General Circular No. 001347
To: Heads of State Agencies and Human Resource Directors
Subject: Statewide Use Of Contract Temporary Workers
Issue Date: April 8, 1999
Since May 1, 1998 a pilot program has allowed some state agencies to use temporary workers (temps) through a state contract with Westaff, a temporary staffing firm with offices around the state. Westaff was awarded this contract (Contract # 403452) through a competitive bidding process. On April 7, 1999 the Civil Service Commission amended Rule 14.1(c) to allow all state agencies to use this service effective May 1, 1999.
We encourage a Human Resources and a Purchasing representative from the non-pilot agencies to attend one of the training sessions listed below to learn how to use this service. If your agency is unable to attend a session, it will be required to meet with Westaff personnel for this training before you can use a temp. Depending on numbers attending, each agency may get only one training package. Pilot agencies need not attend. The following are basic facts about hiring temps from Westaff:
1. This is simply an additional hiring option for agencies to meet temporary needs. Its use is not mandatory. Agencies may continue to use restricted and job appointments, whether or not they use these private sector temps.
2. These temps may be used to replace an employee on leave, to fill a vacancy pending filling the position in a regular manner, or to address an emergency or work overload situation of short duration.
3. These temps will normally report to work no more than 48 hours after being officially requisitioned. They will have been referenced checked, interviewed, and tested for the skills you need.
4. Westaff temps are not state employees. They are not eligible for state benefits such as leave, paid holidays, retirement or group benefits. No Civil Service paperwork (SF-1s) or Performance Planning and Review (PPR) is done for them. Westaff pays for their employees' unemployment insurance, workers' compensation, state and federal taxes, social security and Medicare payments, and liability insurance and bonding. These Westaff administrative costs are included in your bill rate.
5. All such temps are sub-professional and cannot supervise state employees. There are four categories of workers: a) office/clerical, b) trades/maintenance, c) food service, and d) custodial.
6. The available job titles and their qualifications are listed in the contract. (These are not Civil Service job titles or qualifications.) The pay is set by the contract and is non-negotiable.
7. The appointing authority or his/her designee must approve the hiring of these temps. He/she must also authorize any overtime work before it is performed.
8. No individual Westaff temp may work over 680 work hours in a 12-month period. They may work these hours continuously or intermittently. If worked continuously, this equals 17 weeks of full-time (40 hours per week) work.
9. These temps do not count against an agency's T/O (table of organization).
10. The agency refers any problems to Westaff, which corrects employees' problems.
11. A designated person in your Human Resources Office should handle such temps. Other employees should not deal directly with Westaff. Westaff requires an appointing authority's (or his/her designee's) signature on the requisition form (this form will be provided at training) to order a temp.
12. No pre-approval by the Office of State Purchasing is necessary to hire such temps.
THE TRAINING SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS:
NEW ORLEANS - Tuesday, April 27 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. Rooms 110 and 111 at the State Workforce Development Center, corner of Navarre and Marconi. This is the old Regional Vocational-Technical School and is now a part of Delgado Community College.
LAFAYETTE - Wednesday, April 28 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Room 116 (the Training Room) at the Lafayette Technical College at 1101 Bertrand.
ALEXANDRIA - Thursday, April 29 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. LSU at Alexandria, the Barbara Brumfield Caffey Annex of the Student Union.
BATON ROUGE - Monday, May 3 - Choose one of two sessions - 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. or 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. in the Student Activity Center on the second floor of the main building at Baton Rouge Technical College at 3250 North Acadian Thruway East.
Please direct questions to Ms. Pam Percy in our Personnel Management Division at 225-342-8279 or to Ms. Lisa Coleman of Westaff in Baton Rouge at 225-293-2166.
Sincerely,
Allen H. Reynolds
Director