Legal Analysis

The Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development has informed ASA that it will be sending a revised Renewal Application for Service Agency Registration to staffing firms that do business in the state. The revised application, which will replace the renewal application that firms may have received recently from the department, was necessitated by a clerical error that would have resulted in certain firms being led to incorrectly believe, pursuant to the questions they answered on the application, that they had to become licensed rather than registered. More ›

At the behest of the American Staffing Association, HR Policy Association, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and other business groups, as well as Fortune 500 companies, the Society for Human Resource Management has withdrawn its proposed American National Standards Institute guidelines that would have required publicly traded companies to disclose confidential human resource metrics, including expenses incurred in connection with the use of temporary workers. According to SHRM, the metrics were designed to provide human resource information to investors to assist them in their investment decisions. More ›

President Obama’s decisive victory in the 2012 presidential election means that few, if any, major policy shifts are likely to occur in the next four years. A key question is whether the federal government can produce any significant accomplishments during that time. This will largely depend on whether the president can forge a consensus with Republicans in Congress following one of the most contentious political campaigns in recent memory. More ›

A major overhaul of the California workers’ compensation system passed the state legislature in the final hours of the state’s legislative session. Staffing firms were generally supportive of the legislation, because it promises to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in costs. The bill includes a provision barring staffing firms and professional employer organizations from self-insuring for workers’ compensation after Dec. 31, 2014. More ›

The Obama administration issued long-awaited guidance designed to assist employers to identify their full-time employees for purposes of either offering health coverage or paying penalties under the Affordable Care Act. The coverage and penalty provisions take effect Jan. 1, 2014. More ›

The Massachusetts state senate has passed HB 4304, which requires staffing firms doing business in Massachusetts to send temporary employees written notice of each assignment’s wage rate, among other things. The bill now goes to Gov. Deval Patrick, who is expected to sign it. More ›

In a 5–4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. ASA will present a Webinar for members, July 12 at 2 p.m. Eastern time, to update staffing firms on efforts by the association to mitigate the effects of the employer provisions on the staffing industry. Registration details to come. More ›

In an effort to promote workplace injury prevention, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health published a fact sheet to help clarify staffing firms’ and their clients’ responsibilities for ensuring a safe work site for temporary employees. More ›

ASA has filed comments with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services addressing proposed changes to the Form I-9. ASA comments are intended to confirm that staffing firms can continue to complete the Form I-9 at the time a candidate consents to be included in the staffing firm’s roster of temporary employees irrespective of the time the individual actually begins work. More ›

The California Supreme Court, in Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court, held that employers must provide their nonexempt employees with 30-minute meal breaks but need not ensure that the employees actually stop working during those breaks. ASA has published an issue paper discussing the case and analyzing the effect of the ruling on staffing firms. More ›