Business & Work

Day and temporary laborers are those who contract for employment with a day and temporary labor service agency. The work is performed for a third-party A person or business involved in a court case in a role like plaintiff, petitioner, defendant, respondent, or intervenor. client. The work may be for a specific or undefined period of time. 

Such workers have rights under the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act. For example: 

• You can refuse an assignment to a location where there is a strike or other labor dispute without penalty.
• If you are assigned to work at a third-party client for more than 720 hours in the same 12-month period, you must be paid the same as a similar direct-hire employee at the company for the same or similar work. Also, you may receive the hourly average cash equivalent of the actual cost of the benefits the third party client provides a similar direct-hire employee at the company for the same or similar work instead of benefits. Note: There is an ongoing lawsuit about the “equal benefits” part of this law. The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) is allowed to enforce Taking legal steps to make someone do what the court tells them to do this law, but it hasn’t said how it plans to do that. The IDOL is currently developing enforcement standards. This is a developing area.
• You must receive safety training for the type of work and location where you are working.

There are civil penalties for violating the rights of day or temporary laborers. 

When you are paid, the placement Cases in which youth are removed from their homes and placed elsewhere agency must provide you with a detailed statement on your pay stub or on an IDOL form listing the following:

• The name, address, and phone number of the place you worked (or a code indicating that information),
• The number of hours worked each day of the pay period,
• The pay rate,
• The total pay, and
• All deductions and the purpose for any deductions, such as for food, transportation, equipment, and taxes. Total deductions for meals, transportation, and equipment must not cause your hourly wage to fall below the state or federal minimum wage.

Obligations of placement agencies and client companies

Agencies that place workers and the companies that employ them have certain obligations to the workers.

An agency that places temporary workers must: 

• Provide an application receipt to any laborer who applies but is not assigned to a job,
• Ask about the client company's safety and health practices and hazards at the actual workplace where the day or temporary laborer will be working,
• Provide training at no expense to the day or temporary laborer and in their preferred language for general safety awareness and recognized industry hazards the worker may encounter at the client company's worksite,
• Provide a general description of the training program,
• Provide the Department of Labor's hotline number for the employee to call to report safety hazards and concerns, and
• Inform the laborer who they should report safety concerns to at the workplace.

An agency must also provide temporary employees an employment notice at the time the employee is assigned to the job site. The employment notice must include:

• The name of the day or temporary laborer,
• The basic job duties,
• The types of equipment, protective clothing, and training needed for the task,
• The hourly wages The amount of money that a person is paid for work they do ,
• The name and address of the work site,
• The terms of transportation, and
• Whether a meal or equipment, or both, are provided. 

If a worker is assigned to the same job site for more than one day, the agency only has to provide the employment notice on the first day as long as none of the terms have changed.

The client company must:

• Inform the worker about potential hazards,
• Inform the worker about a labor dispute if there is one at the workplace,
• Review the training provided by the agency,
• Provide specific training for hazards particular to the company,
• Document and maintain records of site-specific training, and
• Allow the agency to visit the site where work will take place. 

If the job changes and the task has not been reviewed or the worker has not been properly trained, the worker may refuse the job without penalty.

Filing a complaint with the Department of Labor

You can file a complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) about violations of the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act. You can also file a complaint about missing wages. 

Learn more about the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act on IDOL's website. You can also contact IDOL by: 

• Phone at the day labor services information line at (312) 793-8889,
• Phone at the day labor hotline at (877) 314-7052 (toll free), or
• Email at [email protected].