If your business traditionally picks up during the last quarter of the year, you may be accustomed to hiring seasonal help to augment your staff. Large numbers of people are out of work right now, and hoping to find at least temporary employment during the busy holiday season.

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Planning to Hire Temps for the Holiday
Season? Look Before You Leap

2. If your business traditionally picks up during the last quarter of the year,
you may be accustomed to hiring seasonal help to augment your
staff. Large numbers of people are out of work right now, and hoping to
find at least temporary employment during the busy holiday season. This
means the pool of applicants will be large.
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The competition for the best employees is always tight, but don't let that
cause you to rush. This year, with the Affordable Care Act looming just
over the threshold of the new year, there's more to consider than usual.
So don't hire too quickly.
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3. Full-Time, Part-TIme, Seasonal ... Rules are Rules
Keep in mind, all the federal anti-discrimination and occupational safety
rules apply equally to full-time, part-time and seasonal workers. The same
is true for Workers' Compensation and FICA. States often have additional
requirements. Don't neglect to find out whether they apply to you.
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The rules are a little murkier when it comes to eligibility for Family
Medical Leave Act coverage. This law's applicability depends on the
degree to which you are truly acting as an employer, exercising the same
control over these workers as you would over a regular full-time
employee.
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But hiring seasonal workers may impact whether you will be subject to
the "shared responsibility" or "play or pay" provision of the Affordable
Care Act(ACA). Although it was supposed to takes effect in 2014, the
"pay" penalty for not "playing" was pushed back to 2015, so few small
employers will worry about the requirement until then.
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4. Will Seasonal Workers Make You a "Large" Employer?
For small employers who are close to the threshold of being considered a
large employer, this is a question which can't be ignored. The employer
mandate, of course, applies to companies with at least 50 full-time
equivalent (FTE) employees. In addition, any set of part-timers whose
collective hours worked total 30 per week is counted as an FTE.
The tricky part is determining whether your use of seasonal workers
during the 2013 holiday season will impact whether you meet the large
employer definition during the 2014 "look-back" period.
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Although those regs have yet to be
finalized, you might consider relying on the
proposed version until the final version is
published. And if the final regulations are
more restrictive, they will only take effect
after they are published.
Whatever you decide, it's important to
consult with your professional advisers for
help in setting your hiring policies.
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At the beginning of 2013, the IRS proposed rules spelling out how to
determine who is considered a full-time worker. The law itself set the
threshold at 30 hours per week or 130 hours a month, but the regulations
add the fine print to the ACA.
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• The 30/130 hours requirement described above includes paid vacation,
holiday, incapacity, layoff, jury and military duty. Naturally, you may
elect not to provide paid vacations or holidays to temporary workers.
• You have three ways to count the hours of salaried employees: 1)
adding up the actual numbers they worked, 2) using a "days worked"
method which assumes one day equals eight hours, or 3) a similar
"weeks worked" method which assumes 40 hours were worked.
However, if using either of those formulas would substantially
understate their hours (that is, they were actually working much longer
hours), those methods could not be used.
• New "safe harbor" definitions were also spelled out in the
proposed regulations, which employers may use instead of the other
methods.
Here are some highlights of the regulations:
Those rules help determine when you have hit the 50-employee threshold,
and if so, which workers you will be required to provide with health
benefits. A separate set of look-back rules is used to determine individual
employees' full-time status.

7. FTEs and Determining Your Mandate Status
You may have 50 FTEs, but only 10 bona fide full-time employees. In this
scenario you would be required to provide health benefits only to the ten,
or face the penalty. This is because, as noted, the hours of part-timers are
combined to determine how many FTEs you have on a monthly basis.
Your monthly FTE numbers are averaged over the entire prior year (that
is, 2014 for purposes of determining the obligations you'll face in 2015).
Learn more by logging onto the Small Business Administration website to
view this useful slideshow.
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8. Seasonal Worker Exception
The SBA points out if your company is determined to have at least 50 FTEs
employees for 120 days or fewer during a calendar year "solely due to
seasonal workers," you are not subject to the play-or-pay rule.
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Whether or not seasonal employees will impact your size for purposes of
the ACA employer mandate is hardly the only consideration you would
weigh in any hiring strategy decision. The Small Business Administration
offers pointers on the practice. Here are a few highlights:
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• Get a jump on your competitors by posting your seasonal job
openings earlier so you will have the largest and best pool of
applicants to choose from.
• Weed out unqualified applicants efficiently by having them complete
a questionnaire, asking about issues most critical to your hiring
decision. For example, how many years of experience applicants have
working in your business sector.

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Bringing in extra help to fill your end-of-year labor gap may be second
nature to you by now. But this year, it's important to consider the
implications of the ACA, especially if you hope to keep some of those temp
workers after the new year begins. Consult with your professional advisers.
• Don't skimp on training seasonal workers. Not only do you need to
ensure their productivity now, but you should be prepared for the
possibility you might want to give them full-time status either after
the seasonal period, or some time down the road.
• If seasonal workers will have access to sensitive business information,
have each of them sign a non-disclosure agreement.
• Consider using a temp agency to find qualified seasonal workers if you
lack the time or resources to conduct the vetting and hiring process
yourself.

10. A Tax Credit for Hiring?
You may have heard of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). Yes, it is
still available if you hire before the end of the year.
The government promotes it as "money back for employers who hire
good people who face a challenge getting a job.“
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• Veterans;
• Summer youth employees;
• Ex-felons;
• Members of a family which has received temporary assistance or food
stamp benefits;
• Certain people with disabilities who receive SSI benefits or who are
getting vocational rehabilitation; and
• People who live in certain low income communities.
How much is the credit?
The credit ranges from $1,200 to $9,600 for each eligible hire.
Who qualifies?
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11. www.hrp.net
Who does not qualify?»
• Relatives and dependents of the employer;
• Majority owners of the business; and
• Current or former employees, regardless how long it has been since
individuals worked for the employer.
To get a WOTC for a certain individual, you must apply before you make
the job offer.
If the job will total less than 120 hours of work it will likely not result in a
WOTC. This is because part of the paperwork cannot be submitted until
120 hours of work have been completed.
Find out details and get help with applications by logging
ontodoleta.gov/wotc.

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