Do You Know Your Staffing Vendor’s People Practices?

By Jezabel Southard

Posted on April 4, 2013

When you work with a staffing firm, the contract or temporary workers placed in your organization are employees of the staffing vendor. Consequently, the staffing vendor has a duty to treat workers appropriately by following all applicable employment and labor laws. A vendor who is a good match for your company will also share and uphold your firm’s views on management and fair labor treatment.

If your staffing vendor is committed to treating its employees fairly, the results can reflect positively on your own organization; but if treatment is poor, the reflection can just as easily be negative.

Consider, for example, the experiences that online retail giant Amazon.com faced in Germany, where its logistics centers were staffed by contract workers provided by a staffing vendor in the country. Although the company has a policy of tolerat[ing] no discrimination or intimidation, according to a spokesperson, temp workers described several instances of maltreatment in a German television documentary.

Hired through a staffing vendor in Germany, the workers complained of being paid less than promised, being forced to work 15 days at a stretch, facing the constant threat of random searches, and being intimidated by security staff who chose to dress in clothing linked to neo-Nazi groups in the country.  Some temp workers described incidents in which the staffing vendor’s employees would walk into their houses at all hours, even when the occupants were not supposed to be on the clock.

Although the staffing vendor disavowed any links to extremist groups, Amazon severed the relationship, but the damage to the company’s reputation in Germany and abroad was done. Given that Germany is Amazon’s second-largest market after the United States, according to the New York Times, the damage done by the staffing vendor’s people practices will likely be felt for years to come.

How can your company avoid falling into the same trap?  Begin by interviewing your staffing company thoroughly.  Make sure the company has written policies about how to treat workers, as well as procedures to ensure these policies are followed.  Ask about the vendor’s ethical and management practices, and compare them to the practices in your own business. Your vendor’s treatment of its employees should be on par with your company’s treatment of its employees, and it should follow all applicable employment and labor laws.

At TERRA Staffing, we take our commitment to providing exceptional service to our placed talent (candidates placed in direct hire positions as well as assigned temporary employees). We work with a third party service to regularly measure and monitor this important value and practice. In fact, our most recent talent satisfaction score is nearly double the industry average, a fact that has earned us a place on the Best of Staffing – Talent list.  We treat our people well, and it shows.  We take pride in our level of service that we provide both talent and employers, and we look forward to the opportunity to work with you. Contact us today to learn more!

Categories: HR and Management Advice, Staffing Tips & Recruiting Trends

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