One of the beauties of contract placements is that they happen FAST. Often interviews are conducted over the phone, and the contractor is at work within in a matter of days rather than the weeks or even months it can take with direct hires.

But don't let the quick nature of contract placements cause you or your clients to overlook legal interviewing techniques.  According to attorney Lisa Yankowitz, one staffing company learned this the hard way, settling a disability…

If you have clients who have been misclassifying W-2 employees as independent contractors (ICs), the IRS is providing a way for them to come clean.

Through the agency's recently launched Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program, if employers voluntarily reclassify their ICs as…

In our last blog post, we discussed why you should get job descriptions for all your job orders, especially your contracting job orders. But how do you get job descriptions and what should be in them?

Well, typically, the how is easy. Simply ask your client for a job description when…

When a recruiter comes to us for a quote, one of the first things we ask them for is a job description for the position they are trying to fill.  But even if you don't have a back-office asking you for one, you should get a job description for all of your job orders, especially for contract placements.  

Job descriptions allow you…

One of the perks of contract staffing is that, on top of the hourly rate you earn as your contractor works, you can also earn a nice conversion fee if your client decides to hire the contractor direct. So what would you say if we told you there is a whole crop of workers out there that, if placed as contractors, could increase your conversion fees?

Well, according to Workforce, there is -…

The housing market is still dismal, at best, but it appears that relocations are beginning to rebound anyway.

Relocations took a dive during the recession because workers who might have otherwise considered taking a job elsewhere couldn't sell their homes. And companies that may have purchased potential employees' homes in…

A recent blog post on www.ere.net poses an interesting question "Frequent Job Hopper - Should We Ignore Them?"

For many recruiters, the knee-jerk reaction to this question is a resounding "Yes!" After all, your clients don't want to pay you good money to place…

The Department of Labor (DOL) is requesting $46 million in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget to allow the agency to "redouble its efforts to combat worker misclassification."

Over the past couple of years, the DOL has been cracking down on employers who misclassify workers who should be W-2 employees as 1099 independent…

The IRS recently announced plans to discontinue the High-Low Substantiation Method, a decision that could significantly slow down negotiations in contract placements and increase the administrative burden of managing contractors.  But fortunately, the IRS is reconsidering this decision, and you can help convince them to keep the high-low method in place. 

Contractors are often paid a per diem rate for travel expenses when working away from home rather…

Contracting offers employers the flexibility they need in this economy to easily adjust their workforce to their business needs. But some employers are gun-shy about utilizing contractors out of fear of co-employment issues. In this series, we will examine the co-employment risk and how your client companies can reduce that risk when utilizing contractors.

Contractor benefits, or more specifically, the lack thereof, was the driving force behind one of the most famous co-employment…

Contracting offers employers the flexibility they need in this economy to easily adjust their workforce to their business needs. But some employers are gun-shy about utilizing contractors out of fear of co-employment issues. In this series, we will examine the co-employment risk and how your client companies can reduce that risk when utilizing contractors.

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the employer/employee relationship is how the worker is paid for…

Contracting offers employers the flexibility they need in this economy to easily adjust their workforce to their business needs. But some employers are gun-shy about utilizing contractors out of fear of co-employment issues. In this series, we will examine the co-employment risk and how your client companies can minimize that risk when utilizing contractors.

Co-employment exists when two or more legally separated employers share potential or actual employer…

Should an employer conduct background checks on its potential employees? Should a recruiter conduct them on their contract candidates?

Well, on one hand, background checks can protect the employer from negligent hiring lawsuits, which arise when an employee hurts someone and the employer should have known they were a risk based on their background. If you are a recruiter who serves as the Employer of Record for your contractors, the…

Companies that simply view interns as cheap labor could be missing out on a great opportunity, according to a Bloomsberg Businessweek "Today's Tip" post by Jim Belosic, Founder of ShortStack.

Instead, Belosic recommends that employers look at internships as an "extended…

With unemployment still around 9 percent and all of the uncertainty that has stirred up in Washington over the debt ceiling debacle, talk about a potential double-dip recession is resurfacing. But a sequel to the Great Depression is unlikely based on the demand for temporary/contract workers,…

We've all heard the negative stereotypes about Generation Y, also known as Millennials, which roughly encompasses those born in the mid-70′s to the early 2000′s.  They have an entitlement attitude. They think too highly of themselves.  They need constant feedback.

Whether these stereotypes are accurate or just gross generalizations is up for debate. But our HR staff learned at the 2011 Cleveland HR Star Conference that these younger…

Discrimination charges investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reached a record high in 2010, and 2011 is expected to outpace last year, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek article.

In fiscal year 2010, there were 99,922 charges of…

We reported a few months ago how it is taking longer and longer for hiring managers to fill direct-hire positions in their quest for the "perfect candidate." The negative impact of this is obvious to recruiters who have to get a candidate placed before they can get paid. But according to a recent post in  Top…

We recently reported on a proposed bill in the House that would require all American employers to use E-Verify.  A recent Human Resources Executive Online article provides more details about the…

A recent Workforce Management article has confirmed what Top Echelon Contracting already knew and has reported numerous times: older…