(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution. Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

There is a huge demand for healthcare professionals as the American population continues to age.  To achieve workforce flexibility, many healthcare providers are filling their open positions with contractors.  This creates a tremendous opportunity for recruiters who can work this niche.

If you place healthcare contractors, though, you need to take extra care to qualify healthcare contractors and take steps to protect your firm from liability.

Failing to handle healthcare contract placements properly could result in severe consequences for your clients, their patients, and the employer (which is YOU if you run your own back-office).

To avoid problems, be sure that you or your contract staffing back-office:

1. Have a Certificate of Insurance that includes sufficient medical professional liability insurance.

2. Run background checks and drug screenings on every healthcare contractor.

3. Have healthcare contractors sign a HIPPA Agreement stating that they understand and will comply with the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA).

4. Verify their immunizations, specifically Hepatitis B and Tuberculosis.

5. Verify that they have any required licenses and that those licenses are up-to-date.

6. Conduct an OIG/HHS (Medicare Fraud) Search.

7. Conduct an Excluded Parties List System Search (EPLS).

8. Conduct Bloodborne Pathogens training and testing.

9. Have contractors complete occupation-specific skills checklists.

10. Verify their CPR training and certification.

11. Conduct FBI fingerprinting if the contractor will have contact with children.

Instead of handling these extra tasks yourself, you may want to consider outsourcing the employment of your healthcare contractors to a contract staffing back-office, such as Top Echelon Contracting.

We conduct the tasks listed above on all of our professional healthcare contractors, and we recently expanded the types of healthcare placements we can handle. To find out if we can handle your healthcare placement, call us at (888) 627-3678.

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888.627.3678
dfledderjohann@topecheloncontracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
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(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution. Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a direct-hire executive, and able to leap big projects in a single bound, it’s the Supertemp!

That is the term that the Harvard Business Review used in its recent article, “The Rise of the Supertemp,” to refer to a growing group of executives who are trading long hours and stiff suits for more flexible, project-based contract work.

By working as consultants on a contract basis, these “Supertemps” have been able to do the following:

• Spend more time with family.
• Take a month or two off to travel.
• Skip time-wasting corporate meetings.
• Have more “fun” by helping other executives succeed.
• Choose what they want to work on and the people with whom they want to work.
• Free themselves from administrative tasks.

Of course, most companies are more than happy to accommodate executives who prefer temporary, contract work because it helps them stay lean and save money since they don’t have to contribute to plush executive benefits packages.

But that leads to a problem: executives who would like to go independent but can’t get affordable healthcare. As a recruiter, though, you can help solve this problem by placing these contractors and then outsourcing their employment to a contract staffing back-office, such as Top Echelon Contracting, that can provide benefits.

The opportunity is definitely there for recruiters who are willing to delve into this niche. According to the article, this trend, often know as “Executive Temping” is getting so big that some recruiting/staffing firms are focusing exclusively on placing executives as contractors.

Could you be successful at placing Supertemps? Well, if you have clients that need high-level talent and executive candidates who are seeking more flexibility, it may be something worth looking into!

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888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

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 Today article, which cites information from a Fidelity Investments study, retirees’ healthcare costs have increased an average of 6% every year since 2002. Healthcare expenses account for about 35% of a retired couple’s annual Social Security benefit.

Those who assume that Medicare will cover most of their healthcare costs are most likely in for an unpleasant surprise. Even with Medicare, the average 65-year-old couple needs around $240,000 to cover their medical expenses over the course of their retirement.

So what can retirees do? Well, according to the article, many are planning to continue working. In fact, 1/4 of middle-class Americans believe they will have to work until they are 80 to have a comfortable retirement!

Rather than continue to work a traditional job to keep benefits, though, they could consider a contract position. If they are employed through a contract staffing back-office, they could be eligible for healthcare benefits. And while they will still have to work a certain number of hours to maintain eligibility for those benefits, there may be more flexibility as to when and where those hours are worked than there would be in a traditional, direct position.

Many older workers are turning to contract assignments to gain more flexibility in a trend known as retiree re-staffing. With the rising cost of healthcare and the availability of insurance benefits through contract assignments, contract staffing may become an even more attractive option to retirees.

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

According to a recent survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, companies are planning to increase their use of interns by 8.5% this summer.

The majority of these companies are planning to pay their interns, but if you have clients who are considering unpaid internships, this is a good time to remind them of the strict rules and risks of doing so.

