Update: We created a checklist of wage details for deceased employees, along with how to provide workplace support. You can download it for free here. The loss of an employee due to death is a difficult time for a business. Not only is it hard to lose a friend and colleague, but the business faced with a loss of productivity, the need to hire and train a replacement, and complicated legal issues. One of those issues involves how to properly handle any wages that are due the deceased employee. HR Compliance

Whether your employee has left your company for another one or passed away , the required paperwork is hard to keep top of mind when a big transition is taking place. Offboarding a departing employee isn’t as simple as waving goodbye and wishing them well. Between IRS forms, payroll and benefit complications, and electronic account access, details can slip through the cracks. Have a procedure in place. Business Tips

Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor officially defined the new income threshold for exempt and non-exempt employees. Employers take note: these changes will affect wages or hours worked for approximately 13 million Americans, and perhaps some of your own employees. Compliance Payroll

In celebration of Bike to Work Month, Justworks gave six companies free Citi Bike memberships for a year to encourage the happiness and health of their employees. With all the buzz around biking to work this month, you may wonder if the perk is the right fit for your team. Kristy Zoshak, Director of Sales and Marketing at Citi Bike, spoke with us on Bike to Work Day about why Citi Bike is such a great perk for both employers and employees. She also gave us tips on her favorite places to pedal and resources for new riders in New York

With the advent of coffee shops, wifi, and laptops, the 21st century has presented us a beautiful gift: the advantage of working remotely. Remote work offers plenty of positive benefits for both employers or employees, whether daily or occasionally. At Justworks, I’m lucky to have a flexible work schedule that enhances my productivity. In fact, I’m writing this piece in a coffee shop right now; it’s arguably the most productive I’ve been all week. Here are the many reasons why it’s helps to switch up your working environment — and how to get the most out of your time in a fresh spot.

Making the leap from a corporate work environment to a startup is more than just a career change — it’s also a lifestyle change. You’ll have the chance to expand your role and make a big impact at a smaller company, for better or worse. We got advice from Justwomen panelists Emily Menchel and Elizabeth Galbut, who both experienced firsthand how their roles shifted after making the switch. Emily and Elizabeth will share more on going from the corporate world to startup life at the next Justwomen event on May 18. Interested in attending?

As General Counsel for Persado, Emily Menchel does far more than just advising on legal matters. Before she began her current role, Emily spent some time abroad helping women — the first time in Ghana where she worked for a female representative running for parliament, and the second time in Cape Town at a legal rights organization. She took some time to talk with us about the unique challenges of working at a startup and her hopes for the upcoming Justwomen event. Justworks Love

Above: Elizabeth Galbut (right), with business partner Pocket Sun. Elizabeth Galbut is not your typical entrepreneur. At 26 years old, she’s already created two venture capital firms: SoGal Ventures and A-Level Capital. Recruited to work for Deloitte while still in college, she eventually went on to attend John Hopkins and the Maryland Institute College of Art for a dual masters in business and design. Elizabeth put her unique experiences to use to inform the investment decisions she makes today. Justwomen

We’ve made a simple guide to answer all your ACA questions, which you can download here. Now that many employers are required to offer some kind of healthcare , it’s beneficial to know what tax breaks your company may be eligible for. As of 2016, The Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) has transitioned into Phase II of the tax credit breaks, which is good news for employers — it means that potential credits for-profit small businesses are eligible to receive have jumped from 35% to 50

We are always working to make sure we’re adding the features and benefits that make it easy for you to run your business and take care of your team. Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve partnered with One Medical and Health Advocate to offer on demand, primary care and personal health advocacy services to companies offering healthcare through Justworks. And the best part? This is free of charge, included as part of the Justworks benefits package. We strongly believe all of our members should have access to the best in healthcare. Justworks Love Product Updates

We’ve written a comprehensive guide on how to hire employees that fit your company values. You can download it for free here. Business Tips Recruiting Management

This is a guest post from NerdWallet. NerdWallet helps empower small business owners with the information and tools necessary to start and effectively run their businesses. Whether you want to turn your online store into a brick-and-mortar shop, expand to a new location, or just add a few employees, your enterprise could benefit from a small business loan. wide array of lenders offer an even wider variety of loans, each with a different set of rules and qualifications. Applying for a business loan can be daunting, but you can remove some stress from the process by taking these steps.

