Hiring seasonal employees

It is generally accepted that seasonal employees thaw like snowdrops in spring to spend the summer season in the fields, and then live off their earnings all winter. However, this is not entirely true, since there are different types of seasonal work. They can be divided into three categories:

— At annual holidays and events. For example, before February 23 and March 8, the demand for souvenirs and gifts increases, so factories, warehouses, logistics and shops especially need additional hands, including production workers, loaders, sellers, gift wrappers, promoters, couriers. Before Easter, the load on bakeries increases - bakers, packers, loaders are required.

- In agricultural production. In April-May, sowing begins, followed by harvesting, processing and conservation. During this period, organizations attract harvesters, garden workers, machine operators and handymen.

- In tourism. In Russia, there are "hot" leisure seasons for citizens not only from May to September, but also during the New Year and May holidays. At this time, the demand for staff in hotels, restaurants, shops and other public places in resorts and large cities is increasing. Everyone is recruited - from cooks to maids.

At the same time, the portrait of the candidate varies greatly depending on the input data, such as location, season and profession. So, when the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held in 2019, young girls most often applied for the positions of maids. And on a shift in Sochi, an older contingent comes to this position. In the summer, young people are more likely to get seasonal jobs, and most of the older people, on the contrary, go on vacation - someone goes to summer cottages, someone stocks up for the winter, and someone even sells their crops.

How to find seasonal employees

The methods of finding seasonal workers are slightly different from finding specialists who are looking for a permanent job. Consider the main ones:

- Job search services. For example, on Avito Jobs, you can post any vacancies, including those for seasonal employment. Job seekers can easily find a position by keywords and relevant filters.

- Recruitment agencies. If you do not have your own HR department or do not have the time and qualifications to search for seasonal employees, then the easiest way is to contact a specialized company. Recruitment agencies have a database of candidates who work in the seasonal employment format from year to year, and they also have great expertise in this matter. Typically, these businesses close positions within a set timeframe for a fixed fee.

— Contractors with their own team. There are groups of specialists in the market who enter into a contract with supervisors, and they, in turn, look for a job for them. Typically, such teams offer their services on Avito or other specialized services. Such cooperation can be beneficial for the company, especially when it comes to savings and performing a full cycle of work.

— Students. Young people are not averse to earning extra money during the holidays, which coincide with the holiday season and public holidays. If staff without experience suits you, tell us about special internship or part-time programs at universities in your city.

— Profile portals and forums. Some specialists sit on specialized sites to communicate with colleagues and find interesting offers. As a rule, it is the age staff.

What attracts seasonal employees

The competition for blue-collar workers is now at its peak. The reason for this was several factors, including the demographic hole, the retirement of the bulk of specialists, the decrease in the number of migrants, coronavirus restrictions, and much more. In connection with this, companies more often have to fight for personnel and offer more and more attractive conditions.

First of all, a good salary is important for seasonal employees, since the main goal of these people is to earn a large amount in a short time. In 2018, when the World Cup was held in Russia, many blue-collar workers left their main jobs and went to part-time jobs in order to get 3-4 times more in the same period.

The second important factor is the guarantees that the employer gives to the future employee. This is a mandatory contract, and a reliable HR brand of the company, and in the case of shift work, then a virtual tour of the future place of work and residence.

By the way, if we talk about seasonal shift work, which is quite common, then here we should take into account additional factors that specialists pay attention to.

Firstly, these are decent working and living conditions on shift — you need to provide people with housing, food, work uniforms, pay for travel to the place of stay, and also cover additional costs. In our practice, we have come across the following situation.

To check in the maids at the hotel for a shift, a single PCR test for COVID-19 was required. Setting up a laboratory in a hotel is quite expensive, and in a paid medical center such a test costs around 2,000 rubles, which is a significant cost for a person, but not for a company. Therefore, we asked the maids to do the test themselves, and then returned the money to them. The same applies to those cases when a person needs to undergo a medical examination before appearing at the workplace. The employer must either organize a medical examination on the spot, or tell the employee in detail where to go and take all the costs.

Secondly, you need to talk about the advantages of staying in the region of the watch. If this is a southern area near the sea, you need to mention this in your proposal. Many people go on shift to warm places, despite the fact that they can earn the same amount in the city of residence. Just the opportunity to spend weekends at the sea attracts them much more.

Thirdly, if your enterprise is in the field, then you need to think over not only the life of people, but also entertainment. Example:

One enterprise that manufactures products from seasonal berries and fruits created a kind of campus instead of a shift - thought out not only the working day, but also people's leisure: dinners, master classes, discos, and so on. The employees liked being there, getting to know people, someone went to the campus from year to year - they even formed their own community there. This format allowed to attract a large number of young people with low salaries.

How to register a seasonal employee

Depending on the situation, a seasonal employee can be issued in several ways:

A fixed-term employment contract is the most popular and convenient format of interaction with seasonal workers: it can be concluded both for several days and for several months, depending on the need.

A fixed-term employment contract has several varieties, you just need to choose which one suits you best when registering an employee. If it is important for you to emphasize the seasonality of work, draw up a fixed-term seasonal employment contract. It is concluded for the duration of the season, maximum - for 6 months. At the same time, Article 293 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation clearly states which works are included in the list of "seasonal". If your prospective employee is not there, then you can conclude a fixed-term employment contract for temporary work, which involves employment of up to 2 months, but frees you from being tied to a particular profession.

For all contracts concluded for a period of less than 6 months, the trial period lasts no more than 2 weeks or is completely absent if the contract is concluded for less than 2 months. It is important for the employer to remember that for each month of cooperation under such contracts, the employee is entitled to 2 days of vacation.

In the event of a break in relations, the employee has the right to notify the employer of this 3 working days in advance, and the employer - 3 calendar days in advance. At the same time, in the event of liquidation, reduction in the number or staff of employees of the organization, the person must be notified 7 working days in advance, and in writing against receipt.

Civil law relations and self-employment.

It is possible to cooperate with seasonal employees in such formats, but only if the following conditions are met:

- the employee needs to perform a strictly defined scope of tasks;

— the work performed does not pose a potential risk to the health of the employee himself and those around him, and is also not related to financial activities.

At the same time, you need to be aware of all the risks. If the rules for cooperation with the self-employed and under civil law contracts are not observed, such contracts can be reclassified by tax and judicial authorities into an employment contract, and this is a completely different format of relations with an employee. The main determining factors are frequency and interconnection: if these are one-time works, for example, once a quarter with one payment, then such risks are practically absent. In general, such agreements have many subtleties.

What else is important to remember when hiring seasonal employees:

- start the selection in advance, better - several months in advance;

- try to have at least three candidates for one position. With seasonal recruitment, the highest conversion is 30%. The fact is that people who do part-time jobs tend to change their plans often;

— continue recruiting until the last moment. In seasonal and shift work, it often happens that a person's "expectations-reality" do not coincide and he leaves the workplace in the first days after leaving.