Legal Hotline: (844) 804-2016

Question about temporary workers from a staffing agency

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Question: My publishing company has a contract with a temporary staffing agency to provide workers in the packaging and distribution department of the newspaper. For labor law purposes, is my publishing company considered the employer of these temporary workers from the staffing agency?

Answer:  Until last week, the answer to that question was probably, "No." However, on Aug. 27, the National Labor Relations Board issued a controversial decision (Browning-Ferris) regarding who is a "Joint Employer." This new decision will make it easier for the NLRB to decide that your publishing company is the joint employer of these temporary workers, along with the staffing agency.

Prior to this new ruling, your publishing company would not have been considered the joint employer, unless it directly controlled the wages, hours and working conditions of the temporary workers. Under the new standard, the company is a joint employer if it exercises "indirect control" over working conditions – or if it reserves the authority to do so.

This writer strongly advises that you carefully review your written agreements with temporary staffing agencies to put yourself in the best defensive position.

Note: Nothing in this SNPA Legal Hotline Q&A should be relied upon as legal advice in any particular matter.

L. Michael Zinser is the founding partner of The Zinser Law Firm in Nashville, Tenn. The firm, which has a heavy concentration of clients in communications media, represents management in the area of labor and employment. Zinser can be reached at (615) 244-9700 or mzinser@zinserlaw.com.


SNPA's free Legal Hotline for members – (844) 804-2016 – is designed to assist newspapers with a broad range of legal issues. Hotline attorneys and CPAs will tackle questions about circulation, independent contractors, labor and employment law, taxes, finances and accounting, employment benefits, open records, libel and privacy, and other issues newspapers encounter.

The attorneys and CPAs who will take calls from SNPA member newspapers are the best in the business:  The Bussian Law Firm PLLC, Fisher & Phillips, Way, Ray, Shelton & Co., P.C. and The Zinser Law Firm.

Legal Hotline, Zinser, NLRB
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