waiting for someone to die

Your boss can't fire someone for getting cancer.

If you want to keep working there, keep being enthusiastic about the company. The company might have a contractual thing with the temp agency about hiring temps so make discreet enquiries with the company.

This is correct. Hopefully the person with cancer had a lot of sick time built up or short term disability insurance to bring in income while medical insurance paid the doctor's bills and procedures. After 6 months, long term disability usually kicks in.

I'm currently working with a guy who is recovering from leukemia - he had to be gone for a year, working from home when he could (which wasn't often), but now he's back in charge of the project. So don't be thinking this person who is ill is outta there.

think of these opportunities as competing job offers that you get to negotiate over... if they are more interesting in terms of pay or the work itself, then follow up, try to get them. if you actually get an offer, then sit down with your current employer and say, "you know I really enjoy working here. however i have been offered a permanent position elsewhere. i know it may not be entirely clear, but i wanted to discuss with you what possibility you see for a permanent position opening up for me here."

you have to be careful with the language, obviously, but you have to keep in mind that there are lots of eventualities:
a) they wouldn't hire you permanently in any case
b) original person gets "well" but decides not to come back
c) they decide not to fill your position permanently at all
d) etc.

It doesn't matter if its family or not. If you end up in a car accident or have a dehabilitating disease requiring long stretches of time off, your employer MUST keep you, unless you're a independent contractor who's specified otherwise with their contract. Its illegal for the owner to fire that person. If they did, there would be a huge lawsuit that he'd have no chance of winning.

i mean they charge the company i am assigned to $33 per hr and the agency pays me $17...I'M A WHORE!

I know a lot of people that would physically kill for a chance to "whore" themselves at $17/hr.

Why would leaving the position cause issues for you with the agency? I think they are well-accustomed to dealing with people with changing circumstances. Tell them you have found a better, permanent position.

Oh. SF? That changes things. If it was outside Cali or NYC, then $17/hr would be killer.

yes but they don't need to keep you on the PAYROLL which is what he's talking about. You're still employed there, but they don't have to pay you.

...unless the person in question has built up sick and vacation time. If they've been there 20 years, building up 1000+ hours of sick time isn't improbable.

And, like everyone else said, not leave them open to a massive lawsuit for unfair dismissal for effectively firing someone for being ill.

If what the agency makes bothers you so much (1) why temp and (2) why don't you go work for a temp agency and make all that lovely commission for yourself out of poor souls in your position?

Many employers here in the US allow employees to accrue sick time like they would vacation time (eg, for every 3 hours worked, 1 hour sick time is accrued and banked). I have no idea exactly how things work at this particular company, but if its someone who's been there a long period of time, they may have banked a lot of sick time. Doing so means that it would be paid out instead of short term disability insurance (which, if you had over 6 months sick time and an additional 6 weeks vacation, you'd have no need for in the first place) until long term disability kicked in. Long term would be coming up rather soon.

You can also keep a person on the payroll without paying them. Just a name in the books with zeros next to it.

there is even more wrinkles. the a/r person i am covering for has taken over the acctng mngr position and has not received any salary increases (he is also doing IT)..for the same reason that "she might come back"...he is being incredibly patient...still the attitude of sentimentality as demonstrated by the owner leaves me feeling rather unsettled and manipulated.

Well, again; you can't demote someone just because they're sick, decrease their pay, etc. So right now, the person working as acting manager is not in a place I'm sure they're thrilled about, but the owner can't go giving that person a pay raise when the possibility of the currently sick manager recovering and returning to work in said position exists. It sucks for everyone; the people that have to make up the work and, most importantly, the person who may be dying of cancer, which is honestly a bigger issue than whether or not someone gets a pay raise in their absence.

If you wear a black shirt, don't wear black pants. Light khaki. And accessorize.