Temporary and Staffing Agency Workers

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The single most common thing that goes wrong in a staffing agency injury: each company points at the other, and the worker gives up.

Do not accept a denial that turns on which entity employed you. In California you may have two employers, and there is a statute that makes the company you were sent to share responsibility.

§ 2810.3 — the client employer shares liability

Labor Code § 2810.3 makes a client employer share civil legal responsibility and liability for:

• Payment of wages to workers supplied by a labor contractor, and
• Failure to secure valid workers' compensation coverage as required by § 3700.

And it provides that a client employer may not shift its occupational safety duties under Division 5 to the labor contractor.

Who is a "client employer": a business that obtains workers from a labor contractor. The exemptions are narrow — businesses with fewer than 25 total workers, businesses using five or fewer workers from labor contractors, and state and political subdivisions.

Two procedural points: a worker or representative must give the client employer at least 30 days' written notice before bringing a civil action under the section, and retaliation for reporting violations or filing claims is prohibited. A waiver of § 2810.3 is void as against public policy.

Practical translation: if the staffing agency did not carry workers' compensation, the company you were actually working at is not off the hook.

And separately — you may have two employers

§ 2810.3 is about the agency's failure to insure. Dual employment is a different doctrine and it is often the more useful one.

Under California's special-employment analysis, the company you were sent to may be your employer too, based on who controlled the work: who directed your tasks, who supervised you, who set your hours, who provided the equipment and training, and who could fire you from the assignment.

Why that matters two ways:

It can make the client company liable for benefits where the agency's coverage is missing or disputed.

But it can also make the client company immune from a civil suit, because workers' compensation is the exclusive remedy against an employer. A special employer that genuinely controlled the work may be shielded from the third-party case you would otherwise have against it.

That tension is why these cases need to be analyzed rather than assumed in either direction. Sometimes the answer is "both are employers, both owe benefits." Sometimes it is "the client is not a special employer, and it is a third-party defendant." The facts about control decide it.

How third-party claims work.

If nobody carried insurance

The Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund pays medical treatment, temporary disability, permanent disability, job displacement benefits, and death benefits — but it is procedurally demanding, and the employer must be personally served with a Special Notice of Lawsuit under § 3715 and properly joined.

And § 3706 permits a civil action against an employer that failed to secure coverage, with § 3708 presuming negligence and barring contributory negligence, assumption of the risk, and the fellow-servant defense. The full route.

Also check § 2750.5 in construction: a person doing work requiring a contractor's license without one cannot be an independent contractor, and their crew is frequently deemed employees of the licensed contractor or property owner who hired them. Construction claims.

§ 3357 presumes that any person rendering service for another is an employee, and immigration status does not affect eligibility.

What to gather immediately

Both company names, exactly — the agency and the site.

Your assignment paperwork, timecards, badge, and pay stubs. Note which entity issued the check.

Who actually supervised you, by name, and who trained you.

Who provided the equipment.

Photographs of the site, including any signage or vehicles showing the client company's name.

And report the injury to BOTH. In writing, the same day, to the agency and to the site supervisor. Reporting to only one is the most common way these claims get delayed for months.

Frequently asked questions