In most cases, interns must be paid.  In order for internships to be legally unpaid, they must meet the following six criteria, as outlined in the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fact sheet on Internships Under the Fair Labor Standards Act:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;

2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;

3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;

4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;

5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and

6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

Over the past couple of years, the DOL has been cracking down on illegal unpaid internships, so it is important that your clients handle their internships properly. You may want to suggest that they hire interns on a contract basis and outsource the employment of those interns to a contracting back-office.

That way, they can avoid the risk of not paying their interns without taking on the additional costs (benefits, employer taxes, etc.) and administrative burdens that comes with making them direct-hires.

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

A recent article by Harvard Business Review focuses on how employers can retain their Generation X talent, but it appears that many workers from this generation may be better suited for contract assignments.

According to the article, 70% of Gen Xers surveyed by the Center for Talent Innovation stated that they prefer to work independently.  Consider the following quotes from workers interviewed for the survey:

• “Once I’ve learned my job, I like to move on.”
• “I need something new to keep things fresh.”
• “If it’s the right thing, I’d jump. I won’t stop learning or growing just to have a job.”

The article recommends that, in order to retain these employees, employers should invest in mentoring programs and allow employees to rotate through different types of jobs.

Another option is for these workers to consider contract assignments.  Contracting would allow them to try different companies, projects, industries, and job functions.

Do you have Generation X candidates who have a lot of talent but seem restless and easily bored?  If so, you may want to encourage them to consider contract assignments.

By placing them in positions that meet their career goals, you could find yourself a quality pool of contract candidates that will come to you again and again for more contract opportunities.

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

Do your clients know how to hire for attitude?

According to Mark Murphy, author of Hiring for Attitude, employers’ inability to successfully assess candidates’ attitudes during the hiring process is the reason why so many fail so quickly.

In a recent Forbes interview, Murphy said that of the 200,000 new hires his research company recently tracked, 46% failed within the first 18 months.  Attitudinal reasons, such as lack of coachability, low levels of emotional intelligence, motivation, and temperament, accounted for 89% of those bad hires.

Attitude is harder to assess than skills because candidates can easily be tested for skills.  But if a candidate doesn’t possess all the necessary skills, they may be able to gain them through training.  However, training can’t change a candidate’s attitude.

So how can employers find candidates with the right attitudes?  Murphy recommends asking better interview questions and getting referrals from their star employees.  But the only way to truly know if a candidate’s attitude meshes with the company culture is to see them in action.

Your clients can do that by initially bringing workers in on a contract-to-direct basis.  That way, they can assess a candidate’s attitude for a certain amount of time before making the risky, and often costly, direct-hire commitment.

There are some things that the traditional job interview just cannot tell an employer.  By allowing your clients to try-before-they-buy, you can help them reduce their bad hires and become their valued partner as a result.

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

These days, you may not have to talk candidates into taking contract assignments because more candidates are actually seeking out contract work.  But if you do encounter a candidate who is reluctant to consider contract staffing, you may want to point them to a column titled “Why Temporary Work is Worth It” in Forbes magazine.

According to the column by Kerry Hannon, more than a third of American companies are operating with smaller staffs than before the recession.  No surprise there.

But what might surprise your candidates is that 36 percent of companies plan to hire contract/temp workers this year.  For candidates who have been out of work for a long time, this represents a whole new crop of job opportunities . . . IF they are willing to think outside the normal direct-hire box.

Hannon’s column gives candidates plenty of reasons to consider contract staffing (nine of them, to be precise):

1. Try different careers, industries, and companies.

2. If a candidate is unemployed, contract staffing gives them something to do, which builds confidence.

3. Contract work may eventually lead to a direct-hire position (temp-to-direct).

4. Make good money.  Hannon says many companies pay generously for contractors because they can solve a problem quickly without the usual “hand-holding and learning curve.”

5. Build a professional network.

6. Get new references.

7. “Keep resume alive.”  Contract work can fill the gaps in a candidate’s resume in between direct-hire jobs.

8. Keep skills current.

9. Get excited about a project without long-term expectations.  Hannon points out that knowing the job is temporary “can be tremendously freeing.”

