Staffing agency and temporary employees are protected by wage laws even when one company issues the paycheck and another company directs the daily work. If the wrong minimum-wage rate is used, overtime is calculated incorrectly, or not all compensable time is recorded, the worker may be owed additional wages.

Responsibility does not always stop with the staffing agency named on the paystub. Depending on the facts, the staffing agency, the worksite company, or both may be responsible for complying with federal, state, and local wage laws.

Check the Wage Rate Where You Work

Minimum wage can depend on the location where the work is performed, the date, the employer’s size or classification, and whether an exemption applies. Workers should not assume that the rate listed in an offer letter or staffing-agency assignment remains lawful after a state or local increase.

Compare each pay period with the official wage rate for the place where you actually worked. If federal, state, and local wage laws apply, a covered worker generally must receive the highest applicable minimum. Some jurisdictions use different schedules for smaller employers or particular industries, so coverage and effective dates must be checked.

Overtime Must Use the Correct Regular Rate

Under the U.S. Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #23, covered, nonexempt employees generally must receive at least one and one-half times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Hours may not be averaged across two or more workweeks.

The regular rate cannot be lower than the applicable minimum wage and may include more than the stated hourly rate. The U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Fact Sheet #56A on the regular rate explains that certain nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and other compensation may need to be included.

Staffing Agency or Worksite Company: Who Is Responsible?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) uses a broad employment concept, and the DOL’s Fact Sheet #13 on the employment relationship explains that labels and technical arrangements do not determine whether a worker is an employee. The economic reality of the relationship controls.

A worker can have more than one employer under the FLSA. Whether a staffing agency and a worksite company are joint employers is a fact-specific legal question. Relevant facts can include who hires or can end the assignment, determines pay, controls schedules, directs the work, supervises performance, and maintains employment records. No single fact automatically decides every case.

The company that signs the timesheet or issues the paycheck is, therefore, not necessarily the only company whose conduct matters. Staffing employees should preserve information showing what each business actually did.

All Compensable Time Must Be Counted

The DOL’s Fact Sheet #22 on hours worked explains that covered employees generally must be paid for time they are required or permitted to work. Depending on the facts, this may include work before clocking in, work after clocking out, required training, or time spent completing assignment-related tasks.

A rule requiring advance authorization for overtime generally does not erase the obligation to pay for compensable overtime that the employer knew or had reason to know was worked, although an employer may separately enforce a workplace rule against unauthorized overtime.

Staffing Agency Wage Case Example: Workbridge Workers at Misfits Market

In Gonzalez v. Imperfect Foods, Inc. d/b/a Misfits Market, et al., No. 1:26-cv-03229-JRR (D. Md.), plaintiff Rodrigo Gonzalez (“Gonzalez”) alleges that he sought employment through staffing agency Workbridge LLC and was assigned to work as a stocker at a Misfits Market warehouse in Hanover, Maryland. According to the complaint, Gonzalez and other workers supplied by Workbridge worked at the warehouse under the supervision of both Workbridge and Misfits personnel. Gonzalez allegedly worked there from approximately April 2024 through April 2025 and frequently worked more than 40 hours per week.

The complaint alleges that these staffing-agency workers were not paid the wage rates required after Howard County increased its minimum wage for employers with 15 or more employees to $16 per hour on January 1, 2025. According to the complaint, Workbridge continued paying Gonzalez and other Workbridge-supplied warehouse workers $15 per hour for regular hours and $22.50 per hour for overtime. The allegedly required rates were at least $16 and $24, respectively—an asserted shortfall of $1 for each regular hour and $1.50 for each overtime hour. The complaint also alleges that workers employed directly by Misfits who performed similar work received at least $16 per hour.

The lawsuit alleges that Workbridge hired and paid the staffing-agency workers and typically set their schedules, while both Workbridge and Misfits tracked their time, supervised their work and had authority to terminate them. Based on these allegations, Gonzalez claims that Workbridge and the Misfits defendants jointly employed the Workbridge-supplied workers at the warehouse.

Gonzalez seeks to represent a proposed FLSA collective of individuals who performed work for Workbridge in Howard County and allegedly were not paid the required overtime rate beginning January 1, 2025. He also seeks to represent a proposed Maryland class of Workbridge workers in Howard County who allegedly were denied the applicable minimum wage or overtime rate during that period. The complaint estimates that at least 70 Workbridge workers in Howard County were affected. 

Signs a Staffing Agency Employee May Be Underpaid

• Your pay rate did not change after a state or local minimum-wage increase.
• Your overtime rate is based on an hourly rate below the applicable minimum.
• Agency workers receive less than direct employees performing similar work at the same site.
• The staffing agency issues your paycheck, but the worksite company controls your schedule, duties, supervision, or continued assignment.
• Your paystub or time records do not allow you to verify regular hours, overtime hours, and rates.

Records Workers Should Preserve

• Paystubs, wage statements, timecards, schedules, and payroll-app records.
• Offer letters, assignment notices, wage-rate notices, and messages about pay.
• Notes showing the dates, locations, hours, and rates worked, including overtime.
• Communications showing who assigned work, set schedules, supervised duties, or handled discipline.

Keep records lawfully and do not take confidential information or materials you are not authorized to possess. The DOL’s Fact Sheet #21 on FLSA recordkeeping describes records covered employers must maintain, including daily and weekly hours, the basis of pay, regular hourly rate, straight-time and overtime earnings, deductions, total wages, and the pay period covered. A worker’s own contemporaneous records may still be useful.

Can an Employer Retaliate?

The FLSA prohibits retaliation against an employee for filing a complaint or cooperating in an investigation. Other protected wage complaints may also be covered. Document any threats, reduced hours, discipline, termination, or other adverse action and seek advice promptly, because filing deadlines apply.

Contact Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is available to evaluate potential claims involving staffing-agency employment, joint-employer responsibility, unpaid minimum wages, unpaid overtime and employee misclassification. A confidential consultation can help you understand how federal, state or local wage laws may apply to your staffing assignment and whether the staffing agency, worksite company or both may be responsible.

For a free, no-obligation legal evaluation, contact:

Michael Yarnoff, Esq.
(215) 792-6676, Ext. 804
[email protected]
[email protected]

About Kehoe Law Firm, P.C.

Kehoe Law Firm, P.C. is a nationally recognized, plaintiff-side class action law firm representing investors and consumers in matters involving securities fraud, corporate misconduct, mergers and acquisitions, antitrust violations, whistleblower claims, data breaches, consumer fraud, employment law violations, and retirement-plan mismanagement. Its attorneys have served as lead or co-lead counsel in major securities cases, recovering more than $10 billion for institutional and individual investors.

All representation is provided on a contingency-fee basis, and plaintiffs are not responsible for attorneys’ fees, court costs, or litigation expenses. Any request for attorneys’ fees and expenses will be subject to court approval. 

PHONE

Tel: 215-792-6676

EMAIL

[email protected]