Best Practices for Workplace Safety Obligations

Josh Skundenberg, Locke Lord LLP On March 11, a federal judge in Chicago issued an injunction barring the state of Illinois from forcing staffing agencies to alter their existing employee benefit plans to instead provide their employees with benefits “equivalent” to those benefits offered by staffing agencies’ clients. In August 2023, Gov. JB Pritzker signed… More ›

The Form I-9 is a complicated two-page document that is accompanied by a 65-page handbook explaining how to complete it. There are many facets of I-9 completion that are unique to staffing firms. E-Verify is an Internet-based system maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that allows businesses to verify the work eligibility of employees. The American Staffing Association offers this document to address the Form I-9 and E-Verify issues that staffing firms face most frequently. More ›

Edward A. Lenz, Esq., senior counsel, American Staffing Association Brittany Sakata, Esq., general counsel, American Staffing Association Industrial workers are increasingly being placed on job assignments through app-based job platforms and paid by the platform as 1099 workers instead of W-2 employees. Such workers cost much less because the platform provides no benefits and does… More ›

A growing number of app-based online job platforms that place health care workers may be avoiding payroll taxes and other employee-related costs by misclassifying nurses and nurse aides as independent contractors instead of as employees. This practice exposes caregivers and health care facilities to liability and poses competitive and potential reputational harm to the health… More ›

Temporary worker safety should be a top priority of all staffing firms. Being prepared for a federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspection and understanding the correct steps to take can ensure positive business results for the staffing firm and the client, while also ensuring temporary workers’ rights, safety, and health are protected. This ASA… More ›

Edward A. Lenz, Esq., senior counsel, American Staffing Association Alden J. Bianchi, Esq., counsel, McDermott Will & Emery LLP In a memorandum dated May 9, 2023, and publicly released on June 9, the Office of Chief Counsel of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service addresses the tax status of certain fixed-indemnity health plans that promise employers… More ›

ASA has published a new issue paper by noted industry benefits counsel Alden Bianchi on the most recent wave of employee health plans being offered to staffing firms that promise substantial employer tax savings. The paper explains the applicable rules and why these plans could expose employers to significant liability risks under federal tax regulations… More ›