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A
Study on Temporary, Part-time and Seasonal Employees in Maine
Senator
Neria R. Douglas and Representative Pamela Henderson Hatch of the Labor
Committee during the 119th Legislative Session authorized the
Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Standards to collect the following
information:
1.
The
number of “leased” employees;
2.
The
number of temporary, part-time and seasonal workers;
3.
The
typical benefits provided to full-time workers and how they compare with
typical benefits for other types of workers;
4.
What
cost employers avoid by hiring temporary employees;
5.
Why
employers hire temporary workers;
6.
Why
employees accept temporary employment;
7.
Whether
any state or federal laws affect the ability to keep employees in temporary
employment status; and
8.
Any
other information we believed would help the Legislature understand the nature
and extent of temporary employment in Maine.
The
Bureau of Labor Standards (BLS) initiated contacts with employment agencies, labor
organizations, trade associations, research foundations, and state and federal
agencies to estimate the number of temporary, part-time and seasonal employees
in Maine.
Definition
of the employment status under study: Applicable federal and
state labor laws were reviewed to ascertain the definitions of the employment
groups.
Identifying
data sources:
Federal, state, private and public data sources were requested and reviewed for
data on the employment groups.
Section
C will provide legal definitions (if available) and an estimate of the
employment data for each employment group.
Definition
of a Leased Employee
A
leased employee is defined by the reporting requirement under Maine laws, Title
26: Labor and Industry, Chapter 13: Unemployment Compensation, Subchapter II:
Administration, § 1082: Powers and duties. The employee leasing company shall
provide each of its clients with a list that identifies all leased employees by
name, social security number and the wages paid to each employee in the
preceding calendar quarter. The Client Company as required under § 1082 (7)
shall maintain these records[1].
Using
this definition and the records maintained by the MDOL Labor Market Information
Services and Unemployment Insurance Tax Division, the data for the number of
leased employees is available for the past four years (1996-1999). In addition to the number of leased
employees, the Unemployment Insurance Tax Division reported 29 leasing
companies operating in Maine with 256 client companies for the year 2000.
The
number of leased employees for the past 4 years can be found in Table 1.
Table 1: The
Number of Leased Employees in Maine (1996-1999)
|
Year Reported |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
|
Leased Employees |
1,086 |
1,443 |
1,527 |
1,657 |
|
Total Employment * |
444,699 |
444,674 |
467,904 |
481,702 |
* Total Private Sector Employment
Question # 2A: The number of
temporary employees.
There
are no state or federal labor laws for defining temporary employment status.
The
number of temporary employees working in Maine can be estimated from the MDOL
Bureau of Unemployment Benefits database. Temporary employment agencies as
defined by SIC 7363 (Standard Industrial Classification) are required to submit
employees’ quarterly wage reports to the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation[2]. Employees working for a temporary agency are
accorded temporary status regardless of the number of hours worked.
Section C: Results (continued)
Using this reporting criterion, the number of temporary employees reported to the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation for the past 6 years (1994-1999) can be found in
Table 2. The limitation of this data source is that it does not include individuals who gained temporary employment on their own.
Table 2: The Number of Temporary Employees
in Maine (1994-1999)
|
Years Reported |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
1999 |
|
Temporary Employees |
5,958 |
5,906 |
6,295 |
7,109 |
7,477 |
6,580 |
Question # 2B: The
number of part-time employees.
Definition
of a Part-Time Employee
The
State of Maine has no labor laws for defining part-time employment status. The Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics
defines a part-time employee as someone who worked less than 35 hours per
week. Data on part-time employees in
Maine can be estimated from the Current Population Survey[3](CPS). The Census Bureau conducts the CPS for the
Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Table 3 describes the number of part-time employees in Maine based on
the CPS data.
|
Year/Population group |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
1997 |
1998 |
|
16 years and over |
125,000 |
130,000 |
129,000 |
122,000 |
122,000 |
|
Men |
36,000 |
43,000 |
39,000 |
35,000 |
39,000 |
|
Women |
88,000 |
86,000 |
92,000 |
87,000 |
83,000 |
Note: numbers may not add up
to subtotals because of rounding off
Section C: Results (continued)
Question # 2C: The number of seasonal workers.
Definition
of a Seasonal Worker
There are no state or federal labor laws for defining seasonal employment status. There are two sources of information that can provide an estimate of seasonal employment in Maine. Under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 20 Section 655.100, Subpart B[4], the MDOL Division of Migrant & Immigrant Services provides alien worker certification to employers who want to bring in alien workers to perform seasonal work in Maine. These workers are categorized as either agricultural or non-agricultural seasonal workers.
The data presented in Table 4 reflects the number of
seasonal alien workers who have been provided certification. The
limitation of this data source is that it does not include alien workers who
are seasonally employed and do not need alien certification.
Table 4: The Number
of Seasonal Workers in Maine (1996-2000)
|
Years Reported |
1996-1997 |
1997-1998 |
1998-1999 |
1999-2000 |
|
Agricultural |
NA |
803 |
1,154 |
1,704 |
|
Non-Agricultural |
629 |
325 |
294 |
601 |
Question #3: The typical
benefits provided to full-time workers and how they
compare with typical benefits for
other types of workers.
Definition of benefits
The only reference to employees’ benefits is defined under Title 26 MRS Chapter 15: PREFERENCE TO MAINE WORKS AND CONTRACTORS[5]. These are employers’ payment for life, disability, health, dental insurance, income protection or other insurance programs related to employee health and welfare. Employers have the option of providing a wide range of employee benefits. Once these optional benefits are offered and accepted by employees, the proper distribution and management of such benefits are subject to either federal or state regulation.
Federal or state labor laws mandate that employers provide certain types of benefits regardless of employment status. Typical employee benefits are described in Table 5 and mandatory benefits are described in Table 6.
Section C: Results (continued)
Federal or state labor laws mandate that employers provide certain types of benefits regardless of employment status. Typical employee benefits are described in Table 5 and mandatory benefits are described in Table 6.
Table 5: Typical Benefits Provided by
Employers
|
Typical Benefits |
Employer’s Contribution |
Employee’s
Contribution |
Regulating
Authority |
|
Health care * |
% |
% |
Bureau of Insurance |
|
Dental care * |
% |
% |
Bureau of Insurance |
|
Retirement plan * |
% |
% |
USDOL |
|
401K plan * |
% |
% |
USDOL |
|
Life Insurance * |
% |
% |
Bureau of Insurance |
|
Vacation |
100.0% |
0 |
MDOL |
|
Sick Leave |
100.0% |
0 |
none |
|
Bereavement pay |
100.0% |
0 |
none |
|
Profit Sharing |
100.0% or % |
None |
USDOL |
* The level of contributions to these benefits varies between employers and employees.
Table 6: Mandatory Benefits Provided by
Employers
|
Mandatory Benefits |
Employer’s Contribution |
Employee’s Contribution |
Regulating Authority |
|
Federal Insurance Compensation Act (FICA) |
7.65% |
7.65% |
Social Security
Administration |
|
Workers’ Compensation |
100.0% |
0 |
Workers’ Compensation
Board |
|
Unemployment Insurance |
100.0% |
0 |
Maine Department of Labor |
The range of benefits received by employees of medium and large private establishments (100 employees or more) is available from the 1997 Employee Benefits Survey[6] (EBS) conducted by
the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Employee Benefits Survey is conducted to obtain information on the incidence and characteristics of employer provided benefits. Table 7 provides
a comparison of the level of participation by full time and part time employees in employee benefits programs. The EBS sample covers all private sector establishments employing 100 or more workers. Farms and private households are excluded from the sampling frame. All surveys cover full-time and part-time workers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Section C: Results (continued)
Table 7: Percentage of Participation in Selected
Employee Benefits Programs,
Full-Time Employees by Geographic Region,
Medium and Large Establishments, 1997
|
Benefits by Region |
Northeast |
South |
North Central |
West |
National Part-Time |
|
Paid Time Off |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Holidays |
91 |
88 |
91 |
85 |
40 |
|
Vacations |
96 |
95 |
95 |
95 |
44 |
|
Personal Leave |
32 |
18 |
18 |
13 |
9 |
|
Funeral Leave |
85 |
75 |
87 |
74 |
34 |
|
Jury Duty |
91 |
88 |
90 |
75 |
37 |
|
Military Leave |
54 |
45 |
52 |
36 |
9 |
|
Family Leave |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
Unpaid Family Leave |
94 |
95 |
92 |
91 |
53 |
|
Disability
Benefits |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Paid Sick Leave |
65 |
54 |
48 |
59 |
18 |
|
Short Term Disability |
78 |
49 |
59 |
32 |
18 |
|
Long Term Disability |
42 |
44 |
42 |
46 |
4 |
|
Survivor Benefits |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Life Insurance |
86 |
88 |
89 |
84 |
18 |
|
Accidental Death/Dismemberment |
64 |
66 |
71 |
70 |
13 |
|
Survivor Income Benefits |
2 |
3 |
11 |
4 |
* |
|
Health Care Benefits |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Medical Care |
73 |
76 |
78 |
79 |
21 |
|
Dental Care |
58 |
52 |
62 |
67 |
16 |
|
Vision Care |
23 |
52 |
62 |
67 |
9 |
|
Prescription Drugs |
69 |
72 |
74 |
78 |
20 |
|
Retirement Income
Benefits |
|
|
|
|
|
|
All Retirement |
80 |
79 |
78 |
80 |
34 |
|
Defined Benefit |
56 |