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

One of the most popular industries for contract staffing is Information Technology.  It is also one of the trickiest to navigate in terms of overtime requirements.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that most employees have to be paid at a rate of 1.5 times their regular pay rate for any hours worked over 40 during a work week.  However, the FLSA allows for certain job classifications to be exempt from these overtime regulations.  In most cases, in order to be exempt, employees who fall into those classifications must be paid on a salary rather than hourly basis.

Not so for those in “Computer-Related Occupations.”  The FLSA does allow qualified workers to be exempt from overtime even if they are paid on an hourly basis, as long as their hourly rate is at least $27.63.  To confuse matters further, the required minimum rate is different for those employed in California, and it can change annually.  The required minimum rate in California increased from $37.94 to $38.89 on January 1.

Changes may also be on the horizon for the federal law.  According to Business Management Daily, the Computer Professionals Update Act (CPU) has been introduced in the Senate with the goal of updating the FLSA in light of professions that have emerged as the Internet has grown.  Previously, the FLSA specified that those employed as a computer systems analyst, computer programmer, software engineer, or another similarly skilled position were eligible for the Computer-Related Occupations exemption.

The Act would more broadly define computer professionals as “any employee working in a computer or information technology occupation (including, but not limited to, work related to computers, information systems, components, networks, software, hardware, databases, security, internet, intranet, or websites) as an analyst, programmer, engineer, designer, developer, administrator, or other similarly skilled worker.”  They will still have to be paid at a rate of $27.63 per hour or greater ($38.89 or more in California) to be considered exempt from overtime.

If you place IT contractors, you may want to be familiar with these developments and keep a close eye on the progress of the CPU.

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

For various reasons, some workers prefer to be paid on 1099 instead of a W-2.  But it’s not the worker’s decision.  The IRS guidelines determine whether a worker is classified as a 1099 independent contractor or a W-2 employee.

Still, recruiters and their clients often get pushback when trying to convince their candidates that they need to be paid as a W-2 employee rather than a 1099 independent contractor.  So how do you convince them that they need to be paid on W-2?

For starters, you may want to point out the risks.  Independent Contractor misclassification audits have increased on both the federal and state levels over the past few years.  There has been a lot of focus on how this affects companies, but workers can also be subject to audits.  If it’s found they’ve been misclassified, they could be required to file amended tax returns, which could result in additional taxes and penalties.

Plus, there are many advantages to being classified as a W-2 employee.  By being a W-2 employee, workers will:

• Receive a weekly paycheck with the option of direct deposit
• Have access to medical insurance, vision, dental, and life insurance
• Have access to a 401(k) plan
• Be eligible for unemployment insurance
• Be covered under the employer’s Workers’ Compensation plan
• Not have to negotiate and/or write a client contract
• Not have to generate invoices to the client
• Not have to handle collection issues with the client
• Not have to float expenses while waiting on payment from the client
• Not have to do their own quarterly tax filings
• Have half of the Social Security Tax paid by the employer
• Have half of the Medicare Tax paid by the employer

By pointing out the risks of being classified as an independent contractor and the advantages of being paid on a W-2, you can convince even the most reluctant candidate that being properly classified is in their best interest.

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.

(Editor’s Note: This is the next in a series of guest blog posts about contract staffing, courtesy of Top Echelon Contracting, the recruiter’s back-office solution.  Similar posts will appear in future issues of The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog.)

Technology is changing the way we do almost everything, and it seems that job interviews are no exception.

With the advent of Skype and other Internet video tools, video interviewing is supplementing, and in some cases replacing, the traditional in-person job interview process.

But is it right for you and your clients?

You might want to consider the following pros and cons before deciding whether or not video interviewing is the right way to go:

There are a variety of options for video interviewing, ranging from Skype’s free service to fee-based services that offer advanced features (e.g., allowing a large number of people on the video call).  Typically, video interviewing options can be broken down into two types:

1. Live—These are the kind that are performed on Skype where both the interviewer and candidate are present and interact with each other on the video.
2. Recorded—Interview questions are sent to the candidate, and they record their answers online via their Web cams for the employer to review later. There is no interviewer present.  These are often used in place of phone interviews to pre-screen multiple candidates.

Video interviews may be worth a look, especially if you’re placing contractors.  Contract positions often need to be filled quickly, and the candidates are often remote, making video interviews an attractive option.

— — —

888.627.3678
DFledderjohann@TopEchelonContracting.com
Connect with Debbie on LinkedIn.
Follow Debbie on Twitter.