Are We In Violation?- What is Seasonal?

scantey

I just started with my Company 3 months ago and the head of the HR Department passed away 2 months after I started. So much has been thrown in my lap that I am trying to keep it all straight. My problem is that since I am now in charge of benefits I have noticed that they have a particular group of employees here that they call "seasonal". I say seasonal because they work them long hours (paying OT of course) but when they reach 6 months they lay them off and rehire them 3 weeks later. When I questioned why they were doing this they said it had always been done and this avoided them from paying them out any medical/ dental benefits. Can this be done? I am not sure how the "seasonal" thing works in the legal world. Are we allowed to offer them benefits at their own cost or is that discrimination? They are all in the same group so it is not like they are paying benefits for one or two of them. Help! I would like to get this straight before someone starts questioning....

Terry

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My personal interpretation of seasonal is that it usually relates to peaks and valleys in your business/industry such as a golf course, pool facility, or landscaping (being in the Northeast makes these seasonal for us) and therefore staffing needs would peak and valley accordingly. These businesses operate for 6-9 month of the year and have a skeleton staff for the balance. I sincerely think if this practice of laying off and rehiring after 3 weeks were to come under any scrutiny there would definitely be repercussions especially if there is no true business reason for it other than avoiding benefits (which is a BIG problem). Don't the people that are layed off go to unemployment? What do they say? Temporary layoff?

pmaher

I worked for a city and we had hundreds of "seasonal" employees. We had to declare what the period of seasonal employment was, e.g., for the Parks Dept., it might be 4/15 thru 10/1 or similar to that. This was necessary for unemployment benefits. You also need to be sure to decided whether these employees are "job attached" or not.

sonny

The 3 week thing bothers me. What season last 6 months and starts over again 3 weeks later?

Cotterwood

Boy, your company is really riding the edge. If they are rehiring the 'seasonals that quickly - they're going the same road that Bill Gates went down. Only difference, he was trying to call his employee's ' independent contractors', and he lost. You might be better off contact the local EEOC office on this issue. on the web, go to: [url]http://www.eeoc.gov.policy/index.html[/url]
They also give local telephone numbers to talk to live bodies:
The San Francisco office is: 415-356-5100.


Seasonal: Persons appointed as seasonal employees perform duties on an as-needed basis according to workload demands on an annually recurring basis. The work schedule may be for a maximum of forty hours per week, but may not exceed 1560 hours in any twelve month period.

Part-time and Intermittent Appointment: Persons appointed as part-time or intermittent employees perform duties on an as-needed basis according to workload demands. The work schedule maya be for a maximum of forty hours per week, but may not exceed 1560 hours in any twelve month period.

Temporary Appointment: Persons appointed as temporary employees perform duties onan as-needed basis according to the workload demands of the work unit of assignment. The work schedule may be for a maximum of forty hours per week, but may not exceed 1000 hours in total.

mrbill

I am not sure of the reg's on this, but I agree with an earlier reply that Seasonal, needs to be defined to a specific season. Putting aside the regs, you are engaging in a bad employment practice, that will cause you trouble down the road. I assume that you are a non-union shop. By following this practice, at the very least, you are inviting a union organizing campaign.