Summer is here and many businesses hire paid summer interns and seasonal workers. Frequent questions that frequently come up surrounding seasonal workers include:

• What am I required to do and what should I do when it comes to pre-employment screening?
• Do I need to run a background check on them?
• Do labor laws apply to them?

The answer in most cases is yes to all these questions.

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1. Comply with Labor and Tax Laws

Seasonal workers are generally subject to the same labor laws that cover full-time workers, including workplace safety laws, harassment and discrimination laws, health and safety laws and most employment laws. Seasonal workers are entitled to the same rights as full-time workers including minimum wages, overtime pay, child labor protections and if applicable, overtime pay. Depending on state laws, they may also be entitled to unemployment benefits. You must also deduct social security and taxes from their pay.

The rules change if you are utilizing independent contractors as they are basically self-employed and they are not actually hired by you. Therefore, labor laws do not apply to them in the same way. But you must comply with tax regulations if they make over $600 (US).

Always check with your attorney for confirmation on all the labor law and tax issues, as they may vary from state to state, and country to country.

2. Conduct Background Checks

While it may seem like a waste of time and money to run background checks on paid interns and seasonal employees, they should be subject to the same background checks and drug screenings that full-time employees are given. Even part-time or seasonal help can be a thief or a substance abuser, putting you and your company at risk for reputation damage, theft, classified information revealed, or worse…lawsuits.

Do you know how to respond when an employee is stealing from your company? Download the free Cheat Sheet on How to Confront Employee Theft.

The type of screening you do may depend on the job they will be hired to do. For example, if they will be driving, you will want to screen for drunk driving citations, reckless driving records, etc. If they will be handling money, run a credit check and possibly a drug test.

And I suggest that you always run a basic background check on all workers, no matter what position that they will fill or how long they will work for you. It serves many purposes including finding out if the employee is a good fit for a more permanent position in your company. The biggest benefit is to you is that the background check will give you peace of mind that you made the right hire and that you can trust your seasonal employees.