Staffing Services Association of IL: Proposed rule changes bad for workers and companies

Springfield, Illinois – The Staffing Services Association of Illinois (SSAI) testified today at an Illinois Department of Labor hearing today on proposed rule changes for temporary staffing that would hurt Illinois businesses needing temporary workers and would deprive workers of opportunities.

Among the concerns about the proposed rules is that a temporary worker in a job for only six months could be paid more than a 20-year full-time employee given the imposition of in-kind benefits to be paid to a temporary worker, perhaps as much as six dollars an hour or more. Under the Department of Labor proposal, temps working more than 720 hours at a job would be required to get the cash equivalent of a comparable full-time employee if the temp worker declines the benefits.

“This rule change is bad for manufacturers and distributors who depend on temporary workers to get through busier times of the year, but it is worse for workers who like the flexibility and freedom temporary work provides,” said Frank Auriemma, SSAI President. “The workers who come to our member companies choose the pace, variety, and flexibility of being temporary employees. This proposed rule change would hurt them because there will clearly be fewer job opportunities.”

In addition, the rule is proposed to be retroactive to April 2024.Auriemma believes this will be highly burdensome for both staffing firms as well as their manufacturer/distributor clients. The proposal does not recognize the mobility of the temporary staffing workforce, or the analyses that staffing firms and their clients will have to engage in to determine any retroactive benefits. SSAI believes in equitable pay and benefits for temporary staffing workers; however, it does not believe the proposed regulations sufficiently address the critical business-related issues.

The Staffing Services Association of Illinois was created in 2002 and represents about 25 staffing companies throughout Illinois that employ over 250,000 people annually.