Guide to Hiring for Seasonal and Summer Jobs

How to quickly find and train a set of extra hands.

By Traci Purdum, Senior Editor

Plan for three basics to effectively hire for the short term:

1. Learn the rules affecting hiring and firing
2. Find and hire the right people
3. Make your new employees understand their responsibilities

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Know the law

Many summer and temporary workers are minors. Failing to follow laws that affect them can get you in big trouble. Likewise, hiring undocumented workers is a big mistake.

I recommend: For the in's and out's of the law, see AccountingWEB's Bookkeepers Offer Advice for Hiring Summer Help and the Department of Labor's Employment Law Guide: Child Labor.

Advertise in all the right places

Define what you need to have done and place easy-to-read recruitment ads in effective places.

I recommend: Your local paper, Craigslist.org, the local high school and college job centers and StudentJobs.gov are good places to start.

Try a temporary staffing agency

Some jobs are hard to fill via a classified ad. Temporary agencies are expensive but they can find good people.

I recommend: Manpower Inc., Kelly Services, Accountemps, The Creative Group, Robert Half Technology, or Minute Men Staffing Services will send over lots of candidates and handle all the paperwork as well.

Set up a system

Create a structure that explains the task at hand and makes the rules clear so temporary employees can be productive right away. Otherwise, they'll fritter away their time and your money.

I recommend: Employee Handbook Builder will help you document the rules and you can easily add things like "No flip-flops."

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Categorize temporary help properly. Microsoft recently learned an expensive lesson ($97 million) when it hired 'permatemps' and billed them as temporary workers. If you need summer help and the temp stays longer, re-categorize the job.
• •  If you are hiring a temporary worker to do dangerous work, make sure proper training and safety measures are met.
• •  Know that when you hire a temporary worker there is some risk of intellectual-property loss.
• •  When using staffing-company services, ask how potential employees are screened and tested. Also ask if the staffing company carries workers' compensation for its employees.