What to put in an electrical staffing agreement

A good electrical staffing agreement puts 12 things in writing before the first hand shows up: his pay rate next to your bill rate, how overtime and per diem are billed, send-home and replacement terms, how the license gets checked, the conversion fee schedule, the non-solicit, and who carries comp and liability. Most of the money you lose to an agency is lost in the fine print on overtime, per diem and buyouts, not in the headline rate.

This is a checklist, not legal advice. Have your lawyer read the final agreement.

01Why the agreement matters more than the rate

The headline bill rate is the one number every agency will negotiate, and it's the one that matters least on a long job. One national electrical contractor told us they went through four agencies on a single job. Two of the problems they named were contract problems: hands sent as journeymen who held apprentice licenses and "just weren't able to do the duties as a journeyman," and a base rate the agency would share without showing what the market actually paid. "They'll give us the base rate of what the journeymen are making, but I want to see what I'm having to pay with the market."

Both are fixable on paper. For the bigger rent vs hire question, start with staffing agency vs direct hire for electricians.

02The checklist

Each row is a clause, what to ask for, and why it matters on an electrical job.

Add three more if the job runs long: a minimum assignment term so the agency can't reassign a hand before your job ends, written notice before any reassignment, and a rate lock for the length of the assignment. Why those matter is in why agency electricians leave mid-job.

If you're short-handed now, apply here and we'll see if we can put 5 licensed electricians in front of you in 14 days.

03Pay rate disclosure and the markup math

Ask for his pay rate in writing, because the same bill rate hides very different spreads. Insight Global, a large staffing firm, defines the bill rate as "the total amount a client pays a staffing agency" and the pay rate as "the wage a worker earns." The gap covers payroll taxes, benefits, onboarding and the agency's profit.

Take a bill rate of $87.50 an hour, which is what the contractor on that call said one agency billed them for apprentices. Here's what he could be making, depending on what the agency means by its percent:

• 30% markup on pay: he makes $67.31, the agency keeps $20.19.
• 40% markup on pay: he makes $62.50, the agency keeps $25.00.
• 30% margin on the bill rate: he makes $61.25, the agency keeps $26.25.
• 40% margin on the bill rate: he makes $52.50, the agency keeps $35.00.

Some of the spread is real cost. BLS puts legally required benefits (Social Security, Medicare, unemployment and workers' comp) at $4.42 an hour in private construction, June 2026. The rest is the agency's overhead and profit. We break down what's normal in how much agencies mark up an electrician and how to back out his wage from your invoice in bill rate vs pay rate.

04Overtime: the clause that costs the most on 6-10s

Ask whether overtime is billed at 1.5 times the whole bill rate, because some agencies do it that way. A staffing fee guide reviewing published agency terms reports two firms billing OT at 1.5 times the bill rate, with the multiplier applied to the whole rate, markup included. Federal law only requires that he gets time and a half on his own pay over 40 hours a week (DOL). Nothing requires the agency's cut to grow by half too.

Example, bill rate $80 with a 35% markup, so he makes $59.26 and the agency keeps $20.74:

On 6-10s, that's 20 OT hours a week. The difference is $10.37 an hour, or $207.40 per hand per week. Over a 13-week job it's $2,696 per hand, and about $21,570 for a crew of 8.

05Per diem: who pays it and whether it's marked up

Per diem should be billed at cost, because it's a reimbursement for his lodging and meals, not his labor. Get four things in writing: the amount, the unit (per day), whether it's 7 days or days worked, and that the agency passes it through with no markup. That $87.50 apprentice rate came "plus per diem," and that's the line that needs a number and a unit next to it. For what traveling hands expect, see what per diem to offer traveling electricians.

06Send-home, replacement and license checks

Ask for no-charge send-home terms on day one, because the first day is when you find out whether he's a journeyman or a laborer with a card. Then ask how fast a replacement comes and who pays for the lost time.

The license check belongs in the agreement too. Ask the agency to send each hand's license number and class before he travels, and check it yourself on the state board in five minutes. The AGC and NCCER 2026 survey found half of firms say available candidates lack the needed skills, certificates or licenses, so this isn't paranoia. Our guide to verifying an electrician's license in any state has the board lookups.

07Conversion fees and the non-solicit

Get the conversion fee schedule in hours and percents, because a vague "standard buyout applies" turns into a surprise invoice when you try to keep a good hand. One published example, as reported by a staffing fee guide: a large staffing firm's office staffing division charges 25% of annual starting salary if you convert within the first 160 billed hours, dropping to nothing after 640 hours. That's an office schedule, not an electrical one, but it shows the shape to ask for. Ask for a schedule that hits zero, and for no fee at all if the agency is the one trying to move him. More in temp-to-hire conversion fees for electricians.

Keep the non-solicit short and make it mutual. If the agency can stop you from hiring its people, you can stop it from recruiting yours.

08Workers' comp, liability and safety

The agency should carry workers' comp on its own employees, and you should see the certificate before day one. Tradesmen International, a national construction staffing firm, says on its own site that it covers "workers' compensation, benefits and other payroll expenditures" for its craft workers. Ask for general liability too, with you named as additional insured.

Safety is shared no matter what the agreement says. OSHA says the agency and the host employer are "jointly responsible" for a safe workplace for temporary workers, and recommends the two "set out their respective responsibilities" in the contract. Your site hazards and site-specific training are on you.

09How to compare quotes from several agencies

Compare agencies on total cost per hand for the whole job, not on the bill rate. Build one sheet with the same classification, the same hours, the same weeks and the same per diem, then plug in each agency's terms.

Example, one journeyman on 6-10s (40 straight hours, 20 OT) for 13 weeks, with per diem of $150 a day, 7 days:

Agency B quoted $3 more an hour and comes out $1,625 cheaper per hand. On a crew of 8, that's $13,000. Before you sign with any of them, run through the questions to ask a recruiting company before you pay.

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