Company Enrollment and Onboarding FAQs

Enrollment Process:

Does Justworks have a minimum number of employees or payroll amount for enrollment?

• Justworks is dedicated to serving entrepreneurs & companies of all sizes. We require a minimum of two individuals who are a part of a Justworks member company to run payroll, though one can be classified as an unpaid owner. The single employee can either be a full-time or part-time W-2 employee (hourly or salaried) and paid at no less than minimum wage. There is no minimum amount of payroll beyond what the Department of Labor specifies as minimum wage, though.
• In order to gain access to benefits, these individuals must work 30 hours or more per week and cannot be members of the same household. Unpaid owners can certainly be eligible for benefits, but their premiums will have to be covered in full by the company. 

How long will enrollment take?

• The enrollment timeline is almost entirely dependent on your workers' comp application. Since we need to fully understand your business operations, functions, and ownership structure, we may have to ask you follow-up questions that can prolong onboarding. It’s extremely helpful to provide detailed answers in your workers’ comp application to expedite the process.
• If you’re approved for workers' comp and reach the “Complete Enrollment” step of the process, you’ll be able to select a desired start date to officially launch Justworks as your PEO. This date will either be on the 1st or 16th of the current or upcoming month.

Why do I need workers' compensation through Justworks? Can I use my own workers' comp policy?

• Due to the business model of a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), and the fact that your employees become worksite employees of the PEO, Justworks requires customers to be insured under their workers’ comp policy (with some limited exceptions). In order to be covered by Justworks’ workers’ comp policy, we require you to answer some basic questions about your company and its operations during our onboarding process. Based on the information you provide, our carrier will evaluate the risk 
• Some examples of businesses we cannot work with are companies that have employees engaged in high-risk manual labor, such as construction work. Other examples are companies that have a high number of contractors and comparatively low number of W-2 employees. If those contractors do not have their own workers’ comp policy, this could lead to a denial from our carrier. 
• If you are operating in a monopolistic state (Ohio, Wyoming, Washington and North Dakota), you will need to obtain coverage through your state carrier. Though employees who work in those states are paid via the Justworks platform, they will not be added to our workers’ comp policy. All employees operating in locations outside of those states will need to be on Justworks’ policy.

I completed enrollment, now what?

• First, congratulations! Now that you’ve requested your start date, all you have to do is hang tight while we take care of things on our end. Don’t worry, if we need something from you, we’ll be sure to reach out. In the meantime, you can set up any benefits you’re interested in making available to your employees. Just visit your company’s Benefits Center by selecting “Benefits” in the left-hand navigation menu.

Is there something I should be telling my previous providers?

• Once your start date is confirmed by Justworks, you can let your current providers for payroll, EPLI (if applicable), and health insurance (if applicable) know that you are terminating your relationship as of the day prior to the confirmed start date. Workers’ comp should be terminated as of your Justworks start date. Note, some payroll and insurance providers may require a certain number of days’ prior notice when terminating services. 

Health Insurance:

Does Justworks provide health insurance? How can I obtain pricing?

• Justworks provides access to health insurance. For a benefits quote, you need to provide a census with the basic information of all of your employees and their dependents who will need health insurance. Within 3-5 days of Justworks receiving this census, we will send you information on health insurance plans and cost. Ready to fill in your census and get your quote? Login and click “Start” next to “Request a quote”.
• Please note, you will need to have two eligible employees enrolled in medical plans in order to access coverage. These employees cannot be from the same household or able to claim one another as dependents. This 2-person minimum does not apply to dental and vision plans. 
• Since we can only provide health insurance access to businesses on our payroll, and we can only put businesses on our payroll if they’re approved for workers’ comp, we strongly encourage you to submit your workers’ comp application to see if you qualify. Neither the health insurance quote nor the workers’ comp application are commitments to working with Justworks-- these are just preliminary processes to see if we’re a good fit for your business.

How many employees must my company have to access health insurance through Justworks (specifically medical insurance)? Do myself and my spouse suffice?

• You must have at least two active benefits-eligible employees to access medical plans through Justworks. These employees cannot be from the same household, nor be able to claim the other as a dependent. Therefore, if the only enrollees are a married couple, they would not be able to carry a medical insurance policy on their own. They would need one more benefits-eligible employee to access medical coverage through Justworks. Please note, W-2 employees and a business owner (paid or unpaid) both suffice as benefits-eligible employees if they work at least 30 hours per week.

I don't want to make benefits available to my employees right now. Can I choose to upgrade at a later date?

