One of the priorities identified by the EEOC's current strategic enforcement plan is “to address issues related to complex employment relationships and structures” while “focusing specifically on temporary workers, staffing agencies, independent contractor relationships, and the on-demand economy.” The EEOC has intensified its scrutiny of staffing agencies as the number of people in the U.S. employed through staffing agencies increased from 2.5 million in 2012 to over 3 million in 2022. The EEOC filed at least 10 lawsuits against staffing agencies for hiring discrimination over the course of its recently-closed 2021 fiscal year.
As early as 1997, the EEOC issued guidance stating that staffing agencies are responsible for discrimination, harassment, and retaliation that their workers confront at clients' work sites. The guidance makes clear that staffing agencies must hire and make job assignments in a non-discriminatory manner. The guidance also states that workers supplied by a staffing agency can be considered employees of both the staffing agency and the client to whom they are assigned.
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