For the last two decades, Brisa Chavez, of Cicero, has found work through staffing agencies.
Like many immigrants, the single mother has been able to find work through temp agencies because they require less paperwork and less schooling than being hired by a company directly, she said.
“Unfortunately, we are also more at risk of suffering abuse in the workplace,” she said.
Chavez said she had experienced sexual harassment, wage theft and verbal abuse while doing temp work but could not afford to leave those jobs. She usually works in factories, working in packaging or running machines, and typically makes minimum wage, she said.
Now, a new law aimed at strengthening legal protections for temp workers could help Chavez and others like her who are subject to low pay and exploitation because of their employment status, advocates say.
The legislation, signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker Friday, amends the state’s day and temporary labor services law to require workers employed by staffing agencies to be paid the same as company employees they work alongside in comparable jobs once the temp workers have worked for a company for 90 days.
It also makes it easier for temp workers to sue over alleged violations of the law. While in the past only the state’s labor department could do so, “interested parties” such as workers’ centers or unions now also have standing to sue.
The amendments also make it harder for companies to use temp workers as strikebreakers, advocates say, and require...
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