We’ve written a whitepaper on how to correctly classify employees , so you’re getting full time, part time, and everything in between right. If you’re researching the question about what constitutes full-time and part-time hours, you’ve likely run into different definitions in different places. And with conflicting government definitions floating around, it makes it hard to know what’s correct and what’s not. So, what really makes for a full-time and part-time employee in the United States? And what are the consequences for employers if they don’t get it right the first time around? Complianc

The day is inevitable: at some point or another, your employees will leave. Everyone knows that jobs rarely last a lifetime, but it’s still important to retain the talent that will really make your company shine. Companies spend $4,000 on average to fill an open position , and that doesn’t even begin to speak to the amount of lost productivity and impact an empty role has on a small team. So how can you keep the people who make a difference in your company? Compensation is only one small factor — in fact, most of it has to do with employee motivation and happiness. Recruiting Management

This is a guest post, reprinted with permission from our friends at Early Growth Financial Services. Founder David Ehrenberg breaks down exactly what you need to do to protect your small business from the biggest employment risks. Why worry about employment law risks when you have enough things to focus on: building your team, getting traction, and lining up funding? Well, as the adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”. For further exploration, a great resource is this webinar with Karen Reinhold of Hopkins & Carley and EGFS’ Chief Strategy Officer Glenn McCrae.

At Justworks, we’re always working to add great benefits to our platform that will help you easy and affordable to take care of your team and attract new talent, Our latest addition to this roster of benefits is Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs). Justworks Love Product Updates

What is the FLSA? Introduced in 1938, the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, is a federal law that governs working wages, hours, and recordkeeping for both full-time and part-time workers. The FLSA covers overtime pay, minimum wage, child labor standards, and record keeping. Who Does the FLSA Apply To? Employers with two or more employees are required to follow federal FLSA standards. What Are Exempt vs Non-Exempt Employees? In order to comply with FLSA laws, you must have a full understanding of exempt and non-exempt employees. Compliance

Planning a comprehensive benefits package for your team is no easy feat, especially if you have less resources than an established enterprise. But even when you’re small or starting out, you should consider offering your employees a competitive perks and benefits package. One such benefit includes life insurance. While some companies offer 401(k)s and dental, life insurance is becoming increasingly important to employees with families or other loved ones they want to protect against the unexpected. So, why is small group life insurance important for your business? Read on for some pro tips.

You can always use our easy guide to learn the difference between perks and benefits. The difference between perks, benefits, and fringe benefits can get sticky (as we’ve stated in previous blog posts and whitepapers ). Once you think you’ve finally got the difference between them figured out, another term pops up: de minimis benefits. So, what are de minimis benefits? Are they taxable in the same way that some fringe benefits are? We’ve got some answers to help clear it all up. Benefits Taxes

Confused about how the Affordable Care Act impacts your small business taxes this year? We’ve build out a guide to explain that for you. Tax day is looming on April 18th this year, and if you’re a small business owner, you likely have a mountain of paperwork to fill out on time. We’ve compiled our information on the most common (and sometimes most confusing) tax forms, to clarify your last-minute small business tax questions. Taxes

Startups are natural rule breakers. You’ve got to ruffle a few feathers and disrupt the status quo if you want to build the next Facebook. But there’s one area where startups definitely don’t want to break the rules: payroll and HR. Startups that don’t comply with payroll and HR laws can face serious legal and financial consequences. Some penalties are even severe enough to (almost) drive them out of business. With that in mind, we've put together this list of the five biggest startup payroll and HR mistakes to avoid. HR Payroll Business Tips

There’s nothing more exciting than bringing on a new hire. After all your hard work to find the right person, it’s a time of celebration — and a time to put your best foot forward. Make sure you and your new employee are on the same page from day one with a clear job offer letter. Prospective employees should sign a job offer letter before they begin work. Not only does the letter serve as a legal basis for employment, but it also ensures you both have a written understanding of what their position entails. Management

