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The Benefits Implications of Recent Trends in Flexible Staffing Arrangements

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Abstract

Workers in flexible staffing arrangements - including temporary agency, direct-hire temporary, on-call, and contract workers - are much less likely than regular, direct-hire employees to be covered by laws mandating or regulating workplace benefits. Workers in such arrangements, in turn, are much less likely to receive pension, health insurance, and other benefits on the job. This paper documents these differences in coverage by benefits regulations and differences in benefits receipt. The paper also reviews evidence on the incentives employers have to use workers in these various flexible staffing arrangements. Although reducing benefits costs is not the only reason employers use flexible staffing arrangements, it is an important factor motivating many employers to use them, and the level of and growth in these arrangements would be lower in the absence of this incentive.

Suggested Citation

  • Susan N. Houseman, 2001. "The Benefits Implications of Recent Trends in Flexible Staffing Arrangements," Upjohn Working Papers 02-87, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:02-87
    Note: A revised version of this paper was published in Olivia S. Mitchell, David S. Blitzstein, Michael Gordon, and Judith F. Mazo, eds. Benefits for the Workplace of the Future. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003. Please cite the revised version.
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    1. Susan N. Houseman, 2001. "Why Employers Use Flexible Staffing Arrangements: Evidence from an Establishment Survey," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 55(1), pages 149-170, October.
    2. Jamie Peck & Nikolas Theodore, 1998. "The Business of Contingent Work: Growth and Restructuring in Chicago's Temporary Employment Industry," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 12(4), pages 655-674, December.
    3. Susan N. Houseman & Anne E. Polivka, 1999. "The Implications of Flexible Staffing Arrangements for Job Stability," Upjohn Working Papers 99-56, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    4. Abraham, Katharine G & Taylor, Susan K, 1996. "Firms' Use of Outside Contractors: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 394-424, July.
    5. Garth Mangum & Donald Mayall & Kristin Nelson, 1985. "The Temporary Help Industry: A Response to the Dual Internal Labor Market," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 38(4), pages 599-611, July.
    6. Susan N. Houseman & Anne E. Polivka, 2000. "The Implications of Flexible Staffing Arrangements for Job Stability," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: David Neumark (ed.),On the Job: Is Long-Term Employment a Thing of the Past?, pages 427-462, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marloes de Graaf-Zijl & Gerard van den Berg & Arjan Heyma, 2011. "Stepping stones for the unemployed: the effect of temporary jobs on the duration until (regular) work," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(1), pages 107-139, January.
    2. Yukako Ono & Alexei Zelenev, 2003. "Temporary help services and the volatility of industry output," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 27(Q II), pages 15-28.
    3. Corinne Perraudin & Nadine Thevenot & Bruno Tinel & Julie Valentin, 2006. "Sous-traitance dans l'industrie et ineffectivité du droit du travail : une analyse économique," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00265959, HAL.
    4. George Erickcek & Susan Houseman & Arne Kalleberg, 2002. "The Effects of Temporary Services and Contracting Out on Low-Skilled Workers: Evidence from Auto Suppliers, Hospitals, and Public Schools," Upjohn Working Papers 03-90, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    5. Addison, John T. & Surfield, Christopher J., 2005. "‘Atypical Work’ and Compensation," IZA Discussion Papers 1477, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Britton Lombardi & Yukako Ono, 2008. "Professional employer organizations: What are they, who uses them, and why should we care?," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 32(Q IV), pages 2-14.
    7. Corinne Perraudin & Nadine Thevenot & Bruno Tinel & Julie Valentin, 2006. "Sous-traitance dans l'industrie et ineffectivité du droit du travail : une analyse économique," Post-Print halshs-00265959, HAL.
    8. Ulrich Walwei, 2014. "Times of change: what drives the growth of work arrangements in Germany? [Zeiten des Wandels: Was treibt das Wachstum atypischer Erwerbsformen in Deutschland?]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 47(3), pages 183-204, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    contingent; part-time; contract; benefits; pensions; health; Houseman; Upjohn;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • J8 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards
    • K3 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law

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