The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "temporary employment" ...
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Who's Watching Your Kids
Several lifeguards hired by the City of Memphis to work its pools were convicted criminals. The city hadn't conducted pre-employment background checks on "temporary employees" prior to 2007.
Tags: criminal past; felony; firearm; endangerment; job application; swimming pool; recreation;
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Temps Demand a New Deal
The Nation reports that "the explosion of temping and the shifting of employment relationships away from traditional jobs poses what may be organized labor's greatest challenge and opportunity since World War II: organizing the swelling ranks of temps, day laborers, contract and leased workers whose perpetual job insecurity forms the porous foundation of today's supposedly stellar economy."
Tags: unions; collective bargaining; temporary employment; independent contractors; second-class workers; National Alliance for Fair Employment
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Reforming Welfare Reform
American Prospect takes a look at the Welfare Reform, and the need to make changes: "we judged it too punitive and too far from the spirit of progressive reform, which would have focused less on reducing caseloads and more on both promoting employment and improving the well-being of low-income families with children.
Tags: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families; low-income; children; subsidies; economy; need; opportunities; labor market
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Workers for rent
The story looks at the booming staff-leasing industry that is "outsourcing liability for American companies - and leaving workers in the lurch." Leased employees can be hired and fired at will, and often get unfair benefits and pensions, the report finds. Legal ambiguities, including uncertainty about who the actual employer is, permit companies to additionally erode the rights of the employees. The statistics quoted in the story show that today more than 1,700 firms lease 2 million to 3 million workers.
Tags: National association of Professional Employer Organization; OSHA; workers' compensation; unions; retirement; Kelly; Manpower; Department of Labor; Bureau of Labor Statistics; National Association of Temporary Staffing Services
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Kin, pals fill commission jobs
"Civil Service Commission Executive Director Paul G. Torres for years has doled out thousands of tax dollars in part-time jobs to his relatives, friends and longtime associates. For instance, Torres' two children -- Natalie, 17, and JonPaul, 15 - have been paid to administer the city's police and fire department entrance exams since they were 13 years old, payment records obtained by The Post show." Torres' response: "My kids made crumbs and you think it's a story? I don't understand the twist on this. Because I was keeping them out of trouble and they made a couple of dollars, is that a story?"
Tags: conflict of interest; hiring practices; nepotistm; cronyism; employment; job market; temporary work; contract; test proctors; family employment agency
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Coming to America
Two articles examine immigrant labor, legal and illegal, and how they affect American jobs. The investigation found that while some immigrants have been successful and have built businesses that create thousands of new jobs, others, ill-educated and unskilled, have flooded the labor market and driven down wages and benefits. Among other findings were: the Immigration and Naturalization Services "has no system to ensure that temporary workers return home after their visas expire;" more and more employers import cheap workers for contract jobs rather than hire them as regular employees; a UC Davis professor's study showed that even foreign hi-tech workers in the U.S. "earn an average salary of $7,000 less than U.S. workers."
Tags: Milliron Specht CAR Coming to America: foreign workers in U.S. jobs and Coming to America: a decade of newcomers Contest entry Immigration and Naturalization Services; Illegal aliens
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No title (id: 10072)
The Nation reports that most of the jobs created by the recovery have been temporary workers hired through employment agencies; workers often face burdensome or dangerous tasks and get low pay and no benefits, Jan. 31, 1994.
Tags: NY Cook 5 pages