PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Rhode Island paid $13,081,027 in the last budget year to five staffing companies to place temporary -- and in some cases, not-so-temporary workers -- in state government.
The lion's share -- $11.9 million -- went to Adil Business Systems, a New York-based company with 284 employees in R.I. state government, that just won a new and revised contract.
The state also paid $233,559 to CoWorx Staffing Services; $12,412 to Flagship Staffing Services; $781,893 to RI Temps and $58,703 to Westaff (USA) Inc.
J. Michael Downey, president of RI Council 94, AFSCME, says the state is not yet complying with a law -- upheld by the R.I. Supreme Court -- that requires "a full, transparent, and simple accounting of how many temporary employees work for the state; what types of jobs they do; and how much they are paid each year."