Today and through the remainder of the year in this space, ASA will recap the association’s efforts in successfully defeating or significantly mitigating proposed legislation that would have harmed the staffing industry.

Earlier this year, the Connecticut legislature introduced and considered HB 6859, legislation that would have required staffing agencies to provide employees with advance notice of work schedules and changes in schedules. The bill would have also required businesses to “make every effort” to schedule existing employees before hiring a new employee from a staffing agency. This was the sixth consecutive year that the state’s legislature considered such legislation.

In written opposition testimony, ASA explained that staffing firms could not comply with the bill’s requirement to provide a written estimate of the employee’s work schedule at the time of hire—including the average and range of hours the employee could expect to work each week plus the number, length, and days of their shifts—because staffing firms usually do not know that information at that time.

ASA also objected to the bill’s requirement that, before hiring a new employee from a staffing firm, an employer must “make every effort” to schedule its existing employees. ASA argued that every employer should be able, without delay, to obtain the help it needs in exigent circumstances. Many requests for temporary help could not be timely met, or met at all, if a business had to first canvass its workforce to identify individuals who might be willing and able to perform the work.

ASA lobbyist Kevin Hill of Powers, Griffin & Hill then arranged for a meeting with the bill’s sponsors to discuss the association’s concerns. Ultimately, the legislation was not called up for consideration and the bill died when the legislature adjourned in June.