What You Need to Know About Hiring Summer Help

As the summer approaches, students are planning for their futures. Do they want to backpack through Asia, take summer courses, or take up a summer job? For the group who wants to take up a summer job, you, as an employer, may find yourself with many available workers who are eager and willing to work in order to pad their wallets or their resumes. What kinds of things must you look for when hiring temporary, summer help though? Here are a few hot spots to keep your eyes on:

• Child Labor Laws: For employers who are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), children under the age of 18 are covered by child labor laws.
• Vacation, Sick Days, and Holidays: There is no federal requirement that employers provide employees with vacation, sick days, and holidays.
• Discrimination: As with other employees, all non-discrimination policies in terms of hiring, employment, and firing, equally apply.
• Unemployment: Employees cannot claim unemployment unless they have been employed for a certain number of weeks and have earned a certain amount of money in the base period.
• Wages: The Department of Labor states, "Youths under 20 years of age may be paid a minimum wage of not less than $4.25 an hour during the first 90 consecutive calendar days of employment with an employer.
• Safety: Keeping your employees safe all year round is crucial.

Make sure you discuss the duration of the student's employment and set an end date (while still leaving yourself open to termination before that date if things don't go as planned). Put the start and end dates along with other important terms and conditions of the summer employment in writing. If everyone knows what to expect, the relationship can run its course and be beneficial for all parties involved.

This article appeared in the May 2010 edition of IHRSA HR Digest.