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Before you pursue this, you need to get clear on just what group of people you are talking about.
Most temp positions (in your parlance) in tech industries are actually contract positions. These fall into two categories:
A 1099 contractor (US usage; I'm sure there are equivalent terms in other countries) is an individual who signs a contract with a company that actually intends to use his or her services. There are specific rules that the IRS enforces on who can have this status. For example, to be a true contractor, you have to provide your own tools, perhaps set your own hours, etc. (This is not a complete list of the rules.) In this situation, you charge a rate that covers your own self-employment costs, such as health insurance, equipment amortization, etc.
A W-2 contractor is an ordinary employee of a contracting agency. The agency has the contract with the company that uses your services. The agency treats you like any other employee and provides whatever benefits you and they agree to. The fact that you spend your days working at their client's site does not alter the fact that you are a full-time employee until they no longer need your services.
A true temp employee is a direct hire of the company you are doing the work for. If they distinguish between temp and permanent employees for the purpose of deciding what benefits apply, then you get into an area where there is recent case law. I don't know the details of the Microsoft case or how broadly it applies, but that would be a good place to start your research.
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>I am writing a paper about the prevalence of permatemping among
>technical communicators. (For those of you that haven't come across this
>term, "permatemping" is the practice of hiring employees as temps, but
>keeping them on on an permanent basis. Often this is done to avoid
>paying these employees the same benefits that other employees receive.)
>
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