Like Santa’s elves at Christmas, temporary employees can be saviors to manufacturing businesses during busy seasons. However, Jeffrey White of Robinson & Cole says temps come with their own brand of liability, even though most companies hire the workers from a staffing agency.
Here are some of the things White says businesses need to look out for when employing temporary staff:
- Training: It’s not always clear whether a staffing agency will be training the worker prior to their arrival at the company, or if they need to be trained on the spot. Either way, White says, “it is important to assess whether the temp workers have been adequately trained to handle their particular job assignment.” This is especially important when it comes to operating dangerous machinery.
- Accidents: If a temporary worker gets injured, aside from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation, it’s possible the staffing agency will want to conduct its own investigations. White says that though there are legitimate reasons to do this, the company that employed the temp still has to be careful not to open itself up to more liability and undermine its own investigation.
- Due diligence: “The government can take a hard line with host employers even if the staffing agency was responsible for certain obligations,” says White, such as taxes. Therefore, he suggests delineating responsibilities in a clear contract with the agency and conducting regular audits.
