This article is about Justworks PEO. What product am I using?
Note: The information in this article is tailored to companies going through the expedited enrollment process. If you are working with a sales representative (as opposed to an Enrollment Manager), please reach out to them directly for questions or additional guidance.
Enrollment Process
Does Justworks have a minimum number of employees or payroll amount for enrollment?
- Justworks PEO is dedicated to serving entrepreneurs and companies of all sizes. We require a minimum of two individuals who are a part of a Justworks PEO member company to run payroll, though one can be classified as an unpaid owner. An employee filling the minimum requirement 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.
- In order to gain access to benefits, W2 employees and paid owners must work 30 hours or more per week and cannot be members of the same household. Unpaid owners are also eligible for benefits, but their premiums will need to be covered in full by the company.
How do I sign up for Justworks PEO?
- In order to begin the enrollment process, create an enrollment account here, and click “Start” next to “Request a quote.” If you’ve already created your account, login here to get to your dashboard. If you need any help during the process, please reach out to our Enrollment Managers at enrollment@justworks.com. Note: If you are working already with a sales representative, please reach out directly to them.
How long will enrollment and onboarding take?
- Companies in expedited enrollment can complete the enrollment process in 2-3 weeks. However, the enrollment timeline is largely dependent on how long it takes the company to complete your 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 delay onboarding. It’s extremely helpful to provide detailed answers in your workers’ comp application to expedite the process.
- Once you’re approved for workers' comp and verify your company bank account, you’ll reach the “Complete Enrollment” step of the process, where you’ll be able to select a desired start date to officially launch Justworks PEO as your PEO. This date will either be on the 1st or 16th of the current or upcoming month.
What documents will I need for the enrollment process?
- If you’re applying for health insurance through Justworks PEO and are currently offering company sponsored health insurance plans, you’ll need to provide a copy of your Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) for each plan, most recent invoice (with plan details for all employees), and the following year renewal packet (if available).
- When applying for workers' comp, you’ll need to provide your company’s AOI (Articles of Incorporation) or formation documents. If you have an active WC policy, you’ll need to provide a Loss Runs Report from your carrier. If you have active EPLI coverage, you’ll need to provide your COI (Certificate of Insurance).
What happens after I complete enrollment? Who will help me get started?
- Once you’ve requested your start date and signed your customer service agreement, one of our onboarding associates will be in touch within a couple days to help. They will be your point of contact to make sure that you’re all set to run your first payroll.
- In the meantime, you can set up any benefits you’re interested in making available to your employees following your start date. 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 PEO, 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 PEO start date. Note, some payroll and insurance providers may require a certain number of days’ prior notice when terminating services.
Workers' Comp Insurance
Why do I need workers' compensation through Justworks PEO? 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 PEO requires customers to be insured under their workers’ comp policy (with some limited exceptions). In order to be covered by Justworks PEO’ workers’ comp policy, we require you to answer some basic questions about your company and its operations during our onboarding process. Our carrier will make an evaluation based on the information you provide.
How does workers’ comp through Justworks PEO work for employees in monopolistic states?
- 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 PEO 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 PEO’s policy.
How long does it take to get a reply to my workers’ comp application?
- You can expect a reply to your workers’ comp application within approximately 2-5 business days, on average. Please reach out to your Enrollment Manager at enrollment@justworks.com for updates.
Why was I declined for workers’ comp through Justworks PEO?
- Our master workers’ comp policy has limitations to the level of risk that we can cover, therefore, we cannot support all businesses on our policy.
- 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 have additional information that you would like to provide to appeal your application, please reach out to your Justworks PEO Enrollment Manager at enrollment@justworks.com.
Health Insurance
How many employees must my company have to access health insurance through Justworks PEO? Do myself and my spouse suffice?
- You must have at least two active benefits-eligible employees to access medical plans through Justworks PEO. 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 at least one more benefits-eligible employee to access medical coverage through Justworks PEO. Please note, W-2 employees who work at least 30 hours per week, as well as business owners (paid or unpaid) both suffice as benefits-eligible employees.
What health insurance carriers does Justworks PEO offer?
