Hiring summer employees, including interns, is serious business. To start, there are job descriptions, recruitment practices and compensation not to mention details like taxation, minimum wage laws and paid time off policies. When it comes to interns, there are also federal criteria determining whether an intern must be paid or not, and critical decisions related to supervision, appropriate assignments and goal setting for the organization. That’s why businesses that are planning to bring on summer interns should start now to ensure that the experience is a positive one for both the student and the employer.

That’s the advice in The CLEAR Report, a thoughtful look at employment in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. The report shows how the region is doing compared to the rest of the country, analyzes why, and offers tips for business owners related to those issues.

CLEAR offers five tips for planning summer hires in its latest CLEAR Report which covers the third quarter of 2016. Among the ideas: assign the intern an unofficial mentor, delegate a variety of tasks and have a long-term project the intern can work on. The employment numbers in NJ, NY and PA show that the third quarter was impacted by seasonal employment, primarily at the shore. Download The CLEAR Report here.

CLEAR Employer Services is a firm that cost-effectively takes care of all of the HR needs for small businesses—from day-to-day administration to complex and difficult issues. It reduces the administrative burden of small business owners, helps develop and retain talent and takes on the liability of ensuring a sound business that meets state and federal employment laws. CLEAR is finely-tuned to provide small businesses and their employees with outstanding customer service, transparency and value.