OSHA Term Paper: Use of Contingent Workers

Use of Contingent Workers
Student's Name
Institution
Use of Contingent Workers
Executive Summary
The people aspect of an organization is a fundamental component in the success and failure of a company. Human Resource Management (HRM) has become part and parcel of strategic planning in the organization of the modern era besides being a lucrative career path for those with skills in managing people. HRM brings together policies, practices, strategies, philosophies, processes, and programs to manage people, who are often considered the most important asset in an organization, with the main aim of attaining overall organizational success (Michael, 2019). The duties ad responsibilities of an HR manager in an organization are wide-ranging, and among the most fundamental HR practices is the concept of employee recruitment. Employee recruitment is a robust process that goes beyond hiring an employee. Underlying factors such as identification of the appropriate skillset, interviewing and selection, and onboarding make up the recruitment process.
HRM in organizations has undergone major transitions since the industrial revolution. The major hurdles that the HR departments in major organizations have had to battle include the trade unions, social responsibility, and human relations, all of which have disrupted human resource management in one way or another. In the most recent decades, coupled with disruptive technologies and rampant transformation in the labor force, the concept of a contingent workforce has become inescapable. Unlike the traditional recruitment HR process where individuals were employed on a permanent or long-term basis, the contingent workforce is an HR practice where the labor force is acquired on a fixed-term basis. Often, to accomplish a particular project, they are released. This paper intends to explore more about the concept of the contingent workforce, the associated costs and benefits, and the implementation process.
Literature Review
The use of a contingent worker is not entirely a new term. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS] (2020), there is a distinction between contingent workers and alternative work arrangements, placing the likes of independent contractors, on-call workers, and temporary help agency workers under the alternative work arrangement. The BLS' definition of contingent workers implies that they are not issued with any form of a formal contract. Their engagement with the organization is bound to end at any given time. The other broad definition of the term is associated with Audrey Freedman. She referred to a contingent worker as an employee acquired by an organization on a demand basis and is scheduled to work for the organization for a specified period at a specified place (Christensen & Barker, 2019). Most professionals engaged in HRM do not clearly distinguish the two terms outlined by the BLS, classifying independent contractors, agency workers, consultants, and even freelancers as contingent workers. The lack of a clear definition of the term contingent worker implies that there is much work to be done regarding the fairly new concept.
The driving forces towards the adoption of a contingent workforce are wide-ranging. As observed by Chrstensen and Barker (2019), the demand for a particular skill deemed necessary for a specified period is the major cause for the adoption of the contingent workforce. People with the most appropriate skills of the contemporary era, such a the digital skills, are scarce, making it difficult for organizations to acquire them permanently and potentially lower the costs (Fisher & Connelly, 2017). The aspect of flexibility is the other major driving force. Contingent workers offer the employers the luxury to adapt to the constantly changing work environment without causing much disruption (Fisher & Connelly, 2017). In addition, research with extensive use of data from reliable sources, such as the BLS, U.S Department of Labor, Intuit Contingent Workforce Forecast, and a few others, concluded that contingent forms of labor contracting are the future for workers (Koppel & Kolencik, 2018). Freelance, a fundamental aspect of the contingent workforce, is steadily rising in the contemporary era, with an estimated forecast of a third of major companies' workforce constituting the remote workers (Flood, 2019). Freelancers, independent contractors, and agency workers make up what is currently termed the 'gig economy.'
Labor laws, including the Occupational Safety and Health Acts (OSHA), can be a challenge with the contingent workforce because they are designed to cover the permanent employees (Christensen & Barker, 2019). For organizations to avert the crisis of engaging in unfair labor practices with contingent employees, there is a need to have a well-versed labor attorney to recruit contingent workers. Alternatively, the recruitment process for contingent workers can be outsourced to a more specialized and skilled person who can adequately evaluate the competence of the contingent worker (Ljungqvist, 2020). Better still, outsourcing the recruitment process can be attained by simply acquiring a contingent workforce Managed Service Provider (MSP) program available from the various vendors such as HCM Works Inc. (HCMWorks Inc., n.d.). If the organization chooses the outsourcing option for the contingent workforce, there is a need to critically examine any possibilities for conflict of interest from the recruiting agents; otherwise, the organization will fall short of the main objective of having a contingent workforce.
The use of a contingent workforce impacts the strategic processes of the organization, and the acquisition of temporary workers disrupts the entire structure. In that regard, a contingent workforce needs to be a centralized approach to avoid conflicting implementation with different departments (Ljungqvist, 2020). Centralized acquisition of contingent workers also facilitates seamless and efficient management while also streamlining some aspects of workforce acquisition, such as payment (Ljungqvist, 2020). Technology has become a fundamental component for HRM, and a company considering making use of a contingent workforce ought to make good use of technology (HCMWorks Inc, n.d.). Technology offers companies top-notch systems that can be used to manage contingent workers and centralize operations for more scalability, visibility, and ease in the reacquisition of best-performing contingent workers.
Plan for Contingent Workforce
Outsourcing remains the most viable trend in recruiting contingent workers, with the alternative being direct sourcing. To guarantee success in implementing an outsourcing program for contingent workforces, in essence, the Managed Service Programme (MSP), the organization must have a thorough understanding of the major components that constitute an MSP. For the company to harness the most out of a managed service program, preparation and planning are necessary before the implementation of the program
Preparation
There is a need for the company to align the temporary recruitment process's objective with the company's overall goals before settling on the most appropriate MSP partner for outsourcing. Temporary staffing affects the overall efficiency of the company. Thus, the alignment process ensures that the recruitment of contingent workers does not cause major disruption to the company as a whole. As a part of the preparation process, the company ought to have a clear understanding of the risk and mitigation strategies associated with outsourcing the recruitment of contingent workers. Risk assessment and mitigation strategies would require the company to engage various experts, including the legal experts, to assess risks that might require legal interventions. Incorporating the effort of a labor attorney in the preparation phase before settling on the MSP ensures the company averts the legal challenges commonly associated with contingent workers, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
Due Diligence Phase
A due diligence phase precedes the preparation phase. The company seeking to outsource the recruitment process for contingent workers through an MSP embarks on thorough scrutiny of the candidates' outsourcing. The due diligence phase provides the company with relevant information on the most appropriate and top-notch contingent worker vendors available in the market. Other useful information that can be obtained during the due diligence phase includes the contractual process for the MSP client, procurement and sourcing process, the legal processes, and the Information Technology systems integration by the MSP agent. Thorough due diligence enables the company to gather relevant information regarding the contingent worker vendor and, in return, match with the organization's overall goal, ensuring that the use of contingent workers is a success.
Actual Implementation
The outsourced procurement of contingent workers is then handed over to the most appropriate MSP agent after thorough due diligence is undertaken. The case company engages the MSP ...