This guest post is from Kisi. Kisi makes it easy to manage employee and visitor keys to your office with smartphone access. According to the FBI, in 2014 approximately 26% of accounted burglaries in the US were non-residential. Office spaces are easy targets for burglary, identity theft, unlawful entry, and a wide range of other criminal threats. Effective security measures can reduce the likelihood of these threats, but what are those measures? How can you protect your office from a potentially detrimental security breach?

created a guide for you to figure out your business expense plan , from mileage reimbursements to employee meals. Sometimes employees have to hit the road to get business done. But if they’re on a mission for work, they shouldn’t shoulder all the travel expenses. That’s where mileage reimbursement comes in. Employers aren’t required by law to provide mileage reimbursement. But doing so is a mutually beneficial opportunity to receive tax reductions for both the employee and the employer. This blog post will help you get on the right track. Benefits Business Tips Taxes

We’ve been thinking about leadership recently, so as a follow up to our 11 Qualities All Effective Leaders Possess , we thought we’d give you some thoughts and suggestions from actual successful entrepreneurs — people who really know their stuff. We took some of our leadership tips from our 11 Tips post, and paired them with a piece of advice or two. These entrepreneurs can give business tips based on experience! Their reflections on their work might just help you with yours. Business Tips

Part 1 of this series explored the difference between supplemental wages and regular wages. Now, in Part 2 of the series, we will cover exactly how to calculate the taxes on supplemental wages. IRS Publication 15 describes several methods of calculating the federal income tax withholding on supplemental wages. These methods may be summarized as follows: Add the entire amount to the employee's regular wages, and withhold the federal income tax based on the employee's Form W-4. Withhold a flat 25% of the supplemental wages. Payroll

All the terminology around fringe benefits can get confusing. Fringe benefits, regular benefits, perks, rewards — how can you tell them apart? Put simply, fringe benefits are an additional benefit on top of an employee’s salary. They’re the same as perks and can range from a company car to team meals out on the town. So, which fringe benefits should you offer, and what will make the biggest difference to employees? We’ve rounded up our past articles on how to sort out the difference between the two, and how to pick ones that will make your workplace shine. Benefits Recruiting Management

As health insurance costs continue to rise, companies have been looking for new ways to share the increased costs with their employees. One of those ways has been to convert the health insurance offered into a low premium, high deductible plan. Unlike the FSA , which only allows an annual maximum limit of $2,500, a high deductible plan could result in an individual having to pay considerably more than $2,500 a year in health care costs. To offset this, the government created what is known as a Health Savings Account (HSA). Health insurance with a business can get confusing. Healthcare

Your team works hard. So every once and a while, they deserve to blow off some steam and have a great time together. Not only does leaving the office help team bonding, it also creates memories and boosts employee morale. We’ve written before about team building activities for work that people will actually enjoy , but there is something about team outings in NYC that merits its own attention. New York City has an infinite amount of choices for group activities, but it can also be cramped for space and difficult to find the right spot for your everyone.

Perks and benefits are essential to any successful business. Get your free guide on them here. Whether you have a long runway or have taken out loans to start your company, you know that every dollar counts when it comes to business expenses. In fact, a bank of America survey deduced that 72% of small business owners are concerned about healthcare costs. That’s one reason of many why accessing benefits for your small business can feel so anxiety inducing. Maybe you’ve asked yourself if you can afford it. The question, however, should be can you afford not to? Benefits HR Business Tips

Download your free guide on the Affordable Care Act to learn how it impacts your business. When it comes to providing healthcare to your team as a small business, Affordable Care Act requirements are real. Whether it’s compliance mistakes, administrative issues, or the sheer cost, there are myriad factors to consider. According to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, the largest ACA costs to date are expected to arrive in 2016. And according to the employers surveyed, 57% expect administration issues to be the biggest challenge they face. Benefits Business Tips

Check out our free guide on how to motivate your employees through incentive programs. By now, you probably know how important rewarding employees is for your company. It boosts morale, makes employees feel like they are integral to your company, and even lowers voluntary turnover rates. In fact, according to a Globoforce study , “The number one reason most Americans leave their jobs is that they don’t feel appreciated.” A lack of praise keeps morale low. Consider implementing a regular appreciation program at your place of business. Business Tips

This is a guest post by Camilla Velasquez , Justworks' VP of Product. When you’re part of a growing company, it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day tasks and projects that need to get done. Although that’s important for success and growth, it’s just as important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Our customers are the reason we’re here — to help their businesses run health care, payroll, and compliance smoothly. That’s why we decided to do a customer-focused, “Surprise and Delight” hack week this March. So, what did that mean for the Justworks’ team and customers?

