Lasting Solutions for America’s Temporary Workers

Policy & Data Brief August 26, 2019

Last year, temporary jobs supplied by temp agencies reached a new high of 3.2 million in the U.S.^[1]According to the American Staffing Association, during the course of a year, staffing companies in the United States hire more than 15 million temporary and contract employees, who are then placed into jobs at other employers.^[2] Since the end of the Great Recession in June 2009, temporary agency work—as measured by the aggregate number of hours and total number of jobs (part-time and full-time)—has grown faster than work overall (Table 1). Temporary agency work hours have grown 3.88 times faster than overall work hours (Figure 1), and temp agency jobs have grown 4.35 times faster.^[3]

Figure 1. Growth of Temporary Agency Work Hours, 2009 to 2018

Full-time temporary workers earn 41 percent less than workers in standard work arrangements.

The competition between staffing agencies to undercut rivals’ bids places downward pressure on wages and working conditions across a wide variety of industries. Raising standards for temporary work is urgent and necessary.

This brief explores how the business model for the temporary staffing industry makes its workforce uniquely susceptible to illegal conduct and abuse. The brief presents policy solutions that rein in the temporary staffing industry, provide temporary workers with protections from exploitation, and create a level playing field for temporary workers.

Endnotes

[1] Current Employment Statistics, NAICS 561320, December 2018, available at https://www.bls.gov/ces/data.htm.

[2] American Staffing Association, Staffing Industry Statistics, available at https://americanstaffing.net/staffing-research-data/fact-sheets-analysis-staffing-industry-trends/staffing-industry-statistics/.

[3] NELP analysis of Current Employment Statistics, NAICS 561320, June 2009 to September 2018, available at https://www.bls.gov/ces/data.htm.

[4] Michael Grabell, The Expendables: How Temps Who Power Corporate Giants are Getting Crushed, Pro Publica, June 27, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/the-expendables-how-the-temps-who-power-corporate-giants-are-getting-crushe.

[5] Michael Grabell, The Expendables: How Temps Who Power Corporate Giants are Getting Crushed, Pro Publica, June 27, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/the-expendables-how-the-temps-who-power-corporate-giants-are-getting-crushe.

[6] National Employment Law Project, America’s Nonstandard Workforce Faces Wage, Benefit Penalties, According to U.S. Data, June 7, 2018, available at https://www.nelp.org/news-releases/americas-nonstandard-workforce-faces-wage-benefit-penalties-according-us-data/.

[7] Median wage of all employees is extracted from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website on Occupational Employment Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm).Median wage of the temporary help services workforce is extracted based on NAICS 561320 from the Bureau of Labor Statistics website on Occupational Employment Statistics (https://www.bls.gov/oes/2018/may/naics5_561320.htm)

[8] Michael Grabell, The Expendables: How Temps Who Power Corporate Giants are Getting Crushed, Pro Publica, June 27, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/the-expendables-how-the-temps-who-power-corporate-giants-are-getting-crushe.

[9] See David Weil, The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became so Bad for so Many and What Can be Done to Improve It, at 15 (2014).

[10] Michael Grabell, The Expendables: How Temps Who Power Corporate Giants are Getting Crushed, Pro Publica, June 27, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/the-expendables-how-the-temps-who-power-corporate-giants-are-getting-crushe.

[11] Michael Grabell, Taken for a Ride: Temp Agencies and ‘Raiteros’ in Immigrant Chicago, Pro Publica, Apr. 29, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/taken-for-a-ride-temp-agencies-and-raiteros-in-immigrant-chicago.

[12] Michael Grabell, Illinois Revokes License of Temp Agency Check Cashing Store, Pro Publica, Jan. 6, 2015, https://www.propublica.org/article/illinois-revokes-license-of-temp-agency-check-cashing-store.

[13] Michael Grabell, Jeff Larson & Olga Pierce, Temporary Work, Lasting Harm, Pro Publica, Dec. 13, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/temporary-work-lasting-harm.

[14] United States Dep’t of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Policy Background on the Temporary Worker Initiative, July 15, 2014, https://www.osha.gov/temp_workers/Policy_Background_on_the_Temporary_Worker_Initiative.html.

[15] Michael Grabell, Jeff Larson & Olga Pierce, Temporary Work, Lasting Harm, Pro Publica, Dec. 13, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/temporary-work-lasting-harm.

[16] Michael Grabell, How To Improve Temp Worker Safety, Pro Publica, Dec. 13, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/how-to-improve-temp-worker-safety.

[17] For example, the “Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers” occupation, which is comprised of workers who manually move freight and stock, and whose injury rate is 3.4 times the average rate, saw an increase of over 61,000 temporary workers between 2014 and 2017. Temporary workers in this occupation have a median hourly wage of $11.45, representing a 2.5 percent wage penalty relative to permanent, direct-hire workers. NELP analysis of Occupational Employment Statistics, NAICS 561320, available at https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm.

For example, the “Transportation and Material Moving Occupations” group includes warehouse workers and other types of laborers who manually move freight and stock. See U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2017, 53-0000 Transportation and Material Moving Occupations (Major Group), https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes530000.htm. OSHA identifies its “public warehousing and storage” industry group, which includes establishments engaged in the warehousing and storage of general goods, as one of the industries with a high injury/illness rate and a high proportion of severe injuries/illnesses. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Target Industry Profiles, https://www.osha.gov/dep/industry_profiles/index.html.

[18] Michael Grabell, The Expendables: How Temps Who Power Corporate Giants are Getting Crushed, Pro Publica, June 27, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/the-expendables-how-the-temps-who-power-corporate-giants-are-getting-crushe.

[19] Michael Grabell, Jeff Larson & Olga Pierce, Temporary Work, Lasting Harm, Pro Publica, Dec. 13, 2013, https://www.propublica.org/article/temporary-work-lasting-harm.

[20] Michael Grabell & Lena Groger, Temp Worker Regulations Around the World, Pro Publica, Feb. 24, 2014, https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/temps-around-the-world.

[21] Matthew Desmond, In Order to Understand the Brutality of American Capitalism, You Have to Start on the Plantation, N.Y. Times, Aug. 14, 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/slavery-capitalism.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&fbclid=IwAR3CxNw6vq-BW54IJWiQmGPUzeXjspK9cirhjl7-oGTuyD31qoqQX5t9zrw; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Compare Your Country: Employment Protection Legislation, https://www1.compareyourcountry.org/employment-protection-legislation.

[22] Michael Grabell & Lena Groeger, Temp Worker Regulations around the World, Pro Publica, Feb. 24, 2014, https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/temps-around-the-world.

[23] MA. ST. 149 § 159(b).

[24] Jane Slaughter, Massachusetts Temp Workers Win Right to Know Their Employer, Labor Notes, Aug 30, 2012, https://labornotes.org/2012/08/massachusetts-temp-workers-win-right-know-their-employer.

[25] MA. ST. 149 § 159(c).

[26] 820 ILCS/10.

[27] 820 ILCS 175/30.

[28] Will Evans, When Companies Hire Temp Workers by Race, Black Applicants Lost Out, Reveal, Jan. 6, 2016, https://www.revealnews.org/article/when-companies-hire-temp-workers-by-race-black-applicants-lose-out/.

[29] Id.

[30] Id.

[31] 820 ILCS 175/30 (d).

[32] 820 ILCS 175/30 (g).

[33] 820 ILCS 175/33

[34] 820 ILCS 175/40.