As we near the New Year, many people begin the ancient tradition of making resolutions in an effort to change undesired traits or behavior, to accomplish a personal goal or otherwise improve their life. The practice provides us a reminder to not only examine our own personal lives, but to also review our business practices for ways that we can improve. We encourage all our clients to reflect and resolve to accomplish a new goal in the New Year.

For our staffing clients, we have a best practice recommendation that strengthens both your and our protection. Some of you may already do this, but if you don’t, we encourage you to consider implementing it in the New Year, as we’ve seen positive effects of its use.

When assigning employees to work in customers’ facilities, we don’t necessarily have the daily opportunity to personally monitor the activities of all our employees. We have seen a growing number of claims resulting from a customer location instructing an employee to perform an activity that is not within the original scope of that employee’s assignment. One of our clients includes language in their business contracts to address this, and they have graciously given us permission to share this portion with you. Feel free to customize and adapt the language below to best fit your company.

Unless the Client Company has obtained the prior consent of (Staffing Company Name), the Client Company agrees not to ask or allow a staffing service employee to perform any of the following related activities:

• Driving an automobile or other motor vehicle;
• Operating machinery and equipment unless discussed with (Staffing Company Name);
• Operating machinery other than that which employee has been trained to use;
• Handling cash, securities, or other valuables.

 

If this prior consent is not obtained, the Client Company agrees to waive all rights to make a claim against (Staffing Company Name) and to relieve (Staffing Company Name) from all liability and responsibility for any damage, loss, or expense which the Client Company incurs as a result of this staffing service employee engaging in such activities. The Client Company further agrees to indemnify and hold harmless (Staffing Company Name) from and against all claims, damages, bodily injuries, losses, and expenses which might be caused as a result of the staffing service employee engaging in any of these activities upon the direction and supervision of the Client Company.

The Client Company agrees to provide (Staffing Company Name) employees with the site-specific safety necessary for them to perform the assignment in a safe manner. This would include training in Hazard Communication, use of Personal Protective Equipment, and any other training topic specific to the site and assignment. The Client Company agrees not to expose any (Staffing Company Name) employees to unnecessary hazard or extra hazard, and not to violate any OSHA or safety law or regulation whether federal, state, or local.

If you have any questions, please reach out to your Account Manager, Rick, or me, and we will be glad to discuss this further with you.