5 Do's & Don'ts for Hiring Summer Temporary Employees

When you notice more of your employees requesting time off, you know summer is fast approaching. Hiring summer temporary employees can keep your business running smoothly even as your employees take off weeks at a time. Before you hire new workers, you need to know how to interact with those employees, what not to do and how much to pay those new workers.

Finding & Paying Summer Temps

Employers have hundreds of different reasons why they hire temporary employees during the summer months. Companies that sell gardening products and landscaping businesses need more workers to meet customer demand, while other companies need workers to fill in for vacationing employees. Colleges often have job boards and job centers where you can post open positions and find workers, and you can also try posting listings online. The federal minimum wage is $7.25, but some states have different requirements — it’s important to know the minimum wage laws in your state. Depending on your business, you might offer higher pay based on the amount and nature of the work involved.

5 Do’s for Hiring Summer Temps

1. Ask your temp workers to create their own goals based on what they want from the experience.
2. Expose your summer workers to interesting work experience by asking them to do the same jobs as your regular staff.
3. Mentor your temporary workers and help them navigate through the business world.
4. Follow federal laws concerning when employees can work if you hire minors.
5. Keep in touch with temporary workers in case you have future full-time positions available.

5 Don’ts for Hiring Summer Temps

1. Don't ignore valuable input that temporary employees offer.
2. Don't train workers on tasks or software they won't use on the job — it wastes everyone’s time.
3. Don't expect temporary workers to know everything about your products and the software you use.
4. Don't bring temps in on important meetings unless you really need them.
5. Don't promise temporary workers a longer job unless you mean it.

Managing Your Summer Help

Hiring any new employees, temporary or otherwise, is an important but time-consuming process. Once you have them working for you, take advantage of employee management software to help you keep track of everything. Unlike the old days, when you had to do everything by hand, these new programs help you track everything and reduce the amount of time you spend monitoring your workers.

Whether you hire a few paid interns or dozens of temps, you need to know how to manage those workers. Treat them professionally throughout the summer, but keep in mind that they are temporary workers.

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