Legal

1502, 2023

Compliance Branch: IC classification actions

By |February 15th, 2023|

California truckers continue to fight the state’s AB 5 legislation that makes classifying workers as independent contractors more difficult. Meanwhile, the US Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service have renewed their partnership to fight misclassification.

New injunctions sought against AB 5. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the California Trucking Association each have filed renewed […]

1510, 2021

After the Mandate

By |October 15th, 2021|

Right now, it’s a wait-and-see for the exact wording in an emergency temporary standard from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration regarding President Joe Biden’s proposed workplace Covid-19 vaccination mandate.

Official wording has not yet arrived, though OSHA has reportedly submitted its emergency temporary standard to the Office of Management and Budget. However, the vaccine […]

1705, 2021

Benefit of Counsel: Under Wraps

By |May 17th, 2021|

Confidentiality agreements, or CAs, have long been a useful tool for employers and staffing professionals, but have recently taken on a newfound applicability due to increased numbers of people working remotely as a result of Covid-19. Confidential information is no longer confined within the four walls of an employer’s building. Given this new reality, staffing […]

106, 2020

Back to Work

By |June 1st, 2020|

Virtually all of the US population was recently subject to stay-at-home orders. As states begin lifting restrictions that allow employees to return to work, staffing firms in particular face a myriad of legal pitfalls and logistical challenges as they recall employees — both their own as well as temporary workers to send on assignments — […]

102, 2019

Benefit of Counsel: Hiring Bias?

By and |February 1st, 2019|

A federal judge in December 2018 held that an executive recruiter was not responsible for an employer’s decision to eliminate a female candidate from consideration — allegedly because of gender discrimination. Thus, the court ended a lawsuit against executive recruiting firm SSI Inc. and two of its former employees.

Ileana Simplicean was recruited by SSI to […]

1411, 2018

Benefit of Counsel: Pushing Back

By |November 14th, 2018|

Many staffing firms have experienced financial abuses inflicted on them by clients or VMS/MSP agents. Originally lifted from traditional purchasing contracts, these ideas are now widespread in staffing deals. The following are some of the worst financial abuses that you may encounter, along with nutshell summaries of how to fix them.

Stale invoice forfeitures. This clause […]

110, 2018

Benefit of Counsel: In Favour Of

By |October 1st, 2018|

New compliance requirements are often heralded as the dawn of a new era in which end clients would flock to the largest staffing companies because of their economies of scale and better compliance processes.

But when the dust settles, market newcomers end up outperforming their larger peers. Have users turned a blind eye to the new […]

110, 2018

Benefit of Counsel: Take Note

By |October 1st, 2018|

About a year ago, the #MeToo movement hit, and it’s still rare to turn on the television or pick up a newspaper without hearing or reading a segment on a high-profile professional accused of sexual harassment. As a result, states have begun to review and overhaul their related laws. Staffing firms across the country, and […]

2208, 2018

Benefit of Counsel: Measure Twice, Cut Once

By and |August 22nd, 2018|

Nationwide, there are many protections for “whistleblowers” — individuals who report improper or unlawful practices within a company or to outside organizations, courts or government agencies — to ensure that these whistleblowers are not retaliated against, such as by demotion, harassment or firing. Those protections generally apply to staffing firms’ assigned workers, who usually have […]

2407, 2018

Benefit of Counsel: Beware the No-Poaching Pact

By |July 24th, 2018|

The US Department of Justice has put all employers on notice: Agreements among competitors not to hire each other’s employees or otherwise limit wages or benefits — “anti-poaching agreements” — are not allowed. And as staffing professionals frequently engage with competitors in the normal course of business, the Department of Justice may hold staffing firms […]