Author: Site Staff

Some facts from the American Staffing Association in McLean, Virginia:

• A report released by The Conference Board shows that a majority of companies cite labor-force flexibility as the main reason for using temporary help. Other reasons include the need for special expertise, head-count control, filling in for absent employees, protecting core employees against job loss and screening candidates for full-time jobs.


• About 90 percent of temporary-staffing companies provide free skills training to temporary workers. Expenditures for skills training increased to $720 million in 1997, more than double the $260 million spent in 1995.


• In 1998, the technical and professional sectors comprised nearly one-fourth of temporary help payroll.


• More than one-third of temporary employees now prefer the alternative arrangement over traditional employment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.


• The average temporary employee earns more than $10 an hour.


• The average tenure of assigned temporary employees range from 3 to 5 months.


• 72 percent of temporary workers move on to permanent jobs.


• Staffing firms currently have made recruiting their primary focus, and many are using Web-intensive strategies.


• According to the Staffing Industry Report, the top 10 largest staffing companies captured 29 percent of the total $72 billion U.S. staffing market in 1998.


• 56 percent of temporary workers report that they learned new skills while working as a temporary employee. In addition to learning new skills, 29 percent report they found full-time, regular work as a direct result of their temporary assignment.

Workforce, November 1999, Vol. 78, No. 11, p. 59.

Contact your sales representative for more detailed information.

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Here are some alternative recruitment options that companies have used to hire qualified people:

• Hire the unexpected. For example, Internet-service provider Netscape once hired three students from Berkeley who pointed out a software implementation error to the company. Explained the vice president of HR, “the people who hack into our system know something that we don’t, and we can learn from them.”

• Train them yourself. In order to remedy a shortage of machinists, printing equipment company Max Daetwyler Corporation created an apprenticeship program at a local high school. Students began working at the company part-time during their senior year of high school, then continued full time while they attended college classes at the company’s expense. The students earned associate’s degrees in manufacturing engineering technology, and the company earned a supply of custom-trained recruits.

• Look in distant places. The Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee once recruited new employees from Puerto Rico, which had many experienced workers in the hospitality industry, and high unemployment. Using such tools as job fairs and recruiting trips, and offering such perks as temporary employee housing, helped fill gaps in the expanding hotel’s employee ranks.

SOURCE: Excerpted from “Creative Staffing Drives Success” by Shannon Peters Talbott, copyright Spring 1996, Personnel Journal (now known as Workforce). All rights reserved.

Payroll departments, staffing managers and other HR types in California companies will have to adapt to some significant changes effective January 1, 2000. After a one-year “experiment” with no daily overtime, California has returned to the requirement that any work in excess of eight hours in one workday must be paid time-and-a-half. The same is true for any work in excess of 40 hours in any one workweek. The new provisions can wreak havoc with existing alternative work schedules, although there are ways to implement such schedules under the new law. But pay attention; it’s complicated.

Adoption by secret ballot election.
If suggested by an employer, employees may adopt a regularly scheduled alternative workweek of no longer than 10 hours a day within a 40-hour workweek without incurring overtime. “Adoption” requires a secret ballot election with at least two-thirds of affected employees in a work unit approving the schedule. The alternative workweek may be a single work schedule that would become the standard schedule for employees, or a menu of work schedule options from which each employee in the unit would be entitled to choose.

If actual work hours exceed those established by an alternative workweek under this provision, the employee is entitled to overtime-either time and a half or double time depending upon whether the work per day exceeds 12 hours or goes beyond eight hours for days worked beyond the regular schedule.

Effect on existing alternative work schedules.
Any alternative schedule in effect on January 1, 2000, can be repealed by the employees affected. And the law says that any alternative workweek schedule that was adopted under former Wage Orders 1, 4, 5, 7 or 9 is null and void, except for a schedule that provided for no more than 10 hours’ work in a workday and was adopted by a two-thirds vote of affected employees in a secret ballot election under wage orders in effect before 1998.

However, if an employee is voluntarily working an alternative workweek schedule of not more than 10 hours work in a workday as of July 1, 1999, the employee may continue to work that schedule, without daily overtime, if the employee makes a written request to work that schedule.

Special rules for the health-care industry.
An alternative workweek schedule in the health-care industry that was adopted by a two-thirds vote of affected employees in a secret ballot election (under Wage Orders 4 and 5 in effect prior to 1998) that authorized workdays over 10 hours but not over 12 hours without overtime remains valid until July 1, 2000. However, health-care employers must make a reasonable effort to accommodate any employee who is unable to work the alternative schedule.

