As if employers didn't have enough trouble in 2010, the number of retaliation and discrimination claims and class action lawsuits increased, according to a recent article by Human Resources Executive Online.

Many employers that had never experienced any type of discrimination complaint in the past were hit for the first time in…

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has reached its H-1B Visa cap for Fiscal Year 2011, according to a USCIS Press Release.

H-1B Visas enable employers to hire foreign workers in areas of specialized knowledge or technical…

When the phrase "Lost Time" is brought up in referrence to Workers' Compensation claims, it usually refers to the money that must be paid to a worker injured on the job to make up for the wages they lose while they are unable to work.  The longer workers are out, the more lost time benefits that must be paid, which results in higher Workers' Comp premiums for your clients at renewal time. But there is another form of "Lost Time" that can be just as costly to your clients.

That is the…

In a recent blog post, we reported on an article by The Kansas City Star that discussed the trend of hiring workers on a contract basis to complete projects, a practice the article referred to as "adhocracy."  As many of the recruiters we work with can attest, this trend is very real. And for some, it lead to their first contract…

Hiring freeze.  Those two words can stop recruiters dead in their tracks.  After all, if a client says they are unable to hire, where does that leave you?  It's the one client excuse that there is no easy argument against.

Or is there?  Several of the recruiters we work with have discovered another word that can immediately melt the ice on a deep hiring freeze . . .contracting!  In fact, for many, hiring freezes lead them to their first contract placements.

Hiring managers are…

One of these recruiters was…

Not only is contracting becoming more popular, it is also becoming more lucrative for contractors.

Citing data from the Yoh Index of Technology Wages, Human Resources Executive Online has reported that hourly wages for skilled temporary workers increased 4.3 percent between last November and December after hitting a…

Executive temping is a popular option for companies as executive hiring in general appears to be heading toward a surge, according to a recent article by Human Resource Executive Online.

Per the article, ExecuNet's Recruiter Confidence Index reported that 66 percent of executive recruiters are "confident" or "very confident" that executive hiring will…

Since President Obama took office, there has been a marked shift in how immigration enforcement is handled. Where immigration raids aimed at capturing illegal immigrants were more common during the Bush administration, now U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is relying on I-9 inspections to find and fine employers who do not follow immigration laws.  As a result, employers are becoming more educated about the inspection process and fines that could be assessed.

As a…

The recession forced many companies to cut their workforces and learn how to get the job done with fewer employees.  According to a January 7 article by the Society for Human Resource Management, titled "2011:Time to Find the Right Workplace Mix," companies now need to examine how they may need to supplement their downsized workforce to meet future needs.

The article recommends that, rather than just hiring blindly, that employers spend some time determining the right "workforce mix"…

The Great Recession forced many workers to make some hard decisions the past couple of years.  Some had to relocate. Others gave up the job hunt for awhile and returned to school.  

And according to the Human Resources Executive Online article "Job Seekers Change Course," a large number of workers chose to try different career…

When you are looking for new contracting job orders, don't overlook your smaller clients.  

Contracting is not just for large corporations anymore. In fact, according to the American Express Small Business Forum, "Small business owners have dramatically increased their use of contractors," and the money they have spent on contracting over the past nine years has doubled.

Here are some of the main reasons smaller employers hire contractors:

1. To…

The surge in contract staffing that we have reported on numerous times over the past year is more than a passing fancy, according to a recent article by The Kansas City Star, which was brought to our attention by recruiter Carlene White, President of White/TemTech, LLC, in Shawnee Mission, Kansas.  In fact, the article describes contract staffing as an "evolution" and has coined the term…

Bringing back retirees on a temporary or contract basis is one of the key strategies employers are using to prevent potential future worker shortages, according to a poll conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and AARP.

The poll surveyed human resource professionals about how they are planning for potential worker…

We've talked a lot on this blog about the government's crackdown on the misclassification of W-2 Employees as 1099 Independent Contractors and have provided resources that recruiters can use to educate their clients on this issue. But if your clients are like a lot of employers out there, they may be thinking it is unlikely that they will be audited, especially if they are a particularly small company.  However, even if a company is very small, there are a number of triggers that could…

Recruiters specializing in executive search should brace themselves for big changes, according to a recent Human Resources Executive Online article.

Citing a recent report by the Association of Executive Search Consultants, the article predicts that executive search firms will become more specialized, focusing on specific industries or functions. In…

When negotiating a contract candidate’s pay rate, it may feel like you are between a rock and a hard place. After all, both the client and the candidate are your customers. You have to make your client happy if you hope to get future job orders, and a satisfied candidate will likely turn to you for future contract opportunities and may even refer friends looking for contract work.

So where do you start? A common rule of thumb is to divide the annual salary for a comparable direct…

Equipment maker Caterpillar, Inc., announced in its third quarter earnings statement that it has added 9,000 people to its "flexible workforce," according to a recent news release by Staffing…

A recent fine levied against an Ohio-based company should serve as a warning to employers that simple recordkeeping mistakes on I-9s could cost them big.

According to a recent Human Resource Executive Online article, Abercrombie & Fitch agreed to pay $1,047,110 to settle the fine that was waged after a 2008 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)…