Boardroom signals: What Beeline’s clients are talking about now
Beeline’s Client Advisory Board (BCAB) of contingent workforce professionals represents industries as diverse as banking and financial services, energy, healthcare, high technology, retailing, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences. At meetings and teleconferences throughout the year, the BCAB delves into crucial contingent workforce topics and plays a pivotal role in shaping Beeline's future vision and direction. This blog series reflects insights from this group of Beeline’s most knowledgeable clients and partners.
When rules keep shifting: Compliance conversations that matter
By Craig Coe
Managing compliance for a contingent workforce is one of the toughest challenges facing global businesses today. And the challenges aren’t getting any easier. As Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) points out in its recent article, “New Laws, New Risks,” the regulatory landscape governing contingent labor is undergoing aggressive transformation. And “what’s changing isn’t just the laws – it’s the level of accountability.”
So, what does this mean for contingent workforce management professionals? It means practitioners are balancing more moving parts than ever. They must work to understand their companies’ level of exposure and find smart ways to stay ahead as they mitigate their risks. But how do you do that?
Stay ahead of compliance issues
No one can track every regulation alone, and that is why networks matter. There are several formal and informal networks that can help you stay informed.
Lean on your ecosystem
No contingent workforce program operates in isolation. Your program is part of an interconnected ecosystem of staffing suppliers, managed service providers (MSPs), technology platforms, and service providers. This ecosystem can help alert you to new compliance requirements – and collaborate on solutions to keep your program compliant.
The compliance challenges you face – worker misclassification, data privacy, H-1B visas, pay transparency, and the rest – are rarely unique. Your ecosystem partners and peers likely face similar challenges and may already have proven approaches you can adopt. Leverage this collective experience to strengthen your compliance posture.
The importance of internal readiness
But a supportive ecosystem only works when internal teams are aligned. Legal, HR, Procurement, Finance, Risk/Compliance, and Contingent Workforce Management teams must be prepared to mobilize quickly and collaborate effectively when new regulations emerge. An effective internal response to compliance issues requires pre-planning, clear communication, and a culture of accountability.
It may be necessary to implement new controls, update policies, and conduct employee training to meet new compliance standards. This can only be accomplished in a timely manner if your company has agreed on a compliance framework and established the necessary processes, roles, and responsibilities for evaluating and addressing new compliance requirements.
Be ready, not reactive
The most resilient programs don’t wait for regulations to be finalized. They use early signals to align with partners and prepare together. As your business increasingly relies on temporary workers, independent contractors, and outsourced service providers, it can be risky to wait for government authorities to pass new laws and regulations. Typically, these regulations can be under discussion for months or even years, but once written into law, compliance requirements become mandatory very quickly.
If you work with your internal teams and ecosystem partners to put your processes in place before new rules are finalized, you will be ready when they arrive rather than trying to play catch-up.
Nothing is as certain as change
As you scale your contingent workforce program to deliver the flexible workforce your business needs, your compliance requirements will shift and change:
You can’t predict every change, but you can develop a strategy to track and address emerging requirements. Enlist your ecosystem partners to notify you of any compliance changes that may impact your program. And work with your peers and partners to develop processes and procedures to be ready for the inevitable shifts and added compliance requirements your program will have to address.
Compliance isn’t a one-time project — it’s a continuous, collective effort. As regulations evolve, the most resilient programs stay prepared by staying connected: aligning internal teams early, working with ecosystem partners, and tapping into peer networks to make sense of what’s coming next.
At Beeline, we see this every day in the conversations happening through the BCAB and across our broader client community. The rulebook will keep shifting — readiness isn’t about predicting every change, but about building the relationships and processes that help you adapt when they do.
Related resource: For deeper reading on global compliance trends and emerging regulatory shifts, you can explore Beeline’s latest global compliance whitepaper.
Craig Coe is Beeline’s senior vice president of global customer success and executive sponsor of the Beeline Client Advisory Board.