A happy contractor helps make a happy client. But according to Staffing Industry Analysts' recent survey of contractors, there is one thing that is making them decidedly unhappy: lack of communication.

In particular, the contractors surveyed felt that they did not know what to expect on…

As if the stock market crash a few years ago wasn't enough to ruin many older workers' retirement, USA Today is now reporting that many have not saved enough to cover the massive cost of healthcare they will have in their retirement years.

According to the USA Todayarticle,…

Summer is nearly upon us, and with it comes a whole new crop of college graduates. That means that many of your clients may be considering offering internships.  In fact, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies are planning to…

The
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that most of the contractors you place be paid at a rate of 1.5 times the regular pay rate for hours worked over 40 in a work week.  Many clients balk at paying extra for these hours. They may argue that overtime does not apply because the worker is in a
 …

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) is still accepting
 petitions for H-1B visas but won't be for long, according to MU Visa Advisor.

As of May 11, 
the USCIS had received 36,700 petitions, which is more than half of the 65,000 petitions that are subject to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 cap.…

An interesting article on the
 www.ERE.net blog titled 
"5 Reasons Traditional Employment is in Trouble" raises issues that both employers and recruiters should be concerned about.  The gist of the article is that employees have had it with traditional employment and are opting…

One of the beauties of contract staffing is the opportunity to earn a
 conversion fee 
on top of your hourly recruiter income if your client decides to hire the contractor direct.  In order to get that conversion fee, you need to have a Conversion Fee Agreement in place from the start of the contract assignment.  But how do you know when to include a Conversion Fee Agreement in the client contract?

It is a good idea to have one in place for
 every contract…

Even as the economy is starting to brighten up, client companies are still watching their budgets closely. So it's no surprise that many of them are balking at the recruiting fees that come with direct placements.  As a result, some recruiters may be losing placements from client companies that are just not prepared for the large initial payout.

Other recruiters have found a creative way around this.  They
 offer to place candidates on a contract-to-direct hire basis…

If you are conducting background checks on contractors,you may want to check out the new Enforcement Guidance the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently published on the use of criminal records in employment decisions.

The guidance does not necessarily contain any new rules, but it consolidates over 30 years of court and EEOC precedent for Title VII discrimination claims into one document. You can read the entire guidance at …

The looming problem of mass retirements may have taken a backseat during the recession, but now that the recovery finally seems to be taking hold, companies should be very concerned about losing their experienced older workers, according to a joint survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and AARP.

Citing 2010 U.S. Census data, SHRM reports that the number of Americans ages 55 and over in the workforce increased from 32.4 percent to 40.2 percent.  In the next two…