Legal Question in Employment Law in California

There is no requirement under federal or CA law to provide benefits. There are exceptions if you work in places like San Francisco that require health insurance and paid sick leave in certain situations. Next year some employers will be required to provide health insurance under the federal Affordable Care Act but that has not taken effect. So unfortunately unless you are a Unionized employee or have an employment contract requiring certain benefits, you are out of luck.

You ask an excellent question. The issue you raise is called "permatemp." It refers to companies who hire "temporary" employees for long periods of time and refer to them as temps to avoid providing benefits they provide to other "regular/permanent" employees. If you are doing the same tasks and working approximately the same hours as permanent employees, you may ask your employer to change your status to permanent and provide benefits or you can call an employment law attorney to discuss your case. I have read other message boards/posts and apparently, many attorneys aren't very familiar wtih the permatemp issue even though it has been a "hot topic" for nearly 20 years. The issue began when Microsoft was sued in a class action by temps who had worked for a few years and did not receive retirement benefits as permanent employees did. Microsoft lost the case and paid millions of dollars. After Microsoft lost, they changed their policy to keep temps no longer than 1 year and wait a few months before they rehired them. My advice is to wait a few months, then if you feel comfortable, ask your boss or HR about changing your status to a permanent employee. If that doesn't work, call an employment law attorney who knows about this issue. Many of us offer a free initial phone consultation. 949-481-6909.

Permatemp does not apply when you are actually employed by a temp agency and placed in the agency's client's workplace.