Test Your Knowledge
Co-employment laws are those that govern any situation in which two legally distinct employers (typically a staffing firm and their business client) have employer-employee relationships with the same person.  Over the past several years, co-employment law has rapidly evolved in response to the increased use of temporary and contract staff. 

So how up-to-date is your legal knowledge?  Find out by taking the American Staffing Association’s Staffing Smarts Quiz on Co-Employment Law.  This quick 5-question quiz tests your knowledge of the legal issues involved in temporary and contract staffing arrangements.

Tips for Making Co-Employment Work
When co-employment problems occur, they often stem from situations in which a client company unnecessarily assumes employment responsibilities over temporary or contract workers.  To maximize the effectiveness of your co-employment arrangement, while minimizing the potential for problems, use these practical tips:

• Let the staffing firm do its job.  When you pay a temporary or contract employee’s hourly bill rate, included in that rate are the services the staffing firm provides – recruiting, interviewing, testing and selecting candidates.  To head-off potential problems, allow the staffing service (who is the employer of record for these workers) to perform these tasks.
• Take advantage of on-site coordinators.  If you have a large temporary workforce, ask your staffing service to provide an on-site representative.  This individual can reinforce the staffing service’s role as employer, by carrying out administrative functions, handling performance counseling and addressing disciplinary action.  Although there may be a charge involved, the benefits usually far outweigh the costs of an on-site coordinator.
• Give the staffing firm specific feedback on their employees’ job performance.  If performance issues arise, it may seem natural for you to speak directly with the temporary or contract worker assigned to you.  But to steer clear of potential co-employment problems, you should instead speak with your staffing representative about your concerns.  That way, when the individual is subjected to disciplinary action, the staffing service will be able to provide him or her with the performance-related reason for the action – making the individual far less likely to consider the action to be discriminatory, or to file a charge.
• Allow the staffing firm to handle employee termination.  If you are dissatisfied with a temporary or contract worker, ask your staffing provider to handle disciplinary action and / or termination and replacement.  Provide information about the individual’s work performance to your staffing representative, and then allow them to handle the rest.
• Review your benefit plan descriptions.  Ask an expert to make sure that the language in your benefit plan effectively excludes temporary employees.  To guard against lawsuits that stem from ambivalent wording, be sure to incorporate exclusionary language that makes benefit entitlement dependent upon your employment classifications – regardless of common law definitions.

Ensure Successful Co-Employment with Priority Personnel

As a leading staffing firm in San Marcos, Texas, Priority Personnel’s staffing experts can work with you to develop effective co-employment procedures from both a legal and operational standpoint.  Give us a call to learn more .

At Priority Personnel, we regularly recognize both our internal employees and field associates (temporaries on assignment) for their responsibility, integrity and work ethic.  Why?  Because showing our employees how much we appreciate their hard work and service to the company is a great way to raise morale (and profits, too).

So what does your company do to motivate employees?  Looking for some new ideas?

Beyond straightforward cash incentives (which are great, but not always financially feasible), here are a few thoughts and tips on how to effectively show your appreciation:

• No occasion is necessary.  You can tell others how much you value them and their contributions any day of the year – really!
• Ask employees what’s important to them.  The more closely your incentives align with employees’ wants and needs, the more effectively they will motivate.
• Find opportunities to recognize employees at all levels.  While you’ll logically want to reward top sales performers, don’t forget about the less visible employees who facilitate their success.  Make sure that your incentives send the message that all employees in your organization are valuable.

Five Ways to Show Appreciation

• Say “Thank you.”  Do you hear these two words enough?  If not, start a new trend on the job.  Remember, this simple phrase is extremely powerful – and it’s free to share.
• Provide new opportunities.  Give your employees chances to learn more (via training or cross-training), use their talents, attend association meetings, or represent your organization at civic and philanthropic events.  In addition to motivating your staff, you’ll wind up with more well-rounded employees.
• Distribute coupons for a paid hour off.  For many employees, knocking off an hour early, or coming in an hour late is a huge morale booster.
• Create and celebrate a fun holiday or seasonal tradition.  Schedule the celebration at the end of your busiest or most stressful time of year, to give employees something to look forward to.  Get creative with your ideas and ask for employee input.
• Offer flextime.  Permitting flex time allows employees to work the same total number of work hours, just at different times or locations.  This gesture lets your employees know that you respect their lives outside of work.  And during stressful economic times, facilitating healthy work/life balances for employees is a huge motivator.

