There are between 300,000 and 500,000 day workers who labor in temporary staffing agencies in Illinois. According to the Illinois Department of Labor, there are 147 day labor/temporary staffing agencies with 589 branch offices licensed throughout the state—450 offices are located in the Chicago metro area. In addition, there is a large--though unknown--number of unlicensed day labor staffing services. All of these agencies compete with each other to gain client company contracts, typically selling their workers’ services for as little as $7.00 per hour in order to gain business. At that rate, the day labor agencies cannot cover their own costs and turn a profit unless they violate wage and hour requirements and pass on business expenses, such as rides and safety equipment, as service fees charged to day laborers. “High Road” agencies--which wish to follow the law--lose clients to the “Low Road” ones. The result is that the present system drives labor standards down and hurts the most vulnerable of the labor market – day laborers.

Workers employed by day labor offices typically earn $7,000 per year, approximately 200% below the poverty level and have no benefits such as heath insurance, vacations, or sick days. As the industry has tripled in size over the past decade, the possibility of gaining full-time employment continues to diminish for low-skill workers.