A new Oregon bill would prohibit pay discrimination between temporary workers and traditionally hired workers, according to the March issue of the Legs & Regs Advisor produced by Staffing Industry Analysts in conjunction with employment law firm Littler Mendelson.

In addition, the bill puts restrictions on staffing firms charging staffing buyers a fee if the buyer hires a temp on a permanent basis. Staffing firms would also be prohibited from restricting the right of a worker to accept permanent employment at a client to whom the worker has been referred.

The bill, HB 2976, was introduced on Feb. 20.

“The principles of compensation parity and unrestricted hiring for contingent workers have been very controversial in the European Union, but they have never gotten much traction in the United States,” according to the Legs & Regs Advisor.

“Still, any legislative proposal must be taken seriously, and the multiple jurisdictions of the federal system in the United States make it difficult to engage all anti-staffing proposals, of which there are more than 100 every year,” according to the advisor. “Industry associations and their local chapters can be very effective in educating legislators on the benefits of flexibility in the contingent workforce, but it always takes a proactive effort. These rules would severely hamper the business value proposition of the third party contingent workforce.”

John Nurthen, executive director, international development, at Staffing Industry Analysts, said laws requiring pay equality for temporary workers are already in place in other major staffing markets outside the U.S.

Pay parity is a major component of the Agency Work Directive in the European Union, Nurthen said. Japan and China also have such laws. And while Australia doesn’t have a specific law, the pay parity process is done through collective bargaining.

To read the full March issue of the Legs and Regs Advisor, click here.