The run-up to the Christmas period is probably the most demanding time of the year for retail businesses. As a result, many companies look to seasonal workers to provide extra support to handle the Christmas rush, cover absences and meet increased business demand. Morrisons announced last month it will be hiring 3,000 drivers to help cope with the holiday season, and Amazon plans to recruit 15,000 additional staff in the lead-up to Christmas.
If you are an employer hiring seasonal workers for the festive period, you must understand the employment-related rights that such workers have as well as the obligations that employing a seasonal worker involves. In this guide, we explain what seasonal workers are, the benefits and disadvantages of hiring them and outline the duties an employer has towards seasonal workers.
What are Seasonal Workers?
Seasonal workers are short-term workers who fulfil additional staffing needs during your business’s busiest months. Companies that open during certain parts of the year, like summer camps or skiing schools, may also hire seasonal employees. Similarly, industries such as farming, agriculture and tourism may also require seasonal workers.
Usually, seasonal jobs last for less than six months and have a contract with a predetermined end date. The exact length of a seasonal job will depend on the circumstances, such as the employer, the location, the industry and the time of year. Seasonal employees may work part-time or full-time hours.
Examples of Seasonal Employment
Below are some examples of industries that rely on seasonal workers:
- Agriculture – extra labour is often required during harvest season. As farming is quite unpredictable, farmers need a flexible labour force to manage output levels owing to weather, pests and soil quality.
- Construction – this type of work is also limited by climate conditions and often sees a spike in demand for seasonal work in late spring to mid-autumn.
- Sporting Events – companies that compete in, manage venues and organise competitions such as the Olympics or Formula One often have a temporary surge of work before, during and after the event. Once the competition is over, the workload quickly returns to normal, so it makes sense to use seasonal workers to cover the temporary increase in demand for services or products.
- Tourism – businesses in the tourism sector are one of the main employers of seasonal workers. Summer is a peak season for tourism, and hiring seasonal workers allows such businesses to handle higher visitor levels during this period.
- Retail - December and January are particularly busy times for retail businesses, who often rely on seasonal hiring to fill customer positions that require minimal training to deal with the large increase in customers and orders owing to Christmas and January sales.
How Seasonal Employment Differs From Temporary Employment
Seasonal employment is similar to temporary employment in that it involves working for a company for a limited period. However, seasonal workers tend to meet demands during specific times of the year, allowing employers to anticipate the need for staff and plan accordingly. On the other hand, temporary workers are hired at any time to manage workload fluctuations, cover short-term staffing gaps or fulfil unforeseen production increases.
How Seasonal Employment Differs from Part-time Employment
Employers often hire part-time staff to fill the working schedule and to save money on salaries and benefits. Part-time employees work less than 40 hours a week, but they often work year-round.
By contrast, while seasonal staff might have a part-time schedule, they are still usually limited to working a certain number of months. It is important that you, as an employer, understand the distinction, as these two types of employment will be subject to different rules.
Seasonal Worker and Fixed Term Contracts
It is a legal requirement to provide a seasonal worker with a written statement of employment terms, even if they are only employed for a short period.
Generally, seasonal staff will be employed on fixed-term contracts. This is because their employment is not intended to be permanent and will include a specific date when employment will end, based on when the business anticipates that there will be no further work for them.
Fixed-term contracts vary considerably, but it is useful to include notice provisions in the fixed-term contract in case the employment needs to be terminated early, for example, in the case of poor performance or a downturn in work. For example, it could include any of the following:
- Giving either party the right to end the contract during the fixed term at any time after giving a specified period of notice
- Permitting only the employer to end the contract during the fixed-term contract
- Having just one time during the contract when either party can opt to terminate employment early or
- Putting in place a probationary period during which employment can be ended on short notice.
What Legal Rights Do Seasonal Workers Have?
While they are in your employment, seasonal workers are entitled to many of the same protections as permanent staff.
Rest Breaks
They have the right to rest breaks and rest periods in the same way as permanent employees. This includes being entitled to an uninterrupted rest break of at least 20 minutes for each shift lasting six hours or more. It also includes having a day off weekly or two days off every two weeks. Workers must also not be obliged to work for more than 48 hours a week; they can, however, specifically opt to do so.
Payslips
Seasonal workers are entitled to an itemised payslip for each pay period that indicates gross wages before deductions, any deductions and the reason for taking those deductions.
