Lawmakers Weigh Staffing Agency Bill
By Christina Pazzanese
The Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development is considering a bill that would require all businesses that hire temporary workers to be licensed by the state and to disclose to workers key information about the terms and conditions of their work assignments.
Rep. Linda D. Forry, a Dorchester Democrat who co-sponsored the “Right to Know” bill along with Sen. John A. Hart, a South Boston Democrat and attorney, told the committee at a June 9 hearing that temporary workers are often subjected to hazardous work conditions and wage theft as a result of current labor laws that do not hold staffing agencies sufficiently accountable.
Massachusetts Bar Association Vice President Douglas K. Sheff, a personal injuryattorney who chairs the MBA’s Workplace Safety Task Force, said the bill has broad support from the MBA, as well as from Attorney General Martha Coakley, the Massachusetts Medical Society and many in the business community. It protects both those working in dangerous fields that frequently hire temporary laborers like construction and those agencies that do not take advantage of transient workers.
Construction site falls are a leading cause of death and serious injury among workers in Massachusetts, Sheff said.Opponents have claimed the bill unduly burdens agencies with extra paperwork and harms their ability to provide jobs in a difficult economy.
Representatives from the Massachusetts Staffing Association, who spoke against the measure, said better enforcement of existing state labor laws is all that is needed to curb worker exploitation.
Under the bill, all staffing agencies would have to register with the state and give workers the name of the employment agency, the worksite employer, the location of the worksite, the kind of work that will be done, the pay rate, whether hazardous conditions exist at the job site and if any special training or equipment is required. Agencies would also have to maintain records on all clients, employees and job applicants.
