Temporary Workers: Employ with Caution

Tim Scott, a partner in the New Orleans office, was quoted in the August 23 Human Resource Executive Online article "Temporary Workers: Employ with Caution." The article focused on the rise in the use of temporary workers to help cut costs in a struggling economy. Tim noted that from a practical perspective, using temporary talent is a good idea due to the flexibility and cost savings. A downside comes when the temporary agency doesn't do a good job of pre-screening candidates and sends someone that you may not have hired had you done your own pre-screening. "You could end up with some legal exposure. You have to work to ensure that the temporary agency clearly has those responsibilities and will indemnify employers using them should something go wrong." He also cautioned that all of the regulations and laws, including those dealing with wage and hour, discrimination, harassment, and safety, still apply to temporary employees and the employer can be held responsible for violations. "The paycheck may come from the agency, but an employer will be jointly liable if those laws are not followed."