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Summer Staffing & Internships: Preparing for a Busy Hiring Season

June is one of the busiest hiring months of the year. With seasonal staffing needs increasing and new graduates entering an increasingly competitive workforce, employers are competing for talent in a fast-moving market. Businesses must balance quick hiring with compliance, onboarding, and retention efforts.

Candidates today expect competitive pay, flexibility, clear communication, and a positive hiring experience. Employers that move efficiently and create a strong onboarding process are more likely to secure and retain top talent.

Recent guides from Jackson Lewis and Fisher Phillips highlights the importance of wage-and-hour compliance, youth labor laws, scheduling practices, and workplace safety during the summer months.

Recruiting & Retention Trends This Summer

Key hiring trends for summer 2026 include:

  • New graduates entering the workforce
  • Increased seasonal hiring demand
  • Higher candidate expectations
  • Competitive hiring markets
  • Faster hiring timelines
  • Stronger focus on onboarding and retention

Building a Successful Internship Program

  • Internships help employers build future talent pipelines while providing valuable experience to students and recent graduates. Strong programs should include:
  • Defined learning objectives
  • Meaningful assignments
  • Mentorship and supervision
  • Regular feedback

Interns often assist with administrative work, marketing projects, research, customer service, and event coordination. Employers should also review whether interns must be paid under federal and state wage laws.

Seasonal Staffing and Overtime Considerations

Overtime laws generally apply to seasonal employees, though certain amusement parks, ski resorts, camps, and recreational establishments may qualify for limited Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemptions.

Organizations such as Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and The Walt Disney Company may qualify if they meet strict “seasonality” requirements, including operating limitations or revenue-based tests. Employers should carefully review both federal and state requirements before assuming an exemption applies.

Summer hiring season provides an opportunity to strengthen your workforce and build future talent pipelines. Employers that prepare early, communicate clearly, and prioritize compliance will be better positioned for a successful season.

For questions about summer staffing, internships, or compliance considerations, contact us at [email protected].

Recent Employer Communications

Check out our recent blogs:

 

ICE Raises the Stakes on I-9 Compliance

A recent policy shift from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is changing how employers should think about Form I-9 compliance, and it is not a minor update.

ICE has issued a new fact sheet that reclassifies many errors previously considered “technical” as “substantive” violations, meaning employers may now face fines for issues that were once correctable during an audit.

What’s Changed

Historically, I-9 errors fell into two categories:

  • Technical errors → could be corrected within 10 business days
  • Substantive violations → subject to immediate penalties

Now, ICE has narrowed what qualifies as “technical,” meaning fewer errors are eligible for correction and more are immediately fined.

This means:

  • Less opportunity to fix paperwork mistakes after an audit
  • More routine administrative errors triggering penalties
  • Increased enforcement risk across all employers

Why It Matters

Substantive violations carry significant financial consequences, with fines ranging roughly from $288 to $2,861 per form.

Because penalties are assessed per form, even small errors, when repeated across a workforce, can quickly escalate into major liability.

ICE has also made clear that substantive violations generally cannot be corrected once identified, further raising the stakes during inspections.

What Employers Should Do Now

With less room for error, proactive compliance is critical. Employers should consider:

  • Conducting internal I-9 audits
  • Retraining staff responsible for form completion
  • Reviewing processes for accuracy and timeliness

Even long-standing practices may no longer meet the updated standard.

A Must-Read Resource

The updated ICE fact sheet is one of the most practical tools available right now. It clearly outlines the inspection process, how violations are categorized, and when fines may apply.

Your Hiring Problem Might Actually Be a Housing Problem

Across industries, employers are running into a growing and often overlooked workforce barrier: housing. As affordability declines, businesses are not just competing on wages anymore. They are competing on whether employees can realistically live near the job.

According to the Society for Human Resource Management, housing affordability has become a core HR issue, directly impacting recruitment, retention, and operational stability, especially for frontline, seasonal, and location-dependent roles.

Why Housing Is Now an HR Problem

Compensation alone is no longer enough if employees can’t afford to live within reach of the job. Employers are increasingly seeing:

  • Candidates declining offers due to high rent or lack of nearby housing
  • Seasonal roles going unfilled in high-cost or rural markets
  • Increased turnover driven by long commutes or housing instability
  • Operational strain when workforce supply can’t meet demand

What SHRM Recommends

Rather than acting as landlords, SHRM emphasizes housing as a voluntary benefit, not a wage substitute. The most effective strategies fall under Employer-Assisted Housing (EAH):

  • Rental stipends or housing allowances
  • Down payment or closing cost assistance
  • Forgivable loans tied to tenure
  • Partnerships with local housing organizations
  • Homebuyer education and counseling

These approaches are easier to scale, lower risk from a compliance standpoint, and more flexible for a changing workforce.

Compliance Matters: Especially in New Hampshire

For employers considering direct housing solutions, the legal landscape is complex. Federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state-specific rules create strict guardrails:

  • Housing cannot replace wages or reduce pay below minimum wage
  • Deductions (if used) must be voluntary, documented, and limited
  • In certain industries, state law caps how much can be charged for lodging
  • Housing must meet safety standards under Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations
  • If housing is required for the job, charging rent becomes high-risk

Even when charging rent outside payroll, regulators apply a “substance over form” test, meaning optionality, fairness, and employee benefit matter more than how the payment is structured.

Pros & Cons of Employer-Provided Housing

Potential Advantages

  • Helps fill hard-to-staff roles in high-cost areas
  • Reduces turnover and rescinded offers
  • Improves productivity through shorter commutes
  • Can differentiate your total rewards strategy

Key Risks

  • Significant compliance exposure if structured incorrectly
  • Strict limits on charging employees (especially in hospitality sectors)
  • Liability for housing conditions and safety
  • Perception issues if programs aren’t equitable or clearly communicated

The Strategic Bottom Line

You do not need to build housing to solve a housing problem. Employers should focus on flexible, voluntary, and compliant housing support that enhances but does not replace core compensation.

For HR leaders, this is an opportunity to reframe housing not as a cost center, but as a workforce stability strategy in markets where talent availability increasingly depends on affordability.

For more information on housing, please refer to the Department of Labor’s website.

Mental Health & Employee Fitness Months: Aligning Wellbeing in the Workplace

May offers a perfect opportunity for organizations to take a more holistic approach to employee wellness. As both Mental Health Awareness Month and Employee Health and Fitness Month, these next few weeks are a reminder that mental and physical health are deeply connected.

A workforce that feels mentally supported and physically energized is more engaged, resilient, and productive. Here is how organizations can bring the two together this month:

Promote movement as a Mental Health Tool

  • Physical activity is proven to reduce stress and improve mood. Encourage walking meetings, step challenges, or short daily stretch breaks

Normalize Conversations Around Mental Health

  • Pair fitness initiatives with open dialogue. Hosting workshops or sharing resources can help reduce stigma and create a culture of support

Offer Flexible Wellness Options

  • Not every employee engages the same way. Provide a mix of resources, from gym stipends to mindfulness apps, to meet a range needs.

Encourage Time to Recharge

  • Remind employees to use their PTO and set boundaries. Rest and recovery are just as important as activity and productivity

Lead by Example

  • When leadership prioritizes both mental and physical wellbeing, it signals that wellness is not just encouraged, but expected

By aligning mental health awareness with physical wellness initiatives, organizations can create a more balanced, supportive environment that benefits both employees and the business as a whole.

Recent Employer Communications

Check out our recent blogs:

 

Recent Employer Communications

Check out our recent blogs: