8 Reasons Not To Compromise Workforce Ethics Over E-Verify

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Balance Our team talks with dozens of clients, and hundreds of applicants each week. Occasionally, clients tell us of agencies that boast of their “non-E-Verify office.”

Our clients tell us how these agencies market, sell or pitch their non-E-Verify office as a unique value proposition they provide over other staffing firms.

How is taking avoidable risk a sustainable value proposition?

They sell staffing services on price, not value. The ability to reduce markups by a few cents if the client is willing to take non-E-Verify temporary workers incurs risk and compromises values. Not to mention lower productivity and quality from a less-qualified workforce. This is more like gambling – you can win at the casino, but eventually, the odds are that you will lose.

The pitch sounds good, reduced labor cost to the bottom line. But what exactly is the long-term sustained risk incurred with this decision? Somehow that is never discussed during the sales pitch.  Savvy clients are already aware, and the pitch more likely gives the client a sense of the staffing firm’s own values and ethics.

Not withstanding the regulatory issue, there are a number of measurable risks.  Most of our clients tell us these risks are not worth the potential cost.

I’m thinking of a recent client meeting we had a few days ago. We met with the production supervisor, the SVP of operations and the senior director of human resources at that firm.  They really impressed us.

The word is out – these savvy business partners recited why they won’t have anything to do with staffing firms that have non-E-Verify offices – even if they selectively E-Verify some workers.  Here’s what they brought up.

  1. Discrimination. Selective E-Verify of some applicants that apply at one office location over another is an invitation to discrimination.
  2. Corporate policy. Many firms local are subsidiaries or divisions of larger corporations with policies that require E-Verify. To not require it on temporary workforce violates the parent company policy.
  3. Investigation. The potential of being on the front page of the newspaper after an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is bad PR. This kind of public relations story is difficult and costly to pay a PR firm to recover.
  4. Brand reputation. Employer hiring practices and ethics are part of a company’s brand and can be rapidly eroded by negative sentiment across social media. Most companies are not prepared for the effort and cost to recover.
  5. Workforce development. Clients identify star performers in temporary workforce to convert to full time employees. Most don’t want to find out a worker is not eligible after investing months of time and training.
  6. Penny-wise and pound foolish. The short-term cost savings far outweigh the risk. Any CFO in collaboration with corporate counsel will never knowingly take an avoidable risk today for a few pennies that can undermine the future.
  7. It’s just not right. Legal workers should not have to suffer the consequences of a plant shutdown as a result of an ICE investigation.
  8. Values. From a corporate values perspective, most firms intend to treat employees well. A moral dilemma exists when compromising values to justify short-term savings.

What’s interesting about these 8 reasons is that they were shared with us by a client. Normally we use these reasons to demonstrate one pillar of value that working with Barton Staffing Solutions brings with it’s E-Verified workforce.

It is always nice to meet with a client that immediately matches your own firm’s values.

This client did not want any association with a temporary agency that did not hold the same level of workforce ethics they held for full time employees. The risk introduced is too great. It’s easy to see that in the urgency of a call-off, a replacement temporary worker might be sent over to fill in who may not have been E-Verified.

Compromising your own firm’s values is also not a value proposition.

Barton Staffing Solutions is an E-Verify staffing firm in all offices. We know it’s easy to achieve great outcomes for our clients if we maintain high standards, demonstrate unwavering values and deliver sustainable value. The results of having an ethically aligned temporary workforce for our clients are exceptional, short term and long term. These results are worth every penny spent over taking a short-term compromise.

An ethically aligned workforce from a staffing agency that does not compromise is more productive, delivers higher quality, and has lower turnover. It delivers with lower overall cost in the long-run.  Each of these 8 reasons has a measurable cost in terms of dollars to the bottom line.

Call us today to discuss raising the bar at your firm. Providing a temporary workforce aligned with your corporate values and policies is what we do. We know that achieves results.

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