Chart VI SEPARATION ISSUE DISQUALIFICATIONS (EXCEPT LABOR DISPUTE ISSUES) Chart VII DISQUALIFICATIONS, BY TYPE, AS A PERCENT OF TOTAL SEPARATION ISSUE The CHAIRMAN. Mr. John Frank, Institute of Temporary Services, Inc. Will you proceed, sir? STATEMENT OF JOHN H. FRANK, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, MANPOWER, INC., TREASURER AND CHAIRMAN OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, INSTITUTE OF TEMPORARY SERVICES, INC. Mr. FRANK. My name is John H. Frank. I am executive vice president of Manpower, Inc., Milwaukee, Wis. In addition to appearing on behalf of my own company, I represent the Institute of Temporary Services, Inc., a newly formed national association of temporary services firms, as treasurer, as a member of the board of directors and as chairman of the public affairs committee. The temporary help service industry is a relatively new one in the Nation's economy, but has become tremendously important during the past 10 years. It is separate and apart from the employment agency industry, for we temporary help companies are employers as any other one of the companies appearing here today is an employer. Let me explain that difference if I may: The temporary help company hires employees of varying qualifications to perform a variety of services. We hire professionals, technicians, laborers, office workers-bookkeepers, clerks, typists, stenographers, secretaries and others. These are our employees and from the time their job applications are accepted by us until they leave, these persons are our employees. We assume full responsibility for them in the same manner as other employers do for their employees. That is, we pay their salaries based upon their time worked, we deduct and remit their withholding taxes and their unemployment compensation, as well as other taxes and insurances as required by Federal, State, or local laws, rules or regulations. These employees of ours pay no fees to work; nor do they pay a fee to be hired by us, as in the case of an employment agency. The only difference between most other employers and temporary help firms is that our employees-other than a nucleus administrative staff-do not necessarily perform their duties on our premises—but are somtimes assigned by us to work on the premises of others. However, these are our employees, and we are charged with-and acceptthe full responsibilities of an employer. The temporary help service industry had its beginnings only about 20 years ago when the war years left the country faced with a dire shortage of labor. The need for such a service was realized and fulfilled by those pioneers in the services field. The industry has grown to its present proportion of more than 2,000 firms. Manpower, Inc., alone employs 250,000 people, with the total industry exceeding more than a half million employees. The bill before us here today-H.R. 15119-is legislation which vitally affects our temporary help industry and in turn the economy of our Nation. We in our industry wholeheartedly support this legislation as it has been reported to the Senate from the House of Representatives. We subscribe to this legislation as it is and urge that the Senate make no change in its present form. In fact, we in the temporary help industry would oppose any Senate amendment-even one designed to improve the measure from our point of view, solely in the light of our basic objective of preserving the package compromise as is. In the name of simple justice alone, it is of vital importance that there be a Federal court review over the decisions made by the Secretary of Labor. Although the legislation will cost more in taxes by virtue of the increased rate and taxable base, H.R. 15119 will be far less costly than S. 1991 which is identical to the House-rejected H.R. 8282. We further feel that the extension of the unemployment compensation tax coverage to the smallest of employers should be left to each State as in the past. We in the temporary help industry strongly urge the adoption by the Senate of H.R. 15119 as it has come from the House Ways and Means Committee as it stands without change. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Frank, I have read your statement, and basically your position is that you would like to see the bill passed? Mr. FRANK. Yes, that is correct. The CHAIRMAN. I want to ask you about this. With this temporary help problem that you have, I wonder if that gives you a problem on your experience rating since you employ people only for a short period of time. Does that give you a high experience rating? Mr. FRANK. Yes. I will answer you this way, Senator. This is a continuing problem that we try very hard to solve. We do have in some States a high rating. One of the biggest problems that we face is the problem you were just discussing with the previous person here, and that is sometimes we have the problem of malingering, where some of these people are willing to work until they can qualify themselves for unemploy ment compensation and in those cases where they have applied for compensation we have tried to show to the hearing examiners that work has been available and is available and we want them to come to work. But it is a condition of our industry and, of course, particularly today where the problem in our industry just as in others is that we can't get enough people to go to work. We have no problem in putting people to work, if they will work, but particularly in some of the classes of people that we employ, some of the people who work in warehouses and other common labor responsibilities, sometimes it gets a little hard to get them to come to work. The CHAIRMAN. You didn't ask for it and you are not likely to get it if you don't ask for it, but the thought did occur to me that at the same level or somewhere maybe it would be more appropriate at the State level because I take it you are opposing any Federal standard here, but somewhere, someone should try to work something out to give your people, your industry, some consideration for the fact that the very nature of it would cause it to have a very high experience rating because you are employing people who otherwise would be out of work. Mr. FRANK. That is true. |