How to Schedule and Pay Seasonal or Temporary Employees

How to Schedule and Pay Seasonal or Temporary EmployeesHow to Schedule and Pay Seasonal or Temporary EmployeesMany employers hire seasonal workers to help them with increased customer demand during the holiday season. Other employers hire temporary and seasonal employees to cover for busy vacation times or for agriculture work when harvest rolls around. Hiring employees for seasonal work is an opportunity for employers to get to know potential long-term employees. Its a chance to observe how well a potential employee adapts to your culture and interacts with your other employees and your customers. Employers need to note some differences in how they schedule and pay seasonal help. More importantly, some of the rules have changed because of the adoption of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), or ObamaCare, as it is more commonly called. In President Trumps administration, you can expect that unterstellung changes may change more. This is a recommended time when you mi ght want to consult with your employment law attorney. Classifying Seasonal Employees The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which is the governing Federal labor law for seasonal workers, does not define full-time employment or part-time employment. That is a matter generally left for the employer to determine. Many employers define full-time employment as 30 or 32-plus hours a week. Because the number of employees you employ and the hours that they work during the prior year determines whether the employer must provide health coverage the following year, employers need to understand the ACA. Starting in 2013, many employers cut employees and seasonal employees hours back to 28 hours a week to ensure that something as simple as a bookkeeping error would not make a temporary employee eligible for health coverage. Two issues that employers need to know about the ACA are Seasonal employees, who work 120 days or less during a year, are not counted as employees for determining whether a company is a large (50 employees or more on average) or a small employer (under 50 employees on average).If a seasonal employee is working full-time, the employee may be eligible for healthcare coverage since eligibility is determined by hours worked month to month. (If you belong to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), this is a resource that further clarifies these rules.) Many seasonal employees work in retail and other businesses that are covered by the FLSA. This means that they must be paid the federal minimum wage or the minimum wage that was set by their state or local jurisdiction, whichever is higher. Employers must pay these seasonal workers overtime pay at a rate of one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for hours worked over 40 in a work week. This applies whether the employee is a temporary or seasonal employee or a full-time regular employee. In some instances, however, certain retail or service employees who are paid by commissionscould be exe mpt from overtime pay. Federal law does not limit the number of hours or times of day for employees who are 16 years and older, but many states have enacted more restrictive labor laws that have higher minimum standards that must be obeyed. Employees who are under 18 years old are limited in what they can do and must not be placed in hazardous occupations or given certain hazardous tasks to do. The YouthRules site explains more about the rules that apply to employees under age 16. Please refer to the Department of Labors(DOL) Holiday Season Employment Information Guide. Related to the Holidays Is Your Workplace Elf-Friendly?To Drink or Not to Drink at the schreibstube Party?10 Alternatives to the Holiday Office PartyTips for the Employer about Serving Alcohol at Company Events DisclaimerPlease note that the information provided, while authoritative, is not guaranteed for accuracy and legality. The site is read by a world-wide audience and employment laws and regulations vary fro m state to state and country to country. Please seek legal assistance, or assistance from State, Federal, or International governmental resources, to make certain your legal interpretation and decisions are correct for your location. This information is for guidance, ideas, and assistance.