When it comes to contract staffing, the mechanics of getting a job order and finding a candidate are the same as making direct placements.  What is different about contract staffing is that you must have a back-office to handle the legal, financial, and administrative issues. You have two options for a back-office: Outsourcing it or doing it in-house. Let's examine the differences between the two methods.…

The IRS recently announced a one-cent increase to the standard mileage rate for 2013.

Effective January 1, 2013, employees can be reimbursed 56.5 cents per mile driven with their personal vehicles for business purposes. The previous mileage rate had been 55.5 cents per mile since 2011.

The standard rate for miles driven for medical or moving…

You think you've found the perfect candidate for your client's tough job order.  He passed the phone interview and the following three in-person interviews with flying colors.  He aced all of the skills and assessment tests. He has all of the qualifications and seems to be a perfect cultural fit. But while your client deliberates over whether this is really the BEST they can do, your candidate takes another job.

A slow hiring process wears candidates down and…

If you have never had to E-Verify a contractor before, you may have to start in the New Year.

E-Verify is an online federal system that checks information from Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) against records from the Social Security Administration and Department of Homeland Security to verify that they are eligible to work in the United States. The federal government only requires employers under federal contracts to use E-Verify, but many employers are…

There has been a lot of talk about skills shortages in certain industries. This is especially true in the engineering consulting specialties, and it's causing many companies to take a more serious look at utilizing contractors, according to Bulldog Recrutiers Vice-President Chuck Szajkovics, who places candidates in those positions.

“The niches we work are key industries for the…

Forget about ghosts and goblins. When it comes to running your own contract staffing back-office, there are very real risks that can keep any recruiter up at night.

Handling the back-office duties associated with contract placements becomes more complicated each year as employment regulations continue to increase. 

Here are just some of the scary details to fear:

1. IRS audits — The IRS seems to be cracking down on…

The leaves may be changing, but for the time being, the High-Low per diem rates are not.

The IRS has determined that High-Low Substantiation Method per diem rates for Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, which began on October 1, will remain the same as FY2012, according to Notice 2012-63.

Employers can pay a per diem rate to an employee on business travel…

If you are only targeting younger people for contract positions, you may be missing the boat.

According to a recent Reuters article citing an MBO Partners survey, 40% of temporary/contract workers are ages 50 and over. Ten percent are over 65.

According to the article, contract staffing is providing a…

Healthcare professionals are going to need more than just medical knowledge to get many of today's jobs.

In fact, the most common skill requested in healthcare job ads has little to do with medicine.  It's the ability to manage Electronic Medical Records…

As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) takes over the enforcement of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), employers will be required to use a new version of the FCRA Summary of Rights when conducting background checks, according to…

Demand for temporary/contract workers in the professional sector is expected to exceed previous records in 2012 and 2013, according to Staffing Industry Analysts' U.S. Staffing Industry Forecast.

Specifically, the IT Staffing and Engineering/Design industry…

How important is workplace flexibility to working adults? It's important enough that 45% would sacrifice a portion of their salary to get it, according to a Staffing Industry Analysts article citing a Moms Corps survey.

They are also willing to give up increasingly large percentages of their…

The myth that workers only become contractors to obtain a direct hire position has been officially debunked by a recent Randstad study.

Over 2,000 employed adults were surveyed for the Randstad Workforce360 Study. The study found that 78% of the…

The increased use of contractors over the past few years is more than just a knee-jerk reaction to the recession, according to a recent survey by Randstad.

The Randstad Workforce360 Study found that companies are beginning to view blended workforces - those…

As the number of mobile devices and users increases rapidly, contractors are helping the wireless telecommunications industry keep up with the demand.

More than 3.8 million Americans are employed in this sector, which accounts for 2.6% of all U.S. employment, according to CTIA, the International Association for the…

If you are completing I-9s for contractors, you should continue to use the current form despite the August 31, 2012, expiration date listed in the upper right corner of the form, according to the U.S. Citizenship and…

As the new school year gets started, it's not just students and teachers getting back into the swing of things. Pediatric therapists also play a vital role in many schools, but you might be surprised to learn how many of those therapists are contractors.

In fact, 90% of the placement revenue earned by recruiting firm PediaStaff comes from contract staffing, according to the firm's Vice President of Recruitment, Keith Adams.…

What if, as some experts predict, half of American workers were engaged on a contingent basis? How would the needs of our country, cities, and states change if a significant amount of people worked from home or outside the traditional 9-5 schedule?  

Those are some of the questions Thomas Fisher, Dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, tackles in his article…

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH Act), which provides funding to healthcare providers for the adoption and “meaningful use” of EHRs, has generated a huge demand for health IT professionals. This demand has created a new niche recruiters who have the ability to place profesisonals with the unique skills set needed to fill these positions.

One recruiter who is focusing his efforts on this niche is …

In the 19th century, it was the Industrial Revolution.  In the 1950's, it was the shift from blue collar to white collar work. And some are predicting that we are now at the beginning of another workforce revolution: a shift from permanent employment to contingent work.

In his book Labor Rising, The Past and Future of Working People in…