Hiring through a staffing agency may not be the cost-saving alternative to hiring regular employees, says management consultant Lester Rosen.

In an article for Recruiting Trends, Rosen says that when a business hires temporary workers, the business assumes much of the same liability as when workers are hired directly.

“Although staffing agencies still have duties to pay wages and handle such items as reporting to appropriate agencies and workers’ compensation insurance, there are a host of potential employment law liabilities that are still the responsibility of the employer,” Rosen observes. Included in the legal liability list for co-employers: sexual harassment, hostile work environment, discrimination, negligent hiring, negligent retention, and so on. Rosen says issues that must be clarified when an employer and staffing vendor work together: who is responsible for background checking, the screening protocol, who will review the background checking report, how to handle derogatory or negative information.