- Justworks PEO offers plans from a variety of nationwide carriers including Aetna, United Healthcare, and Kaiser. In order to see what carriers and plans your company would be eligible for, please submit a quote request through your enrollment dashboard.
Can I get an estimate for health insurance pricing?
- Due to the various factors that may influence how carriers quote a company, Justworks PEO does not provide estimates, rather we provide customized quotes that are reflective of the plans and pricing your company would have access to when joining Justworks PEO.
How can I obtain a health insurance quote?
- In order to apply for a health insurance quote, create an enrollment account here, and click “Start” next to “Request a quote.” If you’ve already created your account, login here to get to your dashboard.
- You’ll need to provide a company census with basic information about your employees, and any of their dependents who will be covered under the health insurance.
- You can expect to receive a quote with plans and pricing within approximately 3-5 business days after submitting you application. If this time has passed, please reach out to your Enrollment Manager at enrollment@justworks.com for an update.
- 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.
What is the deadline to enroll in health insurance through Justworks PEO?
- The deadline for health insurance enrollment differs from month to month, but is generally around the middle of the month prior to the start of coverage. In order to determine the deadline for your desired start date, please reach out to your Enrollment Manager at enrollment@justworks.com.
What if I miss the enrollment deadline for health insurance?
- If you miss the deadline to sign up for health insurance, your next available coverage start date will be the 1st of the following month. However, you can still get started with Justworks PEO Basic prior. Please reach out to your Enrollment Manager at enrollment@justworks.com to understand your options.
I don't want to make benefits available to my employees right now. Can I choose to upgrade from Basic to Plus 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 I offer health insurance outside of Justworks PEO instead of offering Justworks PEO health insurance?
- Yes! You can join Justworks PEO Basic and offer your employees external health insurance in lieu of accessing health insurance through Justworks PEO under our Plus plan. Keep in mind, if you do so, employee enrollment and health plans will neither be managed nor supported within the Justworks PEO platform. You would, however, be able to set up manual deductions from employee payroll so you could remit those funds to the carrier for payment.
Can my company offer outside health insurance in addition to Justworks PEO health insurance to my employees?
- No. According to your customer service agreement, if you offer health insurance through Justworks PEO, you may not provide external employee health insurance to covered employees or their dependents in addition to or in lieu of the benefits available under the Justworks PEO benefits plans.
Does Justworks PEO cover my 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%).
Can I offer Justworks PEO health insurance only (without payroll, etc.)?
- No, there is no option to get health insurance as a stand alone product through Justworks PEO.
Payroll
I need to pay my employees. How can I do that through Justworks PEO?
- When you reach your Justworks PEO 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 PEO (i.e., when Justworks PEO 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 PEO 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 PEO 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? When can I 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.
Can I pay employees for work completed before my Justworks PEO start date?
- Due to compliance risks and insurance requirements, Justworks PEO cannot facilitate wage payments to your employees for any periods prior to your Justworks PEO start date. Your company must make separate arrangements to pay for work completed prior to your start date. Please reach out to our Enrollment Team to see what alternative options may be available to you.
Can I pay contractors and vendors through Justworks PEO?
- Yes! There are no additional charges for customers for paying contractors or vendors through the platform.
Justworks PEO Pricing/Costs:
What is the total cost of using Justworks PEO?
- Justworks PEO administrative fees are displayed on our website and determined by the number of employees and plan type: https://justworks.com/pricing.
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Other costs to consider:
- Workers’ Comp: this cost can only be determined after (and if) you are approved by our workers' comp carrier. If you’re approved, you’ll receive a detailed quote.
- Health Insurance: these costs can only be determined once you apply for a health insurance quote. In order to apply for a health insurance quote, create an enrollment account here, and click “Start” next to “Request a quote.” If you’ve already created your account, login here to get to your dashboard. Justworks PEO provides access to competitive rates for health insurance and is the only PEO to allow companies with less than five employees to enroll.
- Costs associated with any additional benefits you may choose to offer (ex: You can learn more about those benefits and costs here).
- 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 PEO?
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Justworks PEO 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.