Licensed hospitals.
A licensed hospital that institutes a regularly scheduled workweek authorizing no more than three working days of no more than 12 hours each within any workweek must make a reasonable effort to find an alternative work assignment for any employee who participated in the vote which authorized the schedule but is unable to work 12-hour workday schedules. However, an employer is not required to offer an alternative work assignment to an employee if an alternative work assignment is not available or if the employee was hired after the adoption of the 12-hour, 3-day workweek schedule. (This provision is effective only until July 1, 2000.)

Accommodating employees who can’t work the alternative schedules.
All employers must make a reasonable effort to find an eight-hour per day work schedule in order to accommodate any employee who was in the work unit when the election was held and who is unable to work the alternative schedule established as the result of that election.

Cite: “Eight-Hour-Day Restoration and Workplace Flexibility Act of 1999” (A.B. 60), L. 1999, effective 1/1/00.

Source: CCH Incorporated is a leading provider of information and software for human resources, legal, accounting, health-care and small-business professionals. CCH offers human resource management, payroll, employment, benefits, and worker-safety products and publications in print, CD, online and via the Internet. For more information and other updates on the latest HR news, check our Web site at http://hr.cch.com.

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion.

Here’s an overview of employed workers with alternative work arrangements, listed by their preferences for a traditional work arrangement.

Preference	Independent Contractors	On-Call Workers	Temp Agency Workers
Total, in thousands	8,456	1,996	1,300
% who prefer traditional arrangement	9.3	50	59.2
% who prefer alternative arrangement	83.6	40	33.5
% who say it depends	4.6	6.4	4.8
Not available	2.5	3.5	2.5

Definitions:

Independent contractors: Independent contractors, independent consultants, or free-lance workers, whether they were self-employed or wage and salary workers.

On-call workers: Workers who are called to work only as needed, although they can be scheduled to work for several days or weeks in a row.

Temporary help agency workers: Workers who were paid by a temporary help agency, whether or not their job was temporary.

SOURCE: “Current Population Survey,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1997. Included people 16 years old and older. Some results are rounded. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has more information on contingent employees at http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/conemp.t11.htm
and can be reached at (202) 606-6378 or (202) 606-5886.

Coca-Cola. Victoria’s Secret. Gillette. Brooks Brothers.

Desgrippes Gobe has developed brands that appeal emotionally to its consumers. Now, it’s developing a Human Resources program that would generate the same reaction among its current employees and potential recruits.

Desgrippes Gobe’s small size (50 persons), entrepreneurial environment, and talent pool have propelled the New York-based firm to the list of the top ten brand image creation firms in the world.

Despite these successes, the CFO and the HR manager commissioned focus groups and surveys which unveiled significant issues that needed to be addressed. Desgrippes Gobe realized that its employees were faced with increasing pressures without accompanying rewards and recognition. The general feeling was that one employee received different perks than another, depending on one’s manager.

Meanwhile, managers complained about the absence of established recognition and reward policies. Finally, there was no overall strategy to implement benefits or communicate effectively to the staff on human resources efforts.

Desgrippes Gobe’s employees felt unsupported in their struggle to maintain a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives. The seeds for the Work/Life Benefits Program were planted to combat these concerns.

Launched at the beginning of 1999, Desgrippes Gobe’s Work/Life Benefits Program was immediately championed by Marc Gobe, President and CEO of the firm.

“The principles I have tried to bring to the work environment and our employees center around freedom and recognition,” he says. “Our survival directly depends on our employees and I want them to have the freedom to explore new ideas as well as the recognition of the immense value of each team member’s contribution.”

Focusing on this theory, the Work/Life Benefits Program was designed to provide managers with the means by which they could consistently and fairly recognize and reward their employees. The program also demonstrated to employees Desgrippes Gobe’s open culture of respect and commitment to each individual’s professional desires and personal needs.

The program is grouped into several different categories:

1. Recognizing Your Contribution to Desgrippes Gobe’s Success,
2. Giving You the Tools You Need to Enhance Your Career,
3. Providing Flexibility to Meet Business Goals and Personal Needs,
4. Helping You Take Charge of Your Time Away From Work,
5. Helping You Finance Your Personal and Family Needs, and
6. Supporting a Healthy and Balanced Lifestyle.

An in-house designer is currently developing an identity and a logo for the program that will bring to life the Human Resources department’s efforts and communicate its essence.

SOURCE: Desgrippes Gobe, New York, October 22, 1999 and Todd Raphael, Online Editor, Workforce. For more information, contact DG’s Principal of Finance and Administration, Carolyn Berke, at (212) 979-8900.

