Compliance Corner: What Every Employer Should Know Before Hiring Interns and Minors This Summer

Summer hiring is a smart way to meet seasonal demand, cover vacations, support special projects and build a future talent pipeline. In high-volume industries like retail, hospitality, recreation, landscaping, food service and construction, employers often bring on temporary help during peak months with the possibility that strong performers may be offered regular roles later.

That flexibility, however, can create compliance risk if employers treat titles like “seasonal,” “temporary,” “intern” or “minor” as informal categories rather than legal classifications. Summer workers may be short-term, but the rules governing wage and hour, child labor, payroll, benefits eligibility, safety and state law compliance still apply. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division reported 5,272 minors employed in violation of child labor laws in 2025, including 773 minors employed in violation of hazardous occupation rules, showing that youth employment remains an active enforcement area.

What counts as a seasonal employee?

A seasonal employee is generally someone hired for a recurring, time-limited business need tied to a predictable season, such as summer tourism, holiday retail, home improvement demand, agricultural cycles, camps, pools or outdoor recreation. Under Affordable Care Act employer shared-responsibility rules, the IRS defines a “seasonal employee” as one hired into a position where customary annual employment is six months or less and the employment period begins around the same part of the year, such as summer or winter. The IRS also distinguishes “seasonal employees” from “seasonal workers” for certain Applicable Large Employer calculations, including the 120-day seasonal worker exception.

Correct classification requires more than labeling the person “seasonal” in a human resources information system (HRIS). Employers should determine whether the worker is an employee or independent contractor, exempt or nonexempt, full-time or part-time, benefits-eligible or not, and whether any ACA measurement-period rules apply. In most summer hiring programs, seasonal employees are nonexempt hourly employees, which means they must be paid for all hours worked and receive overtime when required. The FLSA establishes minimum wage, overtime, recordkeeping and youth employment standards, and covered nonexempt employees must receive overtime at one and one-half times the regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

The biggest mistake is assuming “temporary” means less regulated. It does not. A seasonal cashier, warehouse associate, lifeguard, camp counselor, customer service associate or merchandising employee may be short-term, but they are still an employee unless a specific legal exception applies.

When can an internship be unpaid?

For private, for-profit employers, unpaid internships should be approached carefully. The Department of Labor uses the “primary beneficiary test” to determine whether a worker is an intern or is actually an employee entitled to minimum wage and overtime. The test looks at the economic reality of the relationship, including whether there is a clear understanding that there is no expectation of compensation, whether the training resembles an educational environment, whether the internship is tied to formal education or academic credit, whether it accommodates the academic calendar, whether its duration is limited to the learning period, whether the intern complements rather than displaces paid employees and whether there is no entitlement to a paid job at the end.

No single factor controls. Courts treat the test as flexible, and if the overall circumstances show the intern is actually functioning as an employee, the intern must be paid the minimum wage and overtime under the FLSA.

A “seasonal intern” should typically be treated as a paid employee when the employer is using that person to meet summer staffing needs. If the intern is covering shifts, handling customer service, completing routine administrative work, assisting with sales, merchandising, production, operations, inventory, social media execution or other work the business would otherwise assign to paid staff, the employer is likely receiving the primary benefit. In that case, calling the person an intern does not eliminate wage obligations.

Employers should also check state laws. Some states impose stricter internship standards than federal law. Recent employment law commentary notes that state wage-and-hour laws may be more demanding than the FLSA, and that terminology such as “intern,” “trainee,” “extern” or “apprentice” is not determinative if the person is doing employee work.

What state law provisions should employers check?

Before launching a summer hiring program, employers should check the law in every state and locality where summer workers will be employed. Federal law creates the floor, but state and local laws may provide greater protections. The Department of Labor expressly notes that many states have minimum wage laws and that employers must comply with both federal and state law where both apply.

Key state and local issues include minimum wage, overtime rules, daily overtime, meal and rest breaks, paid sick leave, local wage ordinances, predictive scheduling, pay frequency, final pay deadlines, wage notice requirements, paystub requirements, required posters, record retention, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation coverage, background check rules, workplace safety rules, heat illness rules for outdoor work, harassment-prevention training and minor work-permit requirements.