Need to motivate a staff that’s stretched too thin?

If you or your staff is working too hard, Priority Personnel can help.  Use our staffing services to offload non-essential activities, reduce overtime, minimize burnout, and reduce turnover due to overwork.

Have you ever bought something on impulse?  Ever wonder what attracted you to the item in the first place?

Whatever the reason, something about the way that product was marketed created a strong attraction in you – strong enough to make you act.

In many ways, job postings are a lot like the impulse items we all buy on occasion.  As a manager, you must ensure that the announcements you write compel the candidates you seek to take action – even if they aren’t actively seeking new jobs.

To help you in this arena, use these tips for creating irresistible job postings that are magnets for talent:

1. Tell a story to stir emotions.  Rather than beginning with dry job requirements, focus on the ways your company’s products or services impact customers’ lives, or draw from client testimonials.  Write about the way your business makes people feel, and use this to create a compelling image of your company and the available position.
2. Approach the posting from the job seeker’s perspective.  Top candidates are more interested in what a position offers them personally – high earning potential, intellectual challenge, recognition, etc. – than in your company’s business strategy.  Ensure your job posting addresses these needs by first highlighting the rewards of the position.
3. Emphasize your company’s strengths.  Everyone wants to work for a successful organization.  Put your company’s best foot forward by identifying strengths such as: organizational growth, industry track record, competitive advantages of your products/services, positive corporate culture, financial stability, awards and/or recognition.
4. Convey a sense of optimism.  Potential candidates are quick to form judgments about your company based on the tone of your listing.  Use positive language to turn downsides into opportunities (e.g., a decline in profits signals a need for innovation).
5. Keep it short.  Details are great, but a passive job seeker won’t take the time to read a lengthy listing that drones on and on like Charlie Brown’s teacher.  So as a general rule, limit job postings to two or three pages.
6. Avoid overused buzzwords and transparent euphemisms.  For the savvy job seeker, buzzwords do little to differentiate your company – so use them sparingly (balancing the need for SEO when postings are online).  Likewise, steer clear of inflating job titles (e.g., listing a coffee gopher as a Beverage Production Manager) that will only rob your company of both clout and credibility.
7. Use your in-house writing talent.  A job posting is a marketing piece.  If you’re not a Twain or Grisham by nature, enlist your marketing department’s help.  Provide them with the nuts and bolts of the job (as well as this post) and let them craft a compelling posting for you.

Attracting top talent is both time-consuming and expensive – so why do it on your own?  Call Priority Personnel with your job specifications, and allow us to find the best temporary and direct placement candidates for you.

Most of us today are conditioned to look for the best possible price.  In most cases, this makes good economic sense.  But when it comes to staffing services, the company offering the lowest prices isn’t necessarily going to deliver the best value.

Here are a few good reasons why shopping around for the lowest-priced temporary employees might not be the wisest use of your staffing dollars:

• To offer you the lowest price, a staffing service may be forced to cut back on the quality and amount of service they provide.  They may not be able to afford the same depth of recruiting and screening.  As a result, they may have more difficulty finding the right candidates for your specific needs.
• Because of simple supply and demand, the staffing agencies that offer better wages to their temporary employees will most likely get the more talented, skilled, reliable and experienced applicants.  Any staffing firm can find a “warm body” to fill your position.  But finding a quality employee that truly fits your organization may be too crucial to risk – especially for what may boil down to a few cents per hour.
• Not getting the right person for the job can have very costly ramifications.  For example, a temporary employee who is less than qualified for the position can cause the following unforeseen expenses:
  - additional time (money) up front to adequately orient and train the temporary
  - increased supervision for a less qualified temporary
  - mistakes and reworks – the time, money and materials involved in re-doing the work of a less qualified temporary
  - poor productivity – the amount of work a sub-par employee fails to complete (compared to a qualified individual)

The bottom line is, many things in business aren’t worth risking.  The quality of your human capital is definitely one of them.

Priority Personnel:  the Best Staffing Value for Central Texas Employers
When it comes to the quality of Priority Personnel’s candidates, you get what you pay for – skilled, reliable, hard-working and experienced people who truly fit your needs.  Rest assured, we will always deliver the best value for your staffing dollar.