A guide to hiring and training seasonal employees

Industries like construction, manufacturing, agriculture, lawn care, and retail often require temporary workers. Hiring seasonal employees can boost production during the summer, over the holiday season, or when there’s a large contract to fulfill.

EMC Senior Risk Improvement Representative Pat Kelley says there is one philosophy to follow as you bring these employees on board, “In a nutshell, seasonal workers must be treated just like permanent employees.”

Hiring seasonal employees

Even if the position is short term, it’s still important to follow the same policies and procedures you use to hire your permanent workforce.

1. Determine your company’s needs: Create a detailed job description that outlines the responsibilities and qualifications for the position.  
2. Find seasonal employees: Consider using temp agencies, online platforms, or college internship programs and job boards to connect with temporary workers.
3. Advertise the positions: Post your positions to your company’s social media accounts and encourage current employees to share them. Recommendations from current employees are a valuable resource.
4. Conduct pre-work screenings: Depending on the job, you might need to check licenses and certifications, conduct medical checks, drug tests, motor vehicle records, and other screenings. If you’re using a temp agency, some of these checks may be handled by the agency.

Because seasonal workers may not feel committed to the job, some companies find that newly hired workers often just stop showing up after a few days or a few weeks. They may dislike the work or feel unsafe, or receive a better offer. Help seasonal workers feel a part of the team by:

• Offering competitive wage
• Providing engagements perks like team lunches, after-work gatherings, or free parking
• Assigning a mentor to work closely with new hires and ensure they have someone to guide them, answer questions, and help solve problems
• Let them know they’ll receive a raise after a certain amount of time on the job

Training for temporary workers

It’s important to provide adequate training for the tasks temporary workers will perform, as well as the same safety training and personal protective equipment (PPE) as permanent employees receive.

Pat says, “It’s easy to rush through training to get the seasonal hires on the job ASAP. And if the new temp is only going to be on the job for a few weeks or months, you may wonder if it’s worth the time and money to run the temp through a full-scale course on procedures and safety.”

He recommends thinking about the time spent on training in another way: If seasonal workers don’t know how to perform the job and don’t have a background on safety rules and regulations, they may make some major errors causing injury to themselves or others.

With careful planning, it can be possible to shorten training time somewhat. For example:

• Assign simple tasks: Choose tasks that require less training and avoid assigning the most dangerous or repetitive jobs without property safety support.
• Limit task range: Keep the range of tasks and the number of work areas narrow to reduce training and safety concerns.
• Evaluate work areas: Assign seasonal employees to non-hazardous areas, if possible, to minimize safety training. Focus job training on specific areas to avoid crossing into danger zones.  
• Provide mentorship: Assign a mentor for the first few days or weeks to help new hires learn by shadowing experienced workers.
• Supply written resources: Give temporary workers a written list of job duties and safety checklists that they can reference after training.

Find additional information in this OSHA resource, Recommended Practices for Protecting Temporary Workers.