Temporary Work Is A Good Thing .. But You Don't Have Special Temporary Employee Rights.

There are two types of temp work.

• Working directly for the company that is employing you on a temporary basis. This would make the company your employer.



• Working for a "client company" on an assignment from a temporary staffing agency. This makes the staffing agency your employer.

The trend to hire temps through staffing agencies is increasing, even for specialized skills. In fact, as I was researching to find out how I might get your attention I found a growing trend to hire temp workers for some of the highest paying professions which require degrees in scientific and technological careers.






What You Should Know About Temporary Employment As It Relates To Unemployment Benefits

Temporary employment is really, just your new regular employment with possible breaks between assignments.

If it weren't a temporary staffing agency .. you could expect these breaks to seen as a temporary layoff or a lack of work claim.

But, confusion can arise if you were working an assignment provided by a temporary staffing agency .. even if the assignment was a temp to hire position that didn't work out because these agencies have managed to have laws passed in some states that are beneficial to them and detrimental to you .. if you aren't aware of the rules.

Again, we need to look to unemployment laws to see if there are any "special" provisions in the laws that effect you as a temporary worker or whether a state might interpret the laws they do have .. just because you signed a piece of paper when you signed on with the staffing agency.

If you signed onto an agency so you can receive temporary work assignments, be very careful to read all those papers you are asked to sign. It is the staffing agency that will usually be your employer .. not the client company you will be working for.




Temporary employee laws or unfavorable interpretations

AL, AZ, AR, CO, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NJ, NY, ND, OK, PA, PR (Puerto Rico) RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, WV all have what is called a "Temporary Worker Provision" or they interpret their laws without benefit of a specific provision in favor of the temp agency.

The provisions usually state that a failure to notify the staffing agency at the end of an assignment for further work .. may result in a denial of benefits because the failure to contact them is a voluntary quit. When a state interprets .. all the employer need do is provide a copy of the form you signed which require you to do this.

I do have direct knowledge of the fact that whether you contact them or not .. whether you were replaced in an assignment due to an unprovable case of misconduct or any other situation that might arise .. they will invariably protest your unemployment benefits on any grounds they can think of whether justified or not.

My suggestion is to not only communicate with them by phone, but to document all phone calls made. In fact, all interactions with a verifying email that reiterates the occurrence is the optimal approach.




Why They Do This

Due to the nature of a temp agency's business model they have developed a bag of strategies to deny unemployment claims because the nature of the work lends itself to have an ongoing open unemployment claim based upon a "lack of work" which is what a layoff is.

In other words their tax rate is always pegged out and unemployment cost them much more. It's a bottom line operating thing.

A few years back laws were enacted all across this country to plug a loophole. The laws were meant to combat a strategy called SUTA dumping. It was a clever form of tax evasion as far as I can tell.

Since working temp jobs seems to be the largest source for work these days .. it is very important to understand your position and your rights in the process .. at least with regard to unemployment benefits.

Any separation from the "last work" after you are determined to be eligible to receive benefits from previous work will control whether you are entitled to begin collecting benefits again.

In addition to laws that may affect temporary work, we must also consider why you are working temporary. If you are doing this for the flexibility it offers and can only work part-time, you will need to check your state unemployment laws to see if they have "part-time worker provisions" which allow unemployment benefits to those not able and available for "full-time work".

This is just another backdoor way to deny a claim for benefits and effects mostly, women.

Back From Temporary Work To All Q&A's

What Other Visitors Have Said

Click below to see questions or stories from others about temporary employment and unemployment benefits.


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