New Legislation Supports Workers’ Rights
The United States is the land of the free but for a free society to function effectively there must be guardrails that protect everyone’s rights. Regulations are established by the Federal Government, state-by-state, and – in some cases – cover a particular metropolitan area. Laws that offer protections in one state might not do the same in another and this applies within the workplace as well. Workers’ Rights are important and we want to highlight a few new pieces of legislation that support those rights.
New York City’s AI anti-bias hiring law takes effect
According to a staffingindustry.com article, New York City’s new AI-in-hiring law took effect last month and companies must now make public the algorithms they use when applying Artificial Intelligence to hire and promote within their companies. The algorithms may require an independent audit, To ensure transparency, the law also requires companies using AI in hiring to disclose to candidates the algorithms they are using as well as an “average score” that candidates of different races, ethnicities, and genders are likely to receive from the algorithms. This law took effect July 5th. By making all usage of Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT) more public, unintended hiring biases can be identified and eliminated.
Illinois poised to become ‘equal pay’ state for temps
An article by btlaw.com speaks to a bill that substantially amends the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act. The new law requires staffing agencies to pay temporary workers who have been assigned to a client engagement for more than 90 days an amount equal to the rate of pay and benefits of the client’s lowest-paid direct employee with the same seniority and performing the same or substantially similar work on jobs requiring “substantially similar skill, effort, and responsibility.” This ensures that temporary workers aren’t being taken advantage of by third parties and nextSource fully supports this movement to protect the rights of workers.
nextSource’s take:
Through equitable pay legislation, both the business and workers succeed and grow. Businesses have access to specialized talent otherwise beyond their reach. Workers have the ability to pursue a “freelancer” career without being penalized. The erroneous perception of temporary workers as unskilled individuals who cannot secure a “real job” is overcome. At nextSource, we welcome equity and belonging of all workers, regardless of work status, and work closely with our clients to ensure that those engaged through our programs are paid a market-based rate. This is critical to clients when competing for high-demand talent.