American Staffing Association (01/08/15) Stephen C. Dwyer

As previously reported by ASA, on April 29, 2013, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced an initiative to protect temporary workers. OSHA directed compliance officers to assess whether staffing firms and clients are complying with their safety responsibilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The initiative came on the heels of well-publicized deaths of temporary workers, and is marked by both enforcement and education efforts.

To help staffing firms and clients clearly specify and delineate their respective workplace safety obligations under the law and applicable regulations, ASA has published a second version of its existing model general staffing agreement to include new highlighted safety-specific clauses. Although OSHA cannot endorse the clauses, the agency reviewed them and they were developed by ASA based on OSHA’s published recommended practices. While not necessarily appropriate for every staffing arrangement, the clauses are particularly suited for construction, industrial, and other safety-sensitive sectors of the staffing industry. The new model staffing agreement with safety-specific clauses is available on the ASA model contracts page.

Resources Connection Inc. News Release (01/07/15)

Resources Connection Inc. reported revenues of $151.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2015, up 3.8% (4.9% in constant currency) from $146 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2014. U.S. revenue was up 8.2% over the same period. Net income totaled $8 million, up 12.7% from $7.1 million in the 2014 fiscal second quarter.

Bloomberg (01/08/15) Nina Glinski

The number of people applying for unemployment benefits in the week ended Jan. 3 dropped by 4,000 to 294,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The 45 economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast claims of 290,000. The four-week moving average of new claims dropped by 250 to 290,500.

Reuters (01/07/15) Lucia Mutikani

U.S. small-business owners added an average of 0.2 employees per company in December, up from 0.05 the month before, according to a National Federation of Independent Business survey of 568 small-business owners. Eighteen percent added an average of 2.9 employees, and 9% reduced their workforces by an average of 3.0 workers. Fifty-four percent hired or tried to hire new workers, 43% were unable to fill positions due to a lack of qualified applicants, and 25% had job openings they could not fill.

“The December results clarify the economic picture for 2015, and what we’re seeing looks very promising,” NFIB said in a statement. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this kind of activity, but it looks like small-business owners are finally shaking off the effects of the recession.”

New York Times (01/07/15) Binyamin Appelbaum

At the December meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy-making committee, officials expressed growing optimism about the strength of the economy, citing surveys of consumer and business confidence and payroll growth. However, they voiced concern about the weakness of the global economy.

Officials cited steady growth in the labor market, with 321,000 jobs added in November, which was the strongest month in almost three years. They also indicated that the labor market is strong enough to handle rising interest rates, but the sluggish pace of inflation has prompted them to hold off. Moreover, they noted that recent job growth has not yet translated into higher wages.