This special monthly section gives you everything you need to know about important HR topics.

This month, learn about contingent staffing Best Practices; Policies; Legal Compliance; Budget Implications, and Technology.

This checklist will help you select an agency that can fill your request for temps with specific skills. It will also help in determining how often you need temporary help, under what conditions, and whether you want to deal with more than one agency or staffing company.

• What are your most common requirements for temporary workers?
  
  
• Do you want to deal with just one company, or would you like to have two or three to call on?
  
  
• Do you want an agency that specializes in one or two industries (such as home healthcare aides or accountants) or do you want an agency that can provide workers for all departments in your organization?
  
  
• In a multi-specialty agency, are there staff members who specialize in a particular field, such as technical, legal, secretarial or administrative?
  
  
• Is the person who will fill your orders willing to meet with you personally to become better acquainted with your needs?
  
  
• Will the agency representative visit your facility?
  
  
• Can you visit the agency’s offices? Looking around the offices will give you an idea of how professional and well established the agency is.
  
  
• What is the agency’s reputation in the community? Have any complaints been filed with the Better Business Bureau or any state agencies, such as the state department of labor?
  
  
• What are the agency’s rates for your most common requirements? (Markups—the amount the agency charges you above the amount it pays the temporary employee—can range from 25 percent to as high as 100 percent over base wage, depending on employment costs and the availability of skilled workers. A 50 percent markup is average.)
  
  
• Are the rates competitive for this area and for these particular skill requirements? (You could call several companies to determine an average rate for particular skill requirements.)
  
  
• What do they pay the temporary employees who will fill your assignments? (you want to be sure that the temps are being paid well in relation to the amount that you are charged. If they are underpaid, they won’t do the job as well as you expect them to. And while you want to keep costs down, you’d do well to remember the old adage that “you get what you pay for.”)
  
  
• What kind of training does the agency provide?
  
  
• Will the agency provide specialized training to meet your company’s needs? This will depend on the number of temporary workers that you expect to use regularly, how long the assignments will be, and whether you will obtain them from one agency or more than one. It may also depend on whether other companies in the area require employees with the same skills. The temporary agency will expect to recover its costs for training temps to meet your specific needs through long-term or high-volume contracts.
  
  
• What testing process does the agency use?
  
  
• Are employees tested for their proficiency with the most common computer software programs, such as word processing and spreadsheets?
  
  
• Does the agency test for production and manufacturing skills?
  
  
• Does the agency use personality profiles, and are the results available to potential clients?
  
  
• Does the agency do background checks on employees?
  
  
• Are employees tested for basic math and spelling aptitude?
  
  
• Can the agency meet your needs for special, customized testing?
  
  
• Will the agency provide an on-site manager or supervisor? This may depend on how many temporary employees you will need at your workplace and for how long. The agency may be willing to provide an on-site manager at no extra cost if the volume of business it will derive from your company, and the profit to be made, warrant it.
  
  
• What are the restrictions on hiring an employee from the temporary agency for your staff? Most companies require the employer to wait a certain number of weeks. Depending on the availability of workers with the required skill level, this waiting period can be as short as eight weeks or as long as 24.
  
  
• Who pays for any advertising if the agency doesn’t already have an employee on its roster who will fit your needs?
  
  
• How quickly can the agency get a qualified temporary worker to your office?

SOURCE: Excerpted with permission from “Managing a Flexible Workforce,” Copyright 1998 by the Bureau of Business Practice, a division of Aspen Publishers, Inc., Waterford, CT (800/243-0876, ext. 236).

With tighter training budgets, companies are seeking alternative methods of training professional development skills such as Sexual Harassment Prevention, Managing Difficult People, and Resolving Conflicts.

As a result of increased merger and acquisition activity and continued downsizing, companies need better ways to assimilate and retain employees, and improve their overall work force performance. An effective solution is technology-based learning, which is growing at 30% a year.

Unlike classroom training, technology-based learning offers consistency of training methodology and content, as well as the ability to track user participation and success. Development costs are also reduced, as are travel and employee time away from the office.

By offering realistic interactive simulations in the privacy of their own home or workspace, employees can practice without fear of embarrassing themselves or offending others, and immediately see the impact of a response in a given situation.

What to Look For in a Technology-Based Learning Program:

Learning objectives linked to business goals
Does the software content describe concrete learning objectives? Are these learning objectives in line with current, specific business goals?

Solid instructional design
Don’t mistake whiz-bang special effects for solid instructional design. Does the software adhere to the latest adult-learning techniques; namely, a self-directed, task-specific, learn-by-doing design?