We have some exciting feature updates coming out of our Hack Week — that’s right, you can start using them now. Justworks Love Product Updates

Looking for other forms of insurance for your employees? Understand unemployment insurance better. Commonly referred to as workman's comp, workers' compensation is federally mandated insurance that provides compensation for employees who have suffered an injury or illness on the job. Workers' compensation is a no-fault program, which means that the employee gets the benefit — regardless if a customer, coworker, employer, or employee was responsible for the injury. What matters is that the injury happened while on the job. Benefits

Check out our full guide on how to boost employee morale here, which you can download for free. We've all been there before — having a boss who doesn't trust you to do your job can demoralize even the most productive of workers. Studies show that only 12% of employees leave their job for more money, so there's obviously a lot more at play. Now that you're on the other side, you know the importance of maintaining employee morale. So where does it all start? Put simply, trust. Trust is the essential ingredient to a strong team and empowers high-performance, risk-taking employees.

Terminating a team member isn’t easy. Get the complete guide on how to fire or lay off an employee. So, you have an employee who is not the greatest asset to your business. It happens to every company at some point in time. Whatever the reason may be, firing an employee with no advance signs or warning may result in serious repercussions for your company. Firing an employee can lead to wrongful termination lawsuits , fines for not following the law, and low team morale. Barring any extreme offenses, your employee should know if he’s headed towards a layoff. Business Tips Compliane

E very day, more than 18,000 new businesses are started. They are started by people who have decided, for whatever reason, that starting a new company from nothing is their best option. Most of these businesses will fail, but some will succeed. The ones that succeed will become another layer in the fabric of their community, another molecule in our economic substrate. A few will go on to become the big corporations of the next generation; they will change how millions of people think and work and live. It’s no one’s fault but it’s everyone’s problem. Small businesses are really important.

Are you building a distributed team? Check out our resources on hiring remote employees. If you’re running a business in the 21st century, a rental lease doesn’t necessarily have to be in the mix — especially if you’re just starting out. Whether you have a three person team or you’re working remotely , shared spaces are a great option to energize your small business. We sat down with Cassidy North-Reist, Grind’s Director of Community, and asked her what it’s like to work at Grind Spaces. Business Tips

Protect your company’s future. Get your free guide to hiring interns the legal way here. When it comes to recruiting and hiring interns , there is a right way and a wrong way. Famous figures from Oprah to Charlie Rose have faced lawsuits from unpaid interns (Charlie Rose settled to pay nearly $110,000 in 2013). And even though such moguls are an elite rank, this is a club you don’t want to be a part of. Read on to find out how you can keep your company safe, and hire some great interns along the way. Compliance Business Tips

Looking for other ways to build a strong team? Check out our free resources on employee happiness. In your company's day-to-day routine, professional development activities may not seem like a priority. After all, the workday should be focused on, well, working! But it’s important that your employees continue to learn and grow professionally. According to go2HR, 40% of people who receive poor employee training leave within the first year. Employee development not only benefits the individual, but it will benefit your company as well. Business Tips Management

If you're looking into an FSA, you may want to find out what other fringe benefits prospective hires want. Between all the jargon of HSAs and FSAs, you may have asked yourself — what is a flexible spending account, exactly? flexible spending account — sometimes referred to as a flexible spending arrangement — is an account that you put pre-tax money into throughout the year. You then use that account to pay for certain healthcare out-of-pocket costs. The FSA allows employees to put money aside before taxes, so that they can cover their healthcare expenses. Benefits Healthcare

It’s sad, but true: only 32% of U.S. employees feel engaged in the workplace. And although it’s true that work is just that — work — low team morale can actually have a widespread and negative affect on your business. As it turns out, boosting employee motivation is actually correlated with higher productivity, higher profits, and higher growth

