Uber drivers must arbitrate misclassification claims; court rejects class-action suit

Legal actions by Uber drivers claiming they were misclassified as independent contractors cannot go forward as a class action, but instead must be handled by individual arbitration, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday.

Drivers had signed arbitration agreements, but the district...

CEO outlook survey finds higher GDP estimate, hiring plans edge down: Business Roundtable

CEOs now expect 2018 US gross domestic product growth of 2.8%, up slightly from their estimate of 2.7% made in the second quarter, according to the Business Roundtable’s third-quarter 2018 CEO Economic Outlook Survey.

CEOs’ plans for hiring declined in the third quarter but still rank as the third-highest...

Washington state agency proposes 5% decrease in average workers comp premium

The price of workers’ compensation insurance in Washington state will likely drop in 2019 following a proposal last week by the Washington state Department of Labor & Industries to decrease the average premium employers pay for the coverage by 5%.

If approved, the rate decrease would be the largest...

Human cloud firm Lyft in talks with possible IPO underwriter (Reuters)

Human cloud/ride-sharing firm Lyft is in talks with JPMorgan Chase to serve as its underwriter for an initial public offering, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources. Lyft has already hired an IPO advisory firm, Class V Group, and may go public sometime in 2019. Uber, the larger human cloud/ride-sharing...

Harvey Nash revenue up 15%, appoints North America president of tech recruitment

Harvey Nash Group plc, a UK-based staffing provider with US operations, reported revenue rose 15.3% on a constant currency basis in the six months ended July 31. The increase was 14.8% on a reported basis. Harvey Nash also announced that Sean Gilligan has been promoted to president of its technology...

Temporary, contract staffing employment up 3.8% over year: ASA staffing index

Temporary and contract staffing employment rose 3.8% in the week of Sept. 10 to Sept. 16 compared to the same week last year, according to the American Staffing Association’s staffing index.

Week over week, the ASA Staffing Index rose 1.7% to a rounded value of 101. While businesses recovered from...

Potential employees give weigh to online reviews; 38% want three stars or higher

Negative reviews can damage your company’s star rating and turn off a fair number of job seekers, according to research released today by Monster.

In a recent poll of 756 people in the US, Monster found the majority, 38%, would only apply to companies with at least a three-star rating (based on a five-star...

BG Staffing names new CEO, but former top exec will remain chairman

BG Staffing Inc. (NYSE MKT: BGSF), promoted Beth Garvey to CEO and president, effective Oct. 1. She replaces L. Allen Baker, Jr., who will resign from those roles but remain as chairman of the board.

Baker took on the president and CEO roles at BG Staffing in April 2009....

Consumer confidence hovers near 18-year high

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index increased in September following a large improvement in August. The index rose to a reading of 138.4 (1985=100), up from 134.7 in August. This is close to an 18-year high and not far from the all-time high of 144.7 reached in 2000.

“Consumers’ assessment...

Trillium acquires hospitality staffing firm in Phoenix

Trillium Staffing acquired Executemps Southwest Staffing, aka ESW Staffing, a hospitality and event staffing firm headquartered in Phoenix.

ESW has operated in the Phoenix area for more than 30 years. The company provides temporary recruitment of servers, bartenders, chefs, cooks, supervisors, leads and...