Temp job info...

[pattimelt]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I will try to include everything and make this as concise as possible.

My regular job laid me off at the end of Sept. Beginning of October, I saw a temp job working through a temp agency selling merchandise at a touring event. At that time, I applied for, interviewed, and was hired. This was for 5 weeks of work, which would be perfect, as it would provide me Christmas money before my regular job starts back up in January.

Went to "orientation" for 2 hours on Nov 8, where we were all told that everyone at the "orientation" would be notified on or around Nov 15 about training taking place on Nov 19 (they were not sure about the time it began). I emailed the person in charge of this event on Friday, Nov 15. Not hearing from the temp agency by Tues, Nov 19, I emailed as instructed and inquired about my position. Receptionist stated that I was not on confirmed list, but person in charge would be in at 830am, and she would have him contact me. By noon, I figured I had been 'un-hired', and just figured it was their loss, as I have experience working for this touring company, and have actually toured with other artists doing the same thing for many years.

At 1245pm on Tuesday, Nov 19, I was called AND emailed requesting me to be at the touring site by 230pm for training. I attended training for 5 hours on that day, and at the end of the training, the person from the touring company told me that she wanted me on her staff and that she had spoken with the temp agency person and informed him of this. After training, temp agency told us we would have our weekly schedule that night or early the next morning. The schedule arrived about 945pm that evening. I was not given any hours that week. Fast forward to Nov 22. The schedule for the next week has been emailed, and again, I have NO shifts. Not regular shifts, not stand-by shifts, nothing.

My question is the following: Do I have ANY recourse since they told me I was hired, but have not given me any hours?? Requirements of hiring said we must be "fully available" for the full run of the event. Once they told me I was hired, I turned down other temporary jobs that would have given me, at the very least, 15-20 hours a week of work/pay. I am the ONLY person trained in that department that has not worked a shift in the first 2 weeks of the event.

I am beyond frustrated, since not only am I not working now, but EDD here in California is slower than molasses, and claim forms are backed up and behind for 3 months, and I need to pay bills and feed my family!! Please help with any advice!!

Thanks!!!

 

[cbg]

Did you sign any kind of contract in which you were guaranteed any particular number of hours per week?

 

[pattimelt]

Did you sign any kind of contract in which you were guaranteed any particular number of hours per week?

Signed a contract saying what I was hired for, required "uniform" and policies, but nothing contained a guarantee of hours IN WRITING. We were all just told we would all get about the same amount of hours a week-- 20..

 

[cbg]

So when you called and inquired, what did they say?

 

[pattimelt]

So when you called and inquired, what did they say?

They keep saying that the guy in charge will call me back, but I get no response to either my calls or emails.

I guess I'm just frustrated. I got hired, and I want to work, not sit at home on my behind, when I could have been working for some other company..

 

[swalsh411]

So go get another job. Don't let another week go by. Forget these bozos. Sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself will not buy presents.

 

[commentator]

I also strongly suggest you get out and get something else. EDD may not come through for you at all, slow or fast. If I understand you correctly, you turned down other work when you were not working, with the assumption that you would be called by these people. The reason they use temp services is so they don't have to deal with you directly. They can simply tell the temp service who they do and do not want to work. This "selling things" job may not have taken off as they expected it to, so all their big promises to you were worthless. Your job in this situation is to keep working as long as you can. If other assignments were available to you, you should have taken them, not waited on these people simply on the basis of their promises and vague "we want you to work for us!" comments.

If they had told the temp service they wanted you to be available on reserve for their work, the temp service would NOT have offered you any other work during the insuing week. Hopefully, the unemployment system (EDD) will see that you weren't working, will determine it was through no fault of your own, and will let you qualify for unemployment for those weeks. In the meantime, take anything you can get, because having turned down work like you did does not bode well for your getting to draw a week of benefits. You may not have unemployment coming it at all. Those people were NOT your employer, they are a client or the true employer, which is the temporary service. Therefore you cannot elect to work for them only, or disqualify yourself for other work based on wanting to work for them or them telling you they wanted you to be available. No matter what you say, they were not promising you a job or hiring you.

But in the long run, job assignments come and go. Employers promise big, deliver very small. And your recourse is to find another job and to wait for unemployment benefits to grind through the process and determine whether you will nor will not be paid for these weeks you've been off. You have absolutely no other "rights" or appeals in this situation.

 

[pattimelt]

I also strongly suggest you get out and get something else. EDD may not come through for you at all, slow or fast. If I understand you correctly, you turned down other work when you were not working, with the assumption that you would be called by these people. The reason they use temp services is so they don't have to deal with you directly. They can simply tell the temp service who they do and do not want to work. This "selling things" job may not have taken off as they expected it to, so all their big promises to you were worthless. Your job in this situation is to keep working as long as you can. If other assignments were available to you, you should have taken them, not waited on these people simply on the basis of their promises and vague "we want you to work for us!" comments.

If they had told the temp service they wanted you to be available on reserve for their work, the temp service would NOT have offered you any other work during the insuing week. Hopefully, the unemployment system (EDD) will see that you weren't working, will determine it was through no fault of your own, and will let you qualify for unemployment for those weeks. In the meantime, take anything you can get, because having turned down work like you did does not bode well for your getting to draw a week of benefits. You may not have unemployment coming it at all. Those people were NOT your employer, they are a client or the true employer, which is the temporary service. Therefore you cannot elect to work for them only, or disqualify yourself for other work based on wanting to work for them or them telling you they wanted you to be available. No matter what you say, they were not promising you a job or hiring you.

But in the long run, job assignments come and go. Employers promise big, deliver very small. And your recourse is to find another job and to wait for unemployment benefits to grind through the process and determine whether you will nor will not be paid for these weeks you've been off. You have absolutely no other "rights" or appeals in this situation.

Thank you. I just feel that I got screwed, and now all the hiring for Christmas is over, and I won't have anything until my regular job starts up again. I have continued to apply for other positions I have found open, since the first time I wasn't on the schedule, but the temp company doesn't have anything for me, and I haven't been called in response to other applications. When you get told you have a job, and then they don't schedule you, it kinda sucks.