Have you been in business for a little while? If so, it might be time to bust out the company swag. Business Tips Fun

Learning more about business expenses? We have a free resources library to help you out with that. Compliance Business Tips Management Taxes

This post is brought to you by NerdWallet. NerdWallet is focused on helping people lead better lives through financial education and empowerment. Getting small-business funding can be a difficult process, especially for first-time entrepreneurs. So we asked two small business owners who’ve gone through the process to share their financing hacks. Of course, what worked for them may not work for you. But their stories could help you form a plan to fund your own business. Business Tips Founder Talk 401(k

This guest post is from Stupid Cancer. Stupid Cancer is the largest charity that comprehensively addresses young adult cancer through advocacy, research, support, outreach, and more. Starting a non-profit organization is no small feat. Born out of inequity, it takes a strong resolve and an entrepreneurial mindset to take the leap from side project to the international stage. Alongside this ambitious journey, you’re apt to tackle the consequential challenges like human resources, overhead, and scaling. HR Business Tips Nonprofit

Today’s post is brought to you by Museum Hack. Museum Hack does fun company team building events at the best museums in NYC, DC and SF. Team building activities are an important contributor to company culture and growth. However, “team building” isn’t usually at the top of an HR manager or CEO’s to-do list. Instead, we prioritize perks like hiring bonuses, unlimited massages, and new hardware — items that are a flashier way to attract top talent. Business Tips

Team health and morale is incredibly important to prospective employees. Find out more on winning the talent war. We’ve all heard of ergonomics, perhaps during that “wellness” day our offices hosted but no one paid attention to. All I remember from those meetings is that I guess I should sit up straighter. But ergonomics in the workplace are much more than that — and really important for employee productivity. Business Tips

We’ve built a new robust reports center that allows you to pull comprehensive, customizable data about your employees based on census, benefits, payroll, and PTO data. Additionally, we recently launched a feature that gives you control over when to send Justworks invitations to your employees. These two launches make Justworks more flexible to cater to the needs of your company — giving you more control over the information you need when you need it. Justworks Love Product Updates

So you've made a new hire. Congratulations! There are all kinds of fun ideas to onboard your employees , and while expanding your team is exciting, staying compliant while doing so can be anxiety provoking. Compliance Business Tips Management

Hiring great people matters. We've compiled a free resource library for recruiting the right talent here. Finding the right talent for your team is an important mission. The people who you hire for your organization could really make a difference on how the business grows and whether it ultimately succeeds. And as the importance of technology grows, so has the importance of finding competent developers. So, how do you hire a developer that will fulfill your company's needs and help it grow? HR Business Tips Recruiting Management

Practical Matters is a series of conversations with founders and senior executives at companies we know and love. As a business that helps other businesses, Justworks loves interviewing innovative people. Every month, we ask fellow entrepreneurs and their teams about their experience starting and running their respective companies. It’s insightful to hear their stories and perspectives. Here are some of our favorite tips, lessons, thoughts, and business strategy from our Practical Matters series so far. Go back and read your favorite interviews for some real inspiration!

Interested in learning other ways to keep your employees happy and productive? Check out our resources on employee happiness here. Whether it’s taking your company to a cooking class or shuttling everyone to a campground retreat, offsite staff retreats have multiple benefits. Better yet, the locations are getting even more creative and dynamic! Why are so many companies schlepping their team members somewhere other than the conference room to bond, work, and problem-solve? Read on to discover the benefits of creative company retreats, and nine team bonding ideas to amp up the fun.

