How to Hire Temporary Workers

What is the role of a temporary employee in your business? Will they be required to fill multiple job roles? Before starting your hiring process, make sure you're clear about the specific responsibilities you need a temporary employee to fulfill. Start by creating a detailed outline of all the job specifics.

Establish the skills, experience, and characteristics of your ideal candidate and make a list of them. Generally, temporary employees need to fill a position immediately, which means businesses won't have time to adequately train temporary workers.

Search instead for candidates who already possess the appropriate soft skills and expertise, such as excellent communication and adaptability skills, and previous experience working with customers.

There are three categories of temporary employees: part-time, temporary, and seasonal workers.

• A part-time employee is paid an hourly wage and is not entitled to regular employee benefits like healthcare. However, employers are still required to adhere to all business regulations.

• A temporary employee is typically employed to fill a gap in employment needs at businesses that are either under-resourced or have a temporary vacancy available because of a worker on leave. Also referred to as temps, these employees can also cover a position until a full-time hire is made.

• A seasonal employee is hired during peak traffic periods to help businesses cope with the higher demand. For instance, seasonal employees are generally hired during the holiday season, with most jobs stemming from retail stores or entertainment venues such as theme parks, movie theatres, and restaurants.

Now that you've established your business's needs and outlined the specifics of the job, you can start drafting a job description. Your job description should list all job requirements and responsibilities, including details about the skills, qualifications, and experience required, as well as any physical demands of the job and the timeline.

A job description typically has four sections:

• Job title: Use of a job title that everyone can understand, even if your business uses a different label for a position.

• Business information: Include a brief summary of your business, touching on your history, business values, and significant milestones.

• Description of job responsibilities: List the daily job responsibilities as well as any other job functions they'd need to complete over the period of employment.

• Explanation of job requirements: Carefully list all of the job requirements, including qualifications, timeline, skills, and characteristics.

A job description template will contain most of the boilerplate information you'll need such as the responsibilities and qualifications, making your job a bit easier.

Your current employees are a great source for referrals. Employees may already have personal recommendations or be able to attract temporary workers faster using their connections and social media platforms. This option is great if you want to save money on recruiting firms or software.

If your business requires temporary or seasonal workers, career services departments at local colleges are a great place for recruiting candidates. Many colleges also have job boards available to help students find easy work.

If your business frequently hires seasonal or part-time workers, consider approaching these candidates with a job offer. This is a great way to shorten your recruitment process as candidates will already be familiar with the job requirements and responsibilities.

If your business already has an active online presence, you may want to consider advertising your job description on social media platforms as most of your followers will be familiar with your brand and services.

If your business falls into a niche market, consider posting on niche job boards. This option helps you narrow your search and attract candidates already looking for jobs in your field. Popular niche job boards include retail job boards and sales job boards.

Depending on the job you're offering, you may be able to use traditional methods to get the word out, such as flyers and posters. These methods may be especially useful when trying to attract candidates from a specific area or institution.

You could also advertise temporary positions by displaying posters at your workplace or distributing them to local businesses, thereby attracting candidates who live in the area and are likely familiar with your brand already.

Review all applications and shortlist between 10 and 20 candidates that meet most of your job requirements. To weed out any unsuitable candidates, send a few screening questions via email.

Some questions you may consider asking include:

• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• Why are you interested in this temporary position?
• How many people were on your team at your last job?
• What would you like to learn in this job?
• Are you hoping to transition to a full-time position?
• How would you describe your ideal work environment?

Once you've chosen your top candidates, the interview process can officially start. Each interview should last at least 30 minutes and include questions that focus on the candidates' characteristics and skills.

Even though temporary employees will only work at your business for a certain time period, it's vital that you conduct standard background checks like criminal records, social security validation, and address history. Check out our guide on how to do employee background checks for more detailed information.

Once you've completed the screening and interviews, you will most likely have one or more candidates that meet all requirements. If there are multiple candidates shortlisted, consider conducting second interviews or asking candidates to complete assessments; this option will help candidates showcase their practical skills.

After you've selected the most suitable candidate for the position, send them a job offer letter which includes the start date, compensation, work hours, and job title. This process may be followed by a negotiation period. Once both employer and employee are satisfied, you can officially start legalizing the agreement.

Each temporary employee type may have different legal requirements and business owners are expected to comply with all state and federal employment laws. Before choosing a temporary worker for your business, research the different legal requirements and employment and tax regulations.

Create a standard contractor agreement that can be customized for projects or short-term positions. This is great for businesses that frequently make use of temporary or season workers. To cover your basics, the legal contract should outline compensation, project scope, business policies, employee benefits, and job requirements.

Complete an employment eligibility verification form (I-9) no more than 3 days after an employee is hired. In the United States, all employers are required to verify their new employee's identity and eligibility to work in the country.

Determine if you are required to provide unemployment benefits. In each state, there are different laws that specify whether an employer is required to provide unemployment benefits for temporary workers. These benefits are generally not extended to seasonal workers. We recommend checking with your state’s department of labor.

Have the temporary employee sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA). While this may depend on the nature of your work and business, it's a wise choice if you need to protect your intellectual property.

Be sure to create a positive onboarding experience for your new temporary worker. Now that you've successfully brought new candidates on board, it's your responsibility to ensure they feel welcome and part of your team. An organized onboarding process is a positive reflection of your brand and may count in your favor, should you extend a permanent offer of employment to your temporary worker.