Brace yourself, seasonal workers are coming…

Last month AWC’s Workers’ Comp Retro program came out with some tips and considerations for cities as they gear up to hire seasonal workforces for summer. That got us thinking of some of the implications for training, compensation, and benefits as cities move into the spring hiring season for seasonal employees (as well as borrowing Retro’s article title). We review some of those considerations below.

From AWC’s Workers’ Comp Retro program on seasonal worker safety

As winter starts to thaw into spring, cities begin to look for seasonal workers to help during the summer. It is important to remember that temporary workers must be trained in general and job-specific safety topics. Ensuring that all of your employees are aware of emergency procedures is essential, because an emergency can occur at any time without warning.

Looking at job descriptions can also help determine what type of safety training your temporary employees might need to be successful on the job. Determining if you would like your temporary worker to be CPR trained is a decision that should be made beforehand. An exception to this is lifeguards, where they are mandated due to the nature of their job.

It is a good idea to have seasonal job positions in your training matrix to ensure proper training has occurred. We also recommend a distinct new employee orientation checklist for seasonal workers. If you find that the seasonal employee has some job tasks that are infrequent but require extra safety training, it might be a good idea to reassign those tasks to permanent workers instead. This will save time and money while still ensuring that every employee (even seasonal ones) is home safe every night.

Seasonal employee benefits

MRSC writes that local governments need to be careful about correctly classifying part-time and seasonal employees, since employers are prohibited from intentionally misclassifying employees to avoid paying employment-based health benefits required under state or federal law, employer policies, or collective bargaining agreements. MRSC also put us on to this hand guide from the IRS for determining full-time employees.

Under the federal Affordable Care Act, for part-time workers, “large employers” with 50+ employees are required to provide health insurance to employees working 30 hours a week or more. Large employers are similarly required to provide health benefits to seasonal employees if they work an average of 30 hours or more a week (or 130 hours a month) for four or more months. This federal requirement does not apply to small employers (less than 50 employees).

For public employers contracted with the Public Employees Benefits Board program for benefits, new seasonal employees who are likely to return the next season are eligible for PEBB benefits (and the employer contribution to those benefits) if they work an average of 80 hours per month, with a minimum of 8 hours in each month, for at least three consecutive months. If the worker is not anticipated to return the next season and is not staying on for more than 6 months, the employer is not required to provide PEBB benefits.

Other employment laws may also apply to seasonal workers. For instance, Washington’s paid sick leave law requires that all employees (including temporary ones) accrue at least 1 hour of sick leave for every 40 hour worked. Employers may frontload the employee’s sick leave in anticipation of their expected hours. If the employee is separated but rehired within 12 months, their previous accrual of sick leave is carried over.