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UIC Cente r for Urban Econo mic Developm ent

St a ff ing Indus t ry Bul l e t inVo l u m e 1 , I s s u e 5 A p r i l 2 0 0 3

A P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e C e n t e r f o r U r b a n E c o n o m i c D e ve l o p m e n t

U n i v e r s i t y o f I l l i n o i s a t C h i c a g o

Pasade na Day Labore r Cent er on t he Ropes

In response to lower-than-expected use of its publiclyfunded day laborer center, the city of Pasadena,California is considering an ordinance against street-corner day labor activity. The City Opened thePasadena Employment Job Center in February, 2001in an effort to minimize public, street-corner day laboractivity. But despite the amenities it offers, the center isused by only a small portion of the Citys day laborersand contractors. Geography appears to be the primaryproblem: The Center stands more than 11 blocks fromPasadenas long-established primary labor corner.Coupled with workers uncertainty about the newcenter, the sizable distance between it and the citysbetter-known labor corners appears to encouragemany day laborers to maintain the status quo. Despitethe fact that the proposed ordinance would increaseuse of the Center, Center directors oppose it, citing aninterference with the dynamic of supply and demand.

(Source: Los Angeles Times, Metro Section, March 27,2003) v

Work er s Com p Rul ing Hur t sTe m p A g e n c i e s

Workers compensation claims filed by temporaryworkers must be borne by the end-user firm and notthe temp agency, the California WorkersCompensation Appeals Board has ruled. In its decision,the Board found that the California InsuranceGuarantee Association could not be forced to cover theworkers comp claim of a RemedyTemp employeebecause coverage was available through the insurer ofthe end-user firm, Jacuzzi, Inc. As a result, temporaryhelp supply (THS) firms in California will no longer beable to include workers compensation in the bundle ofcosts and risks they assume on behalf of end-useremployers. The THS industry in California views theruling as a sizable setback. One of the big services weprovide right now is we handle all the paperwork, andone of the big parts of the paperwork that we handle isworkmens comp, said Joe Mackey of the CaliforniaProfessional Staffing Industry Group.

(Source: California Workers Comp Advisor, April 16,2003) v

St u d y t o De t e r m i n e H e a lt hI m p a c t o f Co n t i n g e n t Wo r k

A study from Canadas Institute for Work and Healthwill examine the health impacts in terms of insurancecoverage and physical problems stemming fromvarying work hours of non-standard workarrangements. The potential health consequencesarising from new forms of work arrangements have notbeen given adequate attention, says Emile Tompa, aresearcher at the Institute. (Source: Canadian HR Reporter, February 10, 2003).

Center for Urban Economic DevelopmentUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

400 S. Peoria St., Suite 2100, Chicago IL 60607

Please contact Marc Doussardwith questions or comments.

Phone: 312.996.4327email: mdouss1@uic.edu

This project is funded byThe Rockefeller Foundation

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UIC Cente r for Urban Econo mic Developm ent

St a f f i n g I n d u s t r y B u ll e t i nVo l u m e 1 , I s s u e 5 PA GE 2 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 2

De p a r t m e n t o f L a b o r H i r e s

M a n p o w e r The Employment and Training Administration of theU.S. Department of Labor has hired temping giantManpower to overhaul the One-Stop Career Centersthrough which workforce development programs arerun. Under the terms of the agreement, Manpower staffwill soon meet with the heads of many of the nations1,900 local One-Stop centers to begin sharingexpertise and building strong relationships at the locallevel. Under the vaguely sketched outlines of the

partnership, Manpower will work with the One-Stopcenters to strengthen their connections to localbusinesses. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration press release) v

Mis sou ri PEOs Drop

Work er s Com pRising workers compensation costs in Missouri arepaving the way for dramatic changes in both employerpractice and state policy. In the face of workerscompensation premium increases as high as 10% ormore over the past two years, professional employerorganizations (PEOs), including ColumbiasMoresource, have elected to drop workerscompensation for workers on their payrolls. As a result,these PEOs will no longer be able to include workers

compensation in the bundle of human resourcesobligations they bear on behalf of employers.

The cost escalation has also led Missouris Republicansenators to sponsor a bill that labels the workplace thedominant factor in employee injuries, as opposed to itscurrent definition as a substantial factor in thoseinjuries. This seemingly minor semantic change wouldstop injured workers from recovering for their injuries,according to the Missouri Association of TrialAttorneys. (Source: Columbia Daily Tribune, April 28,2003) v

Te m p o r a r y Em p l o y m e n tSt i l l St agnan t

Despite predictions that the recession had reached itsnadir and that temporary staffing was ready to rebound(Staffing Industry Bulletin, March 2003), employment inthe temporary help supply industry fell by 0.5% in thepast month. Additionally, staffing industry penetrationof total U.S. employment the percent of all workersaccounted for by temporary workers remainedessentially unchanged, falling to 2.39% from 2.4%.However, these mild losses mark notableimprovements over the temporary employment lossesrecorded one year ago. (Source: Gerard Klauer Mattison Equity Research) v

Co n t r a c t o r Co n v i c t e d i nDay Laborer Deat h

After rejecting a charge of manslaughter, a New York

City jury has convinced contractor Shakun Tam ofreckless endangerment in the death of a day laborerlast year. The worker, Antonio Romano, was killedwhen hundreds of 64-pound cinder blocks fell on him ata Tam construction site. Prosecutors had sought amanslaughter conviction on the grounds that Tamconsciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiablerisk of death, but the jury found evidence of the chargeto be ambiguous and instead selected the lessercharge of reckless endangerment. (Source: Newsday,April 9, 2003) v