This guest post is brought to you by CloserIQ. One of the hardest tasks of a manager is to confront employees who are underperforming. How do you have that conversation? What do you focus on? What can you do to help things improve? The follow eight ideas will help you motivate underperforming sales hires and improve their numbers. Business Tips Management

Yes, we know that we just posted interviews with Lisa Mann and Diane Hessan on Friday, but we couldn't resist a highlight reel from the Justwomen 2016 winter event. Justwomen Business Tips Fun

Pictured left: CEO of Startup Institute, Diane Hessan. Right: Executive VP of Kind Snacks, Lisa Mann. Photo: Forbes). Throughout their years of experience, Executive VP of Kind Snacks Lisa Mann and CEO of Startup Institute Diane Hessan have continually risen to the top. However, being women in business can come with unique struggles, and unique triumphs. For the Justwomen Winter 2016 event, both sat down to talk about their experiences in front of 100 other women entrepreneurs in New York City. Justworks Love Business Tips Fun

If your business has ties with the burgeoning tech sector, chances are you’re familiar with Slack. If you’re not, we implore you to download it. Slack is an app that allows you to chat with your co-workers instantly. And whether you’re a small business or a rapidly growing one, the app has multiple uses. Not only will it increase communication between you and your team, but it will also cut down on superfluous emails. Basically, it’s a win-win. Business Tips Fun Management

This guest post is brought to you by Kisi. Kisi makes it easy to manage employee and visitor keys to your office with smartphone access. Companies relocate for a number of reasons. Whether it’s real estate prices, office size, or strategic business reasons, keeping employee morale high is important for promoting company culture and maintaining high productivity. With so many moving pieces involved with a business changing locations, it’s important to prioritize the employee when settling into your new space. Business Tips Management

Looking for a comprehensive overview? Download a free guide on unemployment insurance to make sure you're staying compliant. If you run a company with employees, you are legally required to have unemployment insurance. We're here to walk you through a crash course about what it is, why you need it, and how it's billed. Compliance

The best business leaders know how to make the best use of their time — and that all starts before heading to the office. Take billionaire John Paul DeJoria, for example, who takes five minutes for quiet reflection. Or exec Kat Cole, who drinks 24 ounces of water every morning. But for most people, it takes a while to develop a health-conscious routine that allows maximum creativity and productivity. So how do you make your daily routine as productive as a productive leader? Here are some tips on how to start your morning off right. Business Tips

Ebbs and flows in an organization’s staff are not uncommon, but high employee turnover is a sure sign of a much more disruptive undercurrent. According to a Gallup study published earlier this year, one in two employees surveyed cited their boss as the reason for leaving a job. As a manager, steer clear of these six issues that cause employees to leave. HR Management

Leading a business isn't as much a 9-5 job as a 24-hour lifestyle. You're no stranger to the hard work and sacrifice that comes with your company’s growth — and in the battle for balance, R&R are usually the first sacrifices to the entrepreneurial gods. But the question you should be asking yourself is whether that's really the best strategy for running a business. While we all agree that taking time off is nice, it’s easy to forget just how vital such breaks are to our physical and mental well-being. Business Tips Fun Vacation Policy

Here at Justworks, we’re always trying to find ways to help your small business run smoother. That’s why we’ve blogged and written eBooks: to share what we’ve learned on growing a business and a team. After more than a year of blogging regularly, we’ve published hundreds of articles and it may be hard to choose which ones are most relevant to you. Justworks Love

Gym membership. Company car. Lunch-time sushi bar. Post-lunch yoga session. Friday evening office happy hour. For some, these are everyday features of a standard workplace. For the appreciative and the jealous, they are persuasive perks. Companies competing for top talent are embracing all kinds of new employee perks that promote health, work-life balance, and staff motivation. As a forward-thinking leader, you've probably noticed what kinds of employee perks other businesses offer. Now you can decide which ones are worth it for your company by calculating the costs of fringe benefits.

Open office plans became a trend in the last few years. So much of a trend in fact, that 70% of offices have low partitions, or no partitions at all, anymore. All kinds of companies — startups, tech, finance — started implementing an open plan for various reasons. Some company owners cite open collaboration and transparency as their reasons for switching over to the new design. Others say that open plans are a money saver. The idea was such a hit, that even freelancers latched on to the idea, opting to network with others and share ideas in co-working spaces. Business Tips

Networking. You’ve heard it before, and we'll say it again: it is vastly important. We’re told that it's also essential for finding a job, building a name, and staying connected. But a lot of the time, it's hard to know where to start. This can be especially tricky with startups. There is no traditional school in which to build your core network, businesses are changing all the time, and the climate can be completely different from traditional fields. So naturally, making a connection is slightly different than the traditional professional world. But fear not — it’s not as terrible as it seems.