Child labor rules deserve special attention because the “most protective rule” generally controls. The Department of Labor’s state child labor standards warn that where state child labor law is less restrictive than federal FLSA rules, federal law applies; where state law is more restrictive, state law applies.

What restrictions apply when hiring minors?

Federal rules vary by age. In nonagricultural jobs covered by the FLSA, children under 14 generally may not be employed, except for narrow exempt work such as newspaper delivery, acting, casual babysitting or minor chores around private homes. Fourteen and 15-year-olds may work only outside school hours in certain nonmanufacturing, nonhazardous jobs and only within specific hour limits. Sixteen and 17-year-olds may work unlimited hours, but they may not work in occupations declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. Once a worker turns 18, federal youth employment restrictions no longer apply.

For 14 and 15-year-olds, employers must be especially careful with job duties. Federal regulations prohibit many tasks, including manufacturing, mining, processing, operating or tending most power-driven machinery, operating motor vehicles, working from ladders or scaffolds, most baking and cooking activities and other duties not specifically allowed. The rule is restrictive by design: if the job is not specifically permitted for 14- and 15-year-olds, it is prohibited.

For all minors under 18, the Hazardous Occupations Orders prohibit work in categories such as explosives, motor vehicle operations, logging and sawmilling, power-driven woodworking machines, radioactive substances, forklifts and other hoisting equipment, meat-processing equipment, bakery machines, compactors and balers, power-driven saws, roofing, demolition and excavation.

These restrictions are highly practical. A 17-year-old may be legally allowed to work long hours under federal law, but still may not operate a forklift, use certain saws, work on a roof or clean a meat slicer. A 15-year-old may be allowed to perform certain lifeguard duties if properly trained and certified, but cannot work in mechanical rooms, chemical storage areas or operate power-driven water-slide equipment.

Common mistakes employers make

The most common mistakes are usually operational, not intentional. Employers often underestimate how quickly a short-term staffing plan can create legal exposure.

Common errors include treating seasonal employees as automatically exempt from overtime, failing to track all hours worked, allowing off-the-clock training or pre-shift work, using unpaid interns for productive work, promising or implying future employment to interns, misclassifying workers as independent contractors, failing to apply state minimum wage or paid leave rules, overlooking local ordinances, missing work-permit or proof-of-age requirements, assigning minors to prohibited equipment and allowing supervisors to schedule minors outside legal hour limits.

Another frequent issue is poor conversion planning. Offering a seasonal employee a regular position at the end of the season is not automatically a problem, especially when the offer depends on performance, budget and business need. The risk increases when the employer uses “seasonal” status for a role that is actually ongoing, keeps extending the assignment, or fails to update classification, benefits eligibility and payroll treatment once the person moves into a regular position.

What employers should do before the summer rush

Employers should start with a written summer hiring plan. Identify the business need, expected duration, job duties, anticipated hours, supervisor, work location, pay rate, age requirements and whether the role involves any equipment, driving, hazardous work, outdoor work or closing shifts. Then confirm the proper classification before recruiting begins.

For seasonal employees, review wage and hour treatment, overtime eligibility, timekeeping procedures, ACA measurement rules, benefit eligibility language, offer letter wording and conversion procedures. For interns, document the educational purpose, learning objectives, academic connection, duration, supervision plan and whether the intern will perform productive work. When in doubt, paying the intern is often the lower-risk path.

For minors, build a separate compliance checklist. Confirm age, obtain and retain required documentation, check state work-permit rules, restrict job duties by age, train managers on scheduling limits, block prohibited tasks in the scheduling or job-assignment process and audit the workplace for equipment minors cannot use. SHRM has also cautioned employers hiring minors to make sure the right information is on file, such as parental permission and date of birth where required.

Finally, train frontline managers. Most summer hiring violations occur after HR has completed onboarding, when a busy supervisor asks a minor to jump on a prohibited machine, lets an intern help out with regular work or allows a seasonal employee to work through a meal break without recording the time. A short manager briefing before peak season can prevent expensive mistakes.

Summer hiring should help the business move faster, not create avoidable compliance risk. The safest approach is to treat every seasonal worker, intern and minor as a real compliance decision before the first offer is made, not after the first complaint, audit or pay dispute.

Looking to make sure you’re covered for an influx of summer workers? Connect with a dedicated isolved HR professional.

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