Part V: What Should Employers Know About The “Temp Employee Law” California AB 1897?

This law became effective on January 1, 2015, so why mention it now?  Isn’t it old news? Sure it is, but most employers are unaware of their additional financial and legal liabilities when they contract for temporary labor.

Here are some highlights of this law:

• When you enter into a labor contract with a contractor or temp agency, you may become legally liable for any wage-and-hour violationscommitted by the labor contractor for the employees supplied to you.
• Should the labor contractor fail to secure valid workers’ compensation insurance for the supplied employees, you become legally responsible for this insurance coverage.
• As an employer, you are still responsible for complying with all safety laws that may apply to the supplied employees. You cannot shift this responsibility to the labor contractor.
• Become familiar with the law and determine with your legal advisor if and how it may apply to your business.
• Read and understand the contract you are about to sign with the agency/labor contactor
• Vet the agency/labor contract to be assured they are compliance with wage and hour, workers’ comp and safety laws. This will be very difficult to do and confirm enforcement.

If you wish a copy of the text of this law, email me at tbone@risksnthreatsmatter.com. l will also share The National Review comments about the implications of this law to employers.

This law has unknown financial and legal liabilities for employers, so it seems the type of  relationship has become  “a buyers beware” issue.

I am not yet aware of any litigation from this type of relationship, but I would expect we will begin to see some in the future.

If you have operations in other states, there may be some more laws that applied this type of relationship where you operate.

In the next session we will discuss the key role Supervisors plan in your business.  So, stay tuned, or if you wish to jump ahead, go to my website www.risksnthreatsmatter.com and down load Workplace Issues You Need to Know for 2016. If you wish to CLICK HERE, you can down load your own copy now.

Reach out to me with your questions and comments about this or other related topics.  Chats are always complementary. Phone: 800-346-6216 x8758; email: tbone@risksnthreatsmatter.com.