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Are Good Jobs Compatible with a Contingent Workforce?

Are Good Jobs Compatible with a Contingent Workforce?. The Center for a Changing Workforce. What is the Changing Workforce?. Nonstandard or alternative work arrangements: temporary contract leased on-call independent contractors part-time. How big is the Changing Workforce?.

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Are Good Jobs Compatible with a Contingent Workforce?

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  1. Are Good Jobs Compatible with a Contingent Workforce? The Center for a Changing Workforce The Center for a Changing Workforce

  2. What is the Changing Workforce? • Nonstandard or alternative work arrangements: • temporary • contract • leased • on-call • independent contractors • part-time The Center for a Changing Workforce

  3. How big is the Changing Workforce? • 25 million part-time workers • 10 million independent contractors • 1.2 million temp agency workers • 800,000 contract workers • Totals 25% of workforce—over 30 million workers. The Center for a Changing Workforce

  4. Nonstandard employment is growing • Staffing firm employment grew 230% 1990-2007 to 2.6 million. • Staffing firms projected to add 3/4 million new jobs 2006-2016. • Contingent workforce has become a “cushion” for rest of workforce—growing first in expansions, cut first in recessions. The Center for a Changing Workforce

  5. Temps Become Permatemps • Contingent—meaning short duration, but many workers are “permatemps” • 34% of temp agency employees on same assignment for more than one year. The Center for a Changing Workforce

  6. Job Quality: Comparing Temp to Regular Jobs • Wage 1/3 average median income ($20,000 vs. $60,000) • 8% have employer insurance vs. 56% of regular workers • 4% are covered by employer pension vs. 48% of regular workers • Not eligible for other benefits: paid leave, childcare, etc. The Center for a Changing Workforce

  7. Do Temp Workers Prefer Temp Jobs? • 56% of temp workers would prefer regular employment. The Center for a Changing Workforce

  8. Why employers use nonstandard workers • More flexibility • Reduce costs • Less responsibility for employees The Center for a Changing Workforce

  9. COMFORCE has helped some clients cut labor costs by as much as 50%. Your Costs without Comforce: How Payrolling is Sold to Employers: Your Savings with Comforce: The Center for a Changing Workforce

  10. Kelly Services – less than 1% Insured? • In 2002, Kelly Services had approximately 500,000 US employees. • Kelly’s ERISA reports for 2002 claim a total of 3,606 insurance participants. The Center for a Changing Workforce

  11. Employer strategies to create a 2-tier workforce • “Payrolling” employees through staffing firms (called temp, contract, leased) • Short-term temporary employees. • Mislabeled “independent contractors.” • Moving to a part-time workforce. • Outsourcing and insourcing The Center for a Changing Workforce

  12. Contingent work and Warehousing • Use temp agencies and other staffing firms for payrolling. • Some use “Vendor-on-Premise” (VOP) strategies • Flexibility and cost savings The Center for a Changing Workforce

  13. Goods Movement Workforce: different models • Port drivers as “independent contractors.” • Warehouse workers – temp workforce. • Delivery services – Fed Ex’s “independent contractors” • Retail workforce – part-time The Center for a Changing Workforce

  14. Wal-Mart’s Part-time Army • 1/3 part-time workforce – 400,000 employees • Defined as working less than 35 hours a week • 12 months wait for insurance coverage and no family coverage The Center for a Changing Workforce

  15. Key Legal Concepts • Common law employees – who’s the real employer? • Joint employer status – there can be two or more “employers” for legal purposes The Center for a Changing Workforce

  16. Federal Policy Options • Increase access to employer-provided insurance. • NLRB Action to allow “joint employer” status. • Examine ERISA policies on benefit plans. The Center for a Changing Workforce

  17. State Policy Options • Employer health care “responsibility” legislation. • Modify state laws to limit “temporary” employment. • State crackdown on worker’s comp and unemployment scams. • Living wage legislation. • Public subsidy/investment labor standards. The Center for a Changing Workforce

  18. Warehouse work doesn’t have to mean bad jobs • Industry has been hidden—time to bring it into the open. • Tools: workplace organizing, coalition-building, policy work, and legal challenges. The Center for a Changing Workforce

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