STAFFING INDUSTRY
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025
2024 IN REVIEW
Overtime Rule Salvation It’s a big deal for staffing agencies that a federal court halted the dramatic overtime rule from taking effect in November. After all, the industry relies on salary exempt recruiters and other similar employees to carry out your most important tasks. And while the nomination of Lori Chavez-DeRemer as Secretary of Labor might mean that we could see a renewed effort for an OT rule to boost workers’ wages, we predict that any such rule would be much more moderate in nature than the Biden-era attempt. Stay-or-Pay Crackdown When the NLRB’s General Counsel announced in October that certain “stay-or-pay” provisions infringe on workers’ federal rights, it hit the staffing industry especially hard given the common reliance on them to retain personnel and protect business interests. We outlined some best practices to navigate this new reality – but also have hope that a new NLRB GC will jettison this position once the new administration arrives in January. Post- Chevron Celebrations Need to Be Tempered The Supreme Court rocked the legal world in June when it overturned the famous Chevron doctrine and held that courts should use their independent judgment and not simply defer to an agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous federal statute. Knowing this could cut away a lot of burdensome red tape – from joint employment, to the overtime rule mentioned above, to overbroad workplace safety rules – many staffing agencies celebrated this decision as an all-out win. But not so fast. The demise of Chevron might lead to unintended consequences for the staffing industry as we explain here. State-Level Assault on Staffing Anti-staffing advocates took their battle to the states in 2024. Minnesota staffing agencies will no longer be able to enter into contracts that restrict their customers from hiring workers placed at their jobsites thanks to a new law that took effect in July. And an Illinois law set to take effect in April would have heightened equal benefit obligations under the state’s Day and Temporary Labor Services Act – but a court put a halt to that portion of the law in March while retaining equal pay responsibilities.
Bogged-Down Immigration Structure Will Hamper Industry
As explained in our Immigration section, we expect businesses to find it more difficult to secure the services of foreign workers across the board in 2025. This will have a particularly acute impact on the staffing industry – especially in the healthcare and IT staffing fields.
State-Level Attacks Will Continue With business-friendly changes taking root in the federal government, we will see another round of attacks from anti-staffing advocates in statehouses from coast to coast. It will be more important than ever to participate in local advocacy efforts to help shape the law to reflect the realities of the modern business arrangement.
Patchwork of Pay Transparency Laws
We’ll also see varying pay transparency laws from state to state continue to proliferate, making compliance efforts even more critical for multistate staffing agencies.
Nurse Staffing Will Add Cumbersome Rules We predict we’ll see an increase in legislation at the state level requiring registration and licensure of nurse staffing agencies – not to mention data collection obligations. These new rules will increase your operational costs and raise the specter of hefty penalties for non-compliance. The Age of AI is Here The staffing firms that use AI in recruitment (resume screeners, chatbots, etc.) will gain a competitive edge in 2025. They will need to manage the increased data privacy obligations brought about by such changes to ensure compliance.
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Benjamin M. Ebbink
Rebecca Bovinet
Sacramento/Washington, D.C. Partner and Chair, Staffing Industry Group bebbink@fisherphillips.com
Fort Lauderdale Attorney, Staffing Industry Group rbovinet@fisherphillips.com
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