Development / Staffing / Workforce Solutions buying guidance

At a glance: Logistics staffing services connect employers with workers or delivery support for transportation, warehousing, fulfillment, and related operations. Engagements differ by role, license or qualification, duration, location, supervision, payroll arrangement, and division of employer responsibilities. OSHA states that staffing agencies and host employers share workplace-safety responsibilities for temporary workers, with responsibility depending on the facts; a staffing contract or screening label does not transfer every duty or verify worker performance. Protecting Temporary Workers; Protecting Temporary Workers

Common workflows

• Specify the role and worksite before sourcing: Describe tasks, location, shift, duration, supervision, physical demands, required credentials, training, and expected staffing volume. Separate driver staffing from warehouse, dispatch, and professional roles; validate required qualifications for the actual job instead of inferring them from an agency category. Protecting Temporary Workers
• Agree on agency and host responsibilities: Before placement, document who communicates job hazards, gives site-specific orientation, provides protective equipment, supervises work, reports incidents, and keeps records. OSHA advises agencies and host employers to coordinate responsibilities and describes shared responsibility for temporary-worker safety, with legal scope depending on facts. Protecting Temporary Workers; Protecting Temporary Workers
• Onboard, supervise, and review the assignment: Test how identity, qualifications, site access, training completion, schedule changes, absence coverage, incident escalation, payroll questions, and end-of-assignment records are handled. Agree which party owns each event and how the buyer will verify the service against the contract. Protecting Temporary Workers
• Close the assignment and protect records: Set the process for timesheet approval, worker feedback, injury or hazard reports, access removal, equipment return, final pay records, and data retention. Confirm that the agency and host can produce the records each is responsible for maintaining. Protecting Temporary Workers; Protecting Temporary Workers

Questions to ask providers

• Which roles, markets, shifts, assignment lengths, workforce volumes, and service levels are included in the proposed scope?
• What role-specific qualification, identity, license, eligibility, and reference checks are performed, by whom, and when?
• Which party supplies job-specific hazard information, site orientation, protective equipment, supervision, and incident response?
• How are assignment instructions, job duties, schedules, substitutions, absences, and worker questions communicated?
• What payroll, overtime, timekeeping, benefits, employment classification, and invoice assumptions are reflected in the rate?
• How are worker training, qualifications, incidents, complaints, records, and privacy handled by the agency and host?
• What happens if workers do not meet the stated qualification or attendance requirement, and how are replacement costs or notices handled?
• Can the provider supply comparable references and a written responsibility matrix without relying on unsupported fill-rate or retention claims?

Frequently asked questions