Hiring seasonal employees is a huge undertaking for retail businesses.
Temporary labor requires temporary management, which means a redistribution of your time and priorities. It also requires special budgeting, forecasting, scheduling, communication and about a dozen other things you may have yet to prepare for. So how do you get ahead when it comes to holiday retail hiring?
One way is to make sure you’ve got a time tracking solution designed with temporary labor in mind. From 1099 tracking to realization reports, here are three features to look for in a time tracking solution for temporary labor services.
Temporary labor tip #1: Correct classification
When your business relies on hiring seasonal employees, you’re essentially hiring a team of independent contractors. These temporary employees need different forms (1099s) versus your in-house salaried employees (W-2s). It’s crucial to categorize all of your employees correctly to comply with wage laws and I-9 tax codes, and to take advantage of the financial benefits correction classification can yield.
Time clock solutions like Time Tracker give you a headstart managing temporary labor services. Look for one that:
- Allows you to set up different classes and wages for each temporary employee
- Lets employees clock in and out from their phones for more accurate timekeeping
- Tracks expenses and invoices so you can see profit and loss at a glance
- Syncs with the software you’re already using so implementation is seamless
Temporary labor tip #2: Seamless scheduling
Creating, approving and distributing schedules is one of the most time-consuming parts of holiday retail hiring. Simplify your temporary management duties by using a time tracking system with integrated scheduling.
Solutions like Time Tracker allow you to:
- Automate scheduling using templates
- Create daily, weekly or monthly schedules in minutes
- Share them with your whole team from one central platform
- Allow employees to view their schedule from any device, and to view the entire schedule in case they need to request shift changes
- Notify employees instantly when schedules are available or updated
Temporary labor tip #3: Reporting you can use
Temporary management is, ironically, a year-round job — if you’re doing it right. While seasonal retail jobs hiring is something you only do once a year, the decisions you make around that process affect your bottom line every day.
The good news is that if you collect the right data as you go, you’ll be better prepared for hiring seasonal employees in the future. Solutions like Time Tracker give you the reporting options you need to understand both your full-time employees and temporary labor services.
Contractor reports
Contractor reports allow you to compare the amount you pay your contractors versus the amount you bill, which is crucial to identifying inflated billable hours and scope creep.
Labor cost distribution reports
Labor cost distribution reports detail how much you’re spending on labor and benefits. They can help you identify if:
- You’re properly staffed
- You’re spending too much on overtime
- Temporary labor for seasonal work is more lucrative than certain full time employees
Realization reports
Realization reports help you establish how much revenue an employee — full-time or temporary — is actually bringing in. Once you have the information, you can determine the best way to increase realization for the company as a whole and reduce time not covered by a project price.
Ready to get ahead of holiday retail hiring?
A free 14-day trial of Time Tracker is a great place to start.