• Yes, you can! When you’re ready to provide access to benefits, you can begin the health insurance application process by submitting a census. Once your company is active, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or our 24/7 Support Team to begin the health insurance process. 

Can my company offer Justworks health insurance and outside health insurance to my employees?

No. According to your customer service agreement, if you offer Health Insurance through Justworks, you may not provide employee benefits to covered employees or their dependents in addition to or in lieu of the benefits available under the Justworks benefits plans.

What about former employees currently on our COBRA plan? 

You can have no more than 10% of the company’s employees on your COBRA policies (e.g., if the company has 19 employees, only 1 can have coverage under your company’s COBRA because 2 or more on your COBRA would be over 10%).

Payroll:

I need to pay my employees and contractors. How can I do that through Justworks?

• If you are an active Justworks company, there are no additional charges for paying contractors or vendors through the platform. 
• When you reach your Justworks start date, you will be able to issue payments to employees and contractors. Your start date is the effective date of your customer service agreement with Justworks (i.e., when Justworks will begin providing the services listed in the customer service agreement to your covered employees). The start date is also the effective date of workers' comp coverage for your covered employees. Payments can only be paid through Justworks for time worked on and after the start date. To request a start date, complete enrollment by going to the last step on your login dashboard. 
• Your salaried employees will automatically be added to the Justworks’ payroll timeline below. Exempt salaried employees default to a semimonthly pay cycle. The first cycle runs from the 1st to the 15th of the month, with payday falling on the 15th. The second payroll cycle runs from the 16th to the last day of the month, with payday occuring on the last business day of the month. If either payday falls on a holiday or weekend, funds will be dispersed the previous business day. To learn more on employee exemption status, check out our guide.
• Your non-exempt employees (hourly and salaried) will be paid biweekly, on every other Friday, for work performed in the two weeks prior. If the Friday falls on a holiday, then the employee would be paid the Thursday before. If you have non-exempt and exempt employees and wish to consolidate payroll dates, you can move your exempt salaried employees to a biweekly pay cycle frequency. You cannot, however, move your non-exempt employees to a semimonthly pay cycle.

Where can I find our start date? I want to know when I can start scheduling payments to my employees. 

• You’ll be able to select your desired start date when you complete enrollment. It is step two of four during “Complete Your Enrollment”. Start dates can either be the 1st or the 16th of the month. On your start date, your account will be fully upgraded and you’ll have the ability to view upcoming payments, issue payments, add time-off policies, and more! To make sure everything is ready to go on your start date, you can add employees to the system and check that their information is entered correctly anytime after you complete enrollment. 

How do I pay for work completed before my Justworks start date?

• Due to compliance risks and insurance requirements, Justworks cannot facilitate wage payments to your employees for any periods prior to your Justworks start date. Your company must make separate arrangements to pay for work completed prior to your start date.

Justworks Charges:

How do I know the total charges for Justworks?

• Justworks’ administrative fees are displayed on our website and determined by the number of employees and type of payment plan: https://justworks.com/pricing.
• Other payments to consider:
  • ​Workers’ Comp: this charge can only be determined after (and if) you are approved by our workers' comp carrier. If you’re approved, your sales or onboarding manager will send a detailed quote. 
  • Health Insurance: these prices can only be determined once we receive a health insurance census from you that contains the basic information of your employees and their dependents. To navigate to the census: Log In > Select Benefits (from the left-hand menu) > Select “Request a Healthcare Quote”. Justworks provides access to competitive rates for health insurance and is the only PEO to allow companies with less than five employees to enroll.
  • Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI): For companies that started with Justworks on or after July 1, 2019, the EPLI fee is bundled into your Justworks administrative fee. For current companies that started with Justworks prior to July 1, 2019, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager or our 24/7 Support Team if you have questions about your current EPLI fee.
• All other charges are dependent on state requirements and any ancillary benefits you make available to your team. 

I saw your price comparison page and you’re more expensive than other payroll providers. What’s so great about Justworks?

• ​Justworks is a PEO and not a standalone payroll provider. We’re more expensive than a basic payroll provider because we offer more services like: 
  • Access to group health insurance plans and ancillary benefits
  • HR and employment-related compliance support
  • HR systems for tracking employee PTO and salary changes. 
• While some of our competitors have add-on charges, we believe in complete transparency and will not charge extra for issuing bonus payments, paying contractors, or adjusting employee information. 

Disclaimer

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, legal or tax advice. If you have any legal or tax questions regarding this content or related issues, then you should consult with your professional legal or tax advisor.