Appropriate use of media
Is the program merely a reproduction of a workshop manual or binder? This “text under glass” approach rarely works. It’s difficult enough to get people to read a manual; try getting them to read lengthy text on a computer screen.

Engaging and interactive methodologies
Adults learn by doing. The software should engage the participant in realistic situations through a variety of interactive media, such as high-quality video, audio, and animation.

Realistic examples and situations
Adult learners want direct links between what they’re learning and real life. Cartoons may get a smile, but if they are irrelevant to the learner’s work environment, they are time wasters. Examples and situations used should grab the user’s attention and credence.

Friendly navigation
Effective technology-based learning is highly intuitive, enabling the learner to navigate through the program quickly and easily. Example: Users should be able to quit the program quickly at any time, and then return later to the exact spot in the program.

Skilled application assessment
All good technology-based professional development programs should be able to assess how well employees can apply the skills they are learning to real-life situations.

Tracking capabilities
One of the benefits of technology is its ability to compile critical information and facilitate analysis. Effective technology-based training can track results individually, departmentally, and organizationally.

Multiple deployment options
Most organizations have a wide variety of technological platforms. To make technology-based training available to as many people in the organization as possible, it should offer a variety of deployment options, such as CD-ROM, the Internet, or your organization’s Intranet.

When it comes to professional development software, it’s a mistake to simply rely on eye-popping graphics and attention-grabbing software. It all comes down to learning by doing—still the best, most effective learning method there is.

SOURCE: © 1999 HR Outlook newsletter, Drake Beam Morin. Reprinted with permission. For more information contact shari_critchley@dbm.com or visit Drake Beam Morin at http://www.dbm.com.

Employers should always familiarize themselves with their state laws before taking any employment action. Following are eight particular areas that employers should be aware of:

1. Sexual Orientation. More than 20 states have laws that protect employees from being discriminated against or harassed on the job due to their sexual orientation.


2. Marital Status. Nearly 30 states specifically prohibit employment discrimination based upon marital status. Many employers interpret “marital status” to mean whether a person is single, married or divorced. However, marital status also includes a person’s spouse. Thus, in these states an employer cannot discriminate against an employee due to such factors because they are married to someone of a different race, or even if their spouse works for a competitor.


3. Smoking. Smokers are protected against employment discrimination in more than 15 states (many of these states fall in or near the “Tobacco Belt”). Even though smokers may have to abide by building codes and work rules when on the job, if they decide to smoke off the job premises, in those states where they are protected, it is entirely their right to do so, free of employment discrimination or harassment.


4. Political Affiliation. The boss is a Democrat and refuses to hire Republicans. Legal? Not in nearly half of the United States. In such states, an employee is protected against discrimination based upon political views and affiliations. Of course, there can be vagaries within this as well. Consider Arizona: you are protected against employment discrimination based upon political affiliation … unless of course you are a Communist (TRUE!).


5. Genetic Coding. How can an employer discriminate against an employee based upon genetic coding? Genetic testing can provide insights into the likelihood that a person may later develop certain types of diseases. While an employer may want to hold down healthcare costs, discrimination on the basis of genetic coding is illegal in more than 10 states. Some states are even more particular. For example, North Carolina only prohibits employment discrimination based upon genetic traits for sickle cell or hemoglobin C.


6. Criminal History. Bob has an arrest record. Therefore, you decide not to hire him. Fair? Not in most states. Arrest records generally cannot be used as the basis for employment discrimination. Under the law, an individual is “innocent until proven guilty.” An arrest record is thereby different from conviction records. In a few states, even conviction records cannot be used as the basis for employment discrimination, unless the employer can show that the area of conviction is directly related to having an adverse impact to the job under consideration.


7. Age. On a national basis, employees are protected from employment discrimination based upon age if over the age of 40. Many states have age discrimination employment laws as well. Therefore, as long as an employee is under the age of 40, age can be used as the basis for employment decisions … correct? No. Many states are interpreting their own age discrimination laws to protect anyone over the age of 18.


8. Federal Laws. Many state laws are based upon federal laws, reinforcing employment protection on the aforementioned characteristics of age (if over 40), gender, religion, pregnancy, race or national origin. However, while certain minimum employee levels apply on a federal level, typically mandating a minimum of 15 employees before federal law applies, many states lower this threshold to as low as 2 or 3. Ah, county and city laws. Even more laws to consider—but that’s a topic for another column.

SOURCE: Corpedia Training Technologies, Mesa, AZ, October 13, 1999.