The employment landscape is changing. Many employers are moving away from reliance on full-time employees alone and looking at alternate models to drive cost savings, such as independent contractors, consultants, and freelancers. Improper classification of a worker or mistakes in payroll processing can cost your company serious money. Shown below are some questions to help you determine if using a payroll provider would be a good choice for your company.

Question Yes/No
1.    Do you have a payroll department that is dedicated to compliance that stays up to date on various federal, state and local laws?  
2.    Are you payroll compliant? You need to ensure you are withholding the appropriate taxes, filing reports, and remitting withholdings to the proper government agencies on the federal, state, and local level. If you run a multi-state business, your liabilities are even more complex.  
3.    Do you have a human resources representative dedicated to leave law compliance?  With various localities and states implementing various paid and unpaid leave laws, staying abreast of changes can be a daunting task. It is important that you have an expert in this area.  

Question Yes/No
4.    Are you reporting new hires to the government?  
5.    Are you filing the proper Affordable Care Act reports?  
6.    Do you perform scheduled self-audits to ensure that all aspects of your payrolling process is functioning properly?  

Next, we come to the quagmire of insurance benefits.

Question Yes/No
7.    Are you offering medical and prescription drug insurance that meets all the requirements of the Affordable Care Act?  
8.    With the ever-increasing healthcare costs, are you able to subsidize enough of the cost to offer affordable coverage to your employees?  
9.    Do you have benefit counsellors that are trained in how to answer benefit questions during the enrollment period?  

Finally, do not forget proper classification of workers.

Question Yes/No

 

10.  If you choose to utilize independent contractors, are you certain you are properly classifying them as such?

 

 

A misclassification claim can cost you just as much money as a payroll or reporting mistake, if not more. A misclassification claim can lead to past wages owed, insurance coverage costs that you failed to provide, penalties for improper filings, and additional costs and resources to file amendments.

Human resources, benefits and payrolling takes competent, trained people dedicated to compliance. Not only will mistakes upset your employees, it will also cost time and money to fix.

If you have answered YES to 7 or more of these questions, then you have a good view of payrolling and how to stay in compliance. If you are scoring less than 7 out of 10, one avenue to consider is working with a payrolling provider, such as ICON, to eliminate your risk. You receive the benefits of the workers’ services, but ICON is the employer of record (EOR). The EOR assumes responsibilities and liabilities for processing payroll and all that it encompasses, offering ACA-compliant health benefits, tracking sick time and the like. We offer employees online and mobile access to their paystubs, W-2s, and leave balances. We ensure 100% compliance with federal, state, and local laws. We remain the experts in all avenues of human resources, benefits, and payroll.

Whether you have a short-term or long-term assignment to grow your business, ICON can help take the liabilities, time and resources off your plate so you can focus on your bottom line.

Call us today to discuss how we can help.

Posted by Karen House