By Janeth Caicedo
Staffing agencies operating without licenses can have catastrophic results. I know this all too well. My brother, Edilberto Caicedo, was killed on the job while working for an unlicensed staffing agency in 2019. I’ve shared this painful story many times as we pushed for the passage of the Temp Workers’ Bill of Rights, but no matter how many times I recount what happened, it never gets easier, whether I’m talking to workers, the media, or testifying before the US Congress, as I did late last year.
In February, Gov. Phil Murphy signed the Temp Workers’ Bill of Rights, a historic, first-of-its-kind law, that will bring oversight and accountability to an industry that desperately needs it. The law will grant basic labor rights to blue-collar temp workers who have worked in dangerous conditions for too long.
After decades of abuse, our campaign to win justice for temp workers drew attention to this long-overlooked industry. But even as we wait for the law to go into effect, some staffing agencies continue to operate with flagrant disregard for the law. That is why state authorities, including the Department of Consumer Affairs, should act now to enforce the most basic existing requirements for staffing agencies to operate legally in our state.
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