Temps Test TEMPS Industry Knowledge 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the 'bill rate' in a staffing agency context?
- The hourly wage paid to the temporary worker
- The total amount the agency charges the client per hour of temp labor (Correct answer)
- The agency's monthly invoice for administrative fees only
- The penalty rate charged for contract cancellations
Correct answer: The total amount the agency charges the client per hour of temp labor
The bill rate is the hourly rate the staffing agency charges the client company, which includes the worker's pay plus the agency's markup.
Question 2: Which metric measures the percentage of placed temp workers who complete their full assignment without early termination?
- Fill rate
- Retention rate (Correct answer)
- Time-to-fill
- Spread margin
Correct answer: Retention rate
Retention rate tracks how many placed workers successfully complete their full assignment, reflecting placement quality.
Question 3: An independent contractor differs from a temporary employee primarily because the contractor:
- Earns a higher hourly wage
- Works fewer than 20 hours per week
- Controls how their work is performed and bears financial risk (Correct answer)
- Is placed exclusively through a staffing agency
Correct answer: Controls how their work is performed and bears financial risk
The IRS and courts look at behavioral and financial control to distinguish independent contractors, who control their own work methods and bear financial risk.
Question 4: What does 'time-to-fill' measure in staffing operations?
- The hours a temp worker spends on a single task
- The number of days from a job order opening to a worker starting the assignment (Correct answer)
- The percentage of open roles filled in a quarter
- The agency's response time to worker complaints
Correct answer: The number of days from a job order opening to a worker starting the assignment
Time-to-fill measures how quickly the agency can source and place a qualified worker from the moment a client submits a job order.
Question 5: Under OSHA's multi-employer worksite rules, which party is responsible for ensuring temporary workers receive site-specific safety training?
- Only the staffing agency
- Only the client company (host employer)
- Both the staffing agency and the client company share responsibility (Correct answer)
- The temp worker is solely responsible for their own training
Correct answer: Both the staffing agency and the client company share responsibility
OSHA holds both the staffing agency and the host employer jointly responsible for worker safety, with the host typically providing site-specific hazard training.
Question 6: What is a 'direct-hire' service offered by staffing agencies?
- Placing a worker temporarily with no option for permanent hire
- Recruiting and screening candidates for the client to hire directly as permanent employees (Correct answer)
- Hiring workers directly onto the agency's own payroll permanently
- A fast-track placement completed within 24 hours
Correct answer: Recruiting and screening candidates for the client to hire directly as permanent employees
In a direct-hire arrangement, the staffing agency recruits and screens candidates but the client hires them directly as permanent employees.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes a 'managed service provider' (MSP) in the staffing industry?
- An agency that only places IT workers
- A third-party company that manages all of a client's contingent workforce programs (Correct answer)
- A government agency that oversees temp worker compliance
- A staffing firm that exclusively uses online platforms
Correct answer: A third-party company that manages all of a client's contingent workforce programs
An MSP manages the entire contingent labor program for a client, often overseeing multiple staffing agencies and consolidating reporting.
Temps Test TEMPS Industry Knowledge 3
What is the 'bill rate' in a staffing agency context?