Staffing agency work loopholes must close

Many of us see a growing trend in places of business of staffing by non-native personnel. If you have wondered how the particular workplace finds its staff, please consider the following.

The management can seek and use native staff or they can go to a "staffing agency" to order up crews. The owner of the workplace is not required to verify employment eligibility or even know the name of the workers. He just sends a check to the agency.

The agency, in many cases a simple storefront, is supposed to keep the records and verify identity, work papers, etc. This loophole lets the place of business pay rock-bottom wages, no benefits, have no unions and discharge employees at will.

The staffing agency, if challenged, can easily be shuttered, lose its records and disappear, reopening with a new name in a new location as soon as the owner feels ready.

Staffing agencies are known to pay very low wages and then charge the workers for bus transport to work and to cash their checks, among other little money-makers.

If we are serious about stopping ineligible workers from taking our jobs, we must demand that our congress pass a law that says that a workplace that uses a staffing service is responsible for legal workers, just as if they were in-house employees. A fine of $1,000 per day per person for any illegal worker found on the premises would ensure this loophole would be closed in short order.

Ed Hicks

Huntley