing Law Conference, May 7–8, in Washington, DC—but just in case they’re not, the conference will conclude with an open forum where attendees can ask presenters questions that were not covered in earlier sessions. ASA lawyers also will answer some of the most frequently asked legal questions posed by members.

“Town Hall With the Experts” 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.