Your employees are at risk if they aren’t planning for their future. Saving money is not easy, but it’s essential to achieving financial well being. The sooner employees start saving, the stronger their retirement will be down the line. And a 401(k) is an important savings opportunity for employees that only an employer can give them. Many smaller companies believe that offering a 401(k) is too expensive, risky or confusing to be worth the perceived bother. It’s easy for small employers to worry they do not have the stability or resources to set up and maintain a retirement plan. 401(k

Giving to a charity has many benefits for small business, not the least of which are the tax deductions that it offers. A tax deduction reduces the amount of income that is subject to tax and therefore reduces the amount of taxes you owe. charitable contribution is a great way for businesses to receive tax benefits, but what how exactly does it all work? Taxes

We’re excited to announce the ability to add custom holidays to your holiday schedule! This is just another step forward in making Justworks more flexible for the specific needs of our customers. Justworks Love Product Updates

A compensation package from an employer is more than salary. Employee benefits like health insurance and 401(k) contributions, should to be factored into an employee's annual salary. But great work perks also go beyond salary and guaranteed benefits speak to your company's culture. It’s important to know the difference between a perk and a benefit. Want to learn more about both? Download our free guide here. Benefits HR

In our guide to setting up a C-Corporation , we covered how corporations run into the risk of double taxation. What does this mean? The profits that the corporation makes are taxed and then any dividends that are distributed to shareholders are also taxed. The S-Corporation (or S-Corp) is an eligible C-corporation that can be converted and treated as a S-Corporation through a specific IRS tax election. Once that happens, the profits and losses can be passed through the corporation to the individual shareholders. Business Tips

With the new year upon us, make sure your company is doing it all it can to keep its employees happy by ensuring morale is high. SAD (or Seasonal Affective Disorder) can be the strongest in January and February when days tend to be shorter and colder. When morale is low, the obvious result is disengaged employees and a suffering business. And trust us, low morale can really cost you. Gallup Poll from the early 2000s estimated that there were “. more than 22 million workers-- in the United States alone-- who are extremely negative or ‘actively disengaged’” at work, which cost the U.S.

It’s important to know the difference between a perk and a benefit. Want to learn more about both? Download our free guide here. Saving money is really important for a startup. Every dollar counts, especially with there being a Series A crunch going on. You want to survive as long as you can without needing to raise further funds. Benefits Compliance

Things have been moving along nicely with your business. Perhaps it started as a sole proprietorship and then you brought on another partner and decided to expand to a Limited Liability Company (LLC). But at some point, you decide that the time is right to incorporate your business. This is known as forming a C-Corp, which gets its name because it is governed by the Subchapter C of the Internal Revenue Code. Business Tips

It’s the end of a long year of hard work at your startup company. Business is slowing down, office parties are abounding, and everyone is in the holiday spirit. But the New Year is right around the bend, and you want to start 2016 off with a bang professionally. So why not make an early New Year’s resolution? Resolve to ask for that raise you deserve in 2016. How do you navigate asking for a raise, especially on a small and growing team? Look no further! Business Tips

2015 has been a big year for Justworks ( see CEO Isaac Oates’ recap here ). We’ve grown our revenue sevenfold and our customer base by nearly the same. The Justworks team has grown from about 20 to 75+. The Justworks COPS team, or Customer Experience and Operations team, has played a big part in that success. So we connected with Will Young, the head of that team through 2015, to look back on the year. Justworks Love Fun

2015 has been a big year for Justworks ( see CEO Isaac Oates’ recap here ). We’ve grown our revenue sevenfold and our customer base by nearly the same. The Justworks team has grown from about 20 to 75+. And Justblog got up and running. Our blog aims to help you - a CEO, founder, or leader within a startup - build your business and inspire your team. We’ve covered everything from 1099 and W-2 forms to employee morale. From compliance to owner’s draws. To celebrate the end of 2015, we’ve rounded up the Justblog articles that resonated most with you. Tweet your ideas to @JustworksHR.

