Temporary Work Agencies in Quebec : A Status Report

The temporary work industry has undergone considerable expansion in Canada and in Quebec in the last decade. Becoming an important mechanism in the functioning of the labour market, it provides not only increased numerical and functional flexibility for companies, but is also a favoured means of access to the labour market for many workers, including young workers. Personnel leasing falls within the framework of tripartite labour relations between the employee, the agency and the client company. This type of relationship is not without its particular difficulties, the solution for which is often hard to find since the personnel leasing activity, as such, is not regulated in Quebec. The question is to determine, considering the precise nature of the tripartite relationship, whether the employees’ recognized rights can be exercised, in practice, in such a way as to achieve their specific purpose. Many studies, particularly those of a legal nature, have revealed the difficulty of identifying the real employer, as well as the inability of labour laws that are better adapted to binary labour relations, to appropriately take into account the specific situation that results from this type of tripartite relationship. Other work illustrates the disparity in the treatment of agency employees, the limitations raised by personnel leasing on freedom of employment and mobility, and even the high rate of occupational injuries observed in agency employees, mainly affecting young workers. The legal consequences of the lack of regulation of this type of activity are well known and well documented. The advancement in knowledge is now reliant on empirical studies in order to better understand the actual working conditions of agency employees, as well as the practices of leasing agencies