Labor Ready
| Subsidiary of TrueBlue | |
| Industry | Employment services |
| Founded | Kent, Washington 1989 |
| Founder | Glenn Welstad |
| Headquarters | Tacoma, Washington, United States |
Number of locations | 600 |
Area served | United States, Canada |
Key people |
Robert J. (Bob) Sullivan, Chairman Steve Cooper, CEO and Director |
| Products | Temporary workers for manual day labor |
| Services | Dispatching Temporary Associates |
Number of employees |
2,900 (2004) 600,000 temporary employees to jobs in construction, manufacturing, hospitality services, landscaping, warehousing, retail and more. |
| Parent | TrueBlue |
| Website |
www |
|
Footnotes / references [1] | |
Labor Ready, based in Tacoma, Washington is an American company that specializes in recruiting, screening, hiring, and deploying the right temporary workers for the right job, on-demand to the construction industry, other light industry, and small businesses. Labor Ready is part of TrueBlue[2] which also includes CLP,[3] Spartan Staffing,[4] Plane Techs,[5] and Centerline Drivers.[6] TrueBlue is a public company, NYSE: TBI.
Founded in 1989 in Kent, Washington by Glenn Welstad and two partners, Labor Ready has approximately 600 locations in all 50 states and Canada.
Working with Labor Ready
Labor Ready specializes in a wide variety of general labor jobs, ones that typically require basic skills. Pay rates will vary from job to job, with most paying minimum wage or slightly higher. Workers will know the pay rate for every job before they accept it.
Most branches open at 5:30 AM in order to begin dispatching workers needed that day. (When companies need workers for evening, night, or weekend shifts, Labor Ready assigns the workers hours in advance or one to two days in advance.) Depending on the location of the office and the day of the week, anywhere from zero to roughly one hundred workers can be dispatched daily. Labor Ready contacts workers via a text messaging system to alert them of available jobs based on their skills, experience and availability. When they receive a text alert, they reply with the words "YES" to sign up.[7] They do not have a "first come, first served" policy, because they match the job to the right workers, called "Right Match Dispatch".[7] Workers are also able to check-in via text message once a week to notify the branch staff of their availability to work that week.
Workers are paid daily by direct deposit or a prepaid debit card provided by Global CashCard. Workers have access to safety equipment at no charge but are encouraged to purchase their own.
Transportation is the worker's responsibility. They are free to travel to the job site in any manner they choose. If a worker does not have transportation, they will try to give an assignment close to the branch or within bus routes.
Available jobs[8] are listed on the Labor Ready website and can be applied for online.
Safety record
Company records indicate around 10,000 workers (roughly 1.6% of its claimed more than 600,000 workers) are injured at work every year.[9] According to a 2002 report by the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department, Labor Ready employees are injured at three times the U.S. national average rate. Every year, 25% of Labor Ready employees are injured.[10] Various unions have accused Labor Ready of deceptive practices and of mistreating its employees.[10]
Misclassification of workers
Labor Ready has come under fire for misclassifying workers (for example, as clerical rather than construction), which has resulted in the company paying less money (and in some states, nothing at all) into state workers' compensation funds than would otherwise be required. It has also been alleged that this conduct is systematic and intentional.[9][11]
Name change
In 2007, the parent corporation was renamed TrueBlue, Inc. to reflect the company’s expanding family of brands. It changed its corporate headquarters web address to http://www.trueblue.com, and its stock ticker to TBI. Labor Ready remains TrueBlue's flagship brand.
Other brands under TrueBlue include CLP, Spartan Staffing, PlaneTechs, TransTechs, Centerline, Seaton, SMX, Staff Management, and Peoplescout.
References
- ↑ "TrueBlue, Inc. Company Information". Hoovers.
- ↑ "Specialized Workforce Solutions". TrueBlue. 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
- ↑ "Construction Jobs | Construction Staffing | Industrial Staffing | Industrial Jobs". Clp.com. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
- ↑ "Manufacturing and Logistics Jobs and Temporary Staffing". Spartan Staffing. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
- ↑ "Aviation Jobs - Maintenance - Staffing & Recruiting". PlaneTechs. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
- ↑ "Professional Drivers You Can Count On". Centerline Drivers. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
- 1 2 "Working with us". Labor Ready. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
- ↑ "Jobs". Labor Ready. Retrieved 2015-12-24.
- 1 2 Fleecing the Day-Laborers -- and the Workers' Comp System: The Labor Ready Story, Reprinted from Mother Jones.
- 1 2 Bernardo Fallas "Labor Ready's Ethics Questioned By Many," World Internet News Co-Operative, April 20, 2004.
- ↑ New Report by Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO Shows Labor Ready Workers Comp Misclassification Widespread, Long-Term. PR Newswire, May 28, 2002.