Paid Holidays
Seasonal workers under a fixed-term contract should also be given paid holiday, with a minimum of 5.6 weeks per holiday year. As this will be calculated on a pro-rata basis, this will depend on the number of days or hours they worked. If, at the end of employment, the worker is owed some holiday, you will need to pay this to them as well.
Health and Safety
As an employer, you have a legal obligation to ensure the health and safety of all your employees at work; this includes any seasonal workers. Make sure that they are provided with all the necessary health and safety information, training and, if relevant, any necessary protective clothing and equipment.
You should also be mindful that new and seasonal workers are at a higher risk of injury because they may not be familiar with the roles yet.
Minimum Wage
Lastly, seasonal workers must be paid at least the national minimum wage for their age. Falling foul of this can leave you facing civil and criminal liabilities.
Terminating a Seasonal Contract – What to Consider
When it comes to terminating their employment at the end of the season, seasonal workers will not have the right to statutory redundancy payments unless they have been working for two continuous years.
Nor will they be entitled to claim unfair dismissal unless they have two years of continuous service. As a result, this avoids the need to go through any form of consultation process before the dismissal.
You do still, however, need to be aware that some decisions could be challenged if you unlawfully discriminated against someone. For example, if you decide to let some employees go early if there is less work than expected or offer extra work to others, you should be able to show that your criteria for selecting those employees were reasonable and not tainted by any kind of discrimination.
Can Seasonal Workers Become Permanent?
Yes, this is possible if you are keen to extend a seasonal role into a more permanent position in your business. In fact, as an employer, you should inform your seasonal workers about any permanent vacancies that arise in your business during their employment.
What are the Pros and Cons of Using Seasonal Staff?
In many industries, demand is seasonal, and staffing requirements are, therefore, irregular. As a result, it is not always financially possible to employ a full staff year-round. For these types of businesses, seasonal employment presents many advantages.
Advantages of Using Seasonal Workers
Hiring seasonal employees and reducing your workforce as and when needed offers more flexibility. It also reduces costs as opting for seasonal employees for a few months at a time gets rid of the unnecessary expense arising from hiring and retaining permanent employees beyond the busy season.
Hiring new employees is always risky, and so relying on seasonal workers instead reduces that stress. If they are not a good fit for your business, you don’t need to worry, as they leave at the end of your business season, and you are under no obligation to rehire them in the future.
Bringing in seasonal employees provides a useful opportunity to test out potential employees as a trial employment. If you like an employee during your busy season, you can offer them extended employment for off-peak seasons.
Disadvantages of Hiring Seasonal Workers
Before hiring seasonal employees, you should be aware of the disadvantages associated with this type of employment.
Since seasonal workers are only at your business for a short amount of time, they may not be as committed, motivated, or reliable as permanent employees who have more stake in the organisation’s long-term success. However, you can mitigate this disadvantage early on by clearly stating your expectations and recruiting reliable employees from previous seasons.
Similarly, many seasonal workers may not have the same level of loyalty as permanent employees and are more likely to switch to another job with better pay, benefits, and flexibility. This may leave you short of staff and need to conduct a new round of hiring in the middle of the busy season.
As they are only working for you for a short period, training seasonal employees is usually a quick process. However, this often leaves employees unprepared, stressed, and often unable to keep up with the workload, resulting in a higher turnover rate.
How Can I Support My Seasonal Workers?
Seasonal work can be quite stressful, so there are a few things you can do to support your seasonal workers, which will probably benefit your business in the long term. These include:
- Having an effective process in place to meet the administrative requirements associated with seasonal staff, such as contract management, shift scheduling, and communication
- Thinking about health and safety training in advance of the busy holiday period so that it can be done properly.
- Offering them over time so that everyone has more time to get the job done. Your seasonal workers are likely to be eager to work hard and earn as much as they can, given the finite nature of seasonal work.
- Treating your seasonal workers as if they were permanent staff, thus creating a more pleasant working environment for everyone.
Offering your seasonal workers support and making them feel valued could encourage retention or workers returning later down the line.
How We Can Help
Seasonal workers can be a useful addition to your business, but failing to consider the employment law implications of hiring seasonal workers trips can trip you up at your busiest time of the year and leave your business exposed.
If you are considering hiring staff over the festive period, our experienced employment law team at Witan Solicitors are ready to support you through the process to ensure you achieve a smooth and lawful employment relationship during this hectic time of year. To speak to a member of the team, call us on 0300 303 2071 or email us.
