ABOUT ACSESS: Operating Guidelines

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ACSESS regularly develops and updates guidelines to assist industry members in answering common questions and handling awkward situations where the law is not black and white. ACSESS' intent is to provide members with guidelines which will protect their business image and the safety and well-being of their employees.

  • Assignment Completion Dates
  • Discriminatory Order Response
  • Employer of Record
  • Employment Application Forms
  • Hazardous Materials in the Workplace
  • Providing Service During a Labour Dispute
  • Public Holiday Pay

Assignment Completion Dates
Staffing services should avoid documenting assignments as "indefinite" and they should give each assignment a documented completion date not to exceed 90 days in duration. It should be understood that client companies would still be provided the option to shorten assignments at their discretion and that assignment completion dates can be extended at the client's discretion.

Discriminatory Order Response
The following statement is a suggested response to a discriminatory job order:

Thank you for calling (Company Name). Our company, a member of The Association of Canadian Search, Employment and Staffing Services, is an equal opportunity employer and abides by all federal and provincial regulations and statutes prohibiting discrimination. We are committed to providing a work environment free from all forms of discrimination. This is our corporate policy and complies with the policy of our industry association. We would be happy to fill your order based on the required skills consistent with this understanding.

Note: If the caller persists in placing a discriminatory order, the job order must be politely but firmly declined.

All assignments must be filled and all referrals made without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, marital status, age or any other legally prohibited factor. Any job order specifying a preference for race, colour, sex, age, etc. must be politely but firmly declined. No job order coding or application coding can ever be tolerated.

Employer of Record
ACSESS's long-standing position has been that staffing services shall be the employer of record for all temporary workers. Unfair competition exists in the marketplace when some staffing service firms improperly retain temporary workers as independent contractors and fail to remit appropriate source deductions, while other staffing service firms comply with the law and pay necessary deductions. Furthermore, ACSESS considers it important that members understand the significant financial liability which accompanies engaging temporary workers who do not meet the tests of independent contractors. A short-run cost advantage may turn into a government audit of your operations with the resulting penalties.

Employment Application Forms
Human Rights Commissions across Canada assist employers in determining their rights and obligations with respect to employment advertisements, application forms and other aspects of the recruitment process. The wording of questions on your application forms is critical to avoid discrimination complaints. Check with ACSESS for further information or call your provincial Human Rights Commission office.

Hazardous Materials in the Workplace

ACSESS recommends that:

  • All employees in the employ of a staffing service should receive a general orientation concerning the WHMIS program and hazardous materials in the workplace.
  • All instructive orientation provided to temporary workers should be available in both official languages and be both written and oral and/or audio to ensure that varied literacy levels do not preclude the employee from fully understanding the information provided.
  • All temporary employees should be provided with pictorial hazard symbols as approved by WHMIS.
  • When taking orders, the customer be required to provide specific information on hazardous materials and its WHMIS program.
  • Staffing services providing temporaries with information on (potential) hazardous materials when confirming an assignment; and where applicable a service visit to the customer's work site as further protection for the temporary employee and the customer.
  • Temporary services advise their employees to immediately call their office if work duties or the workplace itself are significantly different, as regards to hazardous materials, from their understanding at the time of accepting the assignment

Providing Service During a Labour Dispute
It is not in the long-term interests of the staffing services industry in Canada to profit from a short-term gain in billable hours which could seriously jeopardize the industry in the long-term. It is strongly recommended that members of ACSESS should not knowingly replace the permanent employees of clients, companies, or other organizations who are on strike.