With the year over, it is important to be prepared for what forms you need to gather, send to your employees, and what forms to file for 2015. Fortunately, the bulk of them have to do with taxes; however, there are a couple that are meant to assess whether you need to pay any fines to the IRS. There are three key dates that you need to remember to ensure that all of end-of-year forms are filed correctly, on-time, and without any fines assessed. Compliance Taxes

We've also built an infographic on how to best create a warm welcome for employees. You can check it out here. The onboarding experience is crucial for employee retention. This is the moment at which you can set someone up for success within your company. And hey, you probably just spent a good chunk of time and money to find this person in the first place and get them to take the job, so not onboarding them correctly would be a total waste. Onboarding without a set process is difficult for a new company. Current employees don't normally feel like they have time to do it.

With the Affordable Care Act, size matters. small employer (SE) must file different reports than those required by an applicable large employer (ALE). Another primary difference between differently sized employers: only ALEs may be subject to certain tax penalties, and only SEs with a certain number of employees may apply for tax credits under the ACA. We've covered the ACA's impact on small businesses before. Download our in-depth guide for free. Get up to speed on the big changes in 2016 for businesses under the ACA. Learn the basic ACA requirements with which employers must comply.

We've discussed five big changes taking place with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2016. That article included several basic definitions that are necessary to understanding the requirements of the ACA, as well as a chart of the basic requirements of the ACA for both small employers (SE) and applicable large employers (ALE). In this article we will discuss those requirements in more detail. We've written a whitepaper about the impact of the ACA on small businesses. If you'd like to download it for free, you can do so here. Benefits Compliance Healthcare

We've written a whitepaper about the impact of the ACA on small businesses. If you'd like to download it for free, you can do so here. Only 20% of all businesses in the United States have employees, but every business with employees may be affected by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Whether or not a business is affected by the ACA depends upon its size, and in 2016 the size of a business will become an issue of major concern. In this article, therefore, we will address five of the changes affecting businesses with employees in 2016. Benefits Compliance

With the Affordable Care Act comes the necessary paperwork that the IRS has to collect. Doing so ensures that employers are providing a sufficient option of healthcare for its employees. We’ve covered the Form 1095-C , which is meant to lay out the offered insurance to each individual employee. The 1094-C must be filed with the Form 1095-C, but it acts as a sort of cover sheet that sums up all the 1095-Cs. We've written a whitepaper about the impact of the ACA on small businesses. If you'd like to download it for free, you can do so here. Compliance Healthcare

The IRS Form 1095-C is a brand new form that was created when the Affordable Care Act (or the ACA) became the law of the land. According to the ACA, certain companies must provide provide an option for health insurance to their employees if they are “applicable large employers,” or ALEs. Compliance

With 2016 around the corner, we’ve been taking a look at what Justworks has accomplished this year and will accomplish in the next. And as we’ve constructed our 2016 plan, we’ve circulated our discussions more and more around building skyscrapers. We've started to think of Justworks as Manhattan. The bedrock that Manhattan is built on is what makes this city so special. Manhattan’s bedrock supports a crazy transportation system dug out from underneath, and some of the tallest buildings in the world above. New York can be New York because it’s made of rock. company culture. Justworks Love

It’s the end of a long year of hard work, and your employees are tired and ready for a bit of a break. Turn to year-end employee rewards to show your appreciation for all of their efforts. While it’s a good idea to show employee appreciation all year long, now’s the time to really make your team feel recognized, appreciated, and happy. Doing so will boost morale and make them happy to come back after New Year's Day. And rewards don't have to be employee bonuses or year-end raises. Here are 7 wonderful ways to reward your employees at the end of the year, whatever your budget!

The most common tax document that employees in the United States receive is the W-2 form. If you have a full-time job and are not just a freelancer, you are going to receive your W-2 by the end of January. Are you a freelancer? We broke down the 1099-MISC here.). Business Tips

It’s that time of year again at the office! Holiday lights, pies in the break room, end of year excitement. and boring or played-out holiday events. The holidays are a time when everyone feels festive, and offices often want to share in that feeling. And any holiday party should be a quality team bonding experience. But the result is often a waste-of-money gift swap or a bad cookie plate. The holidays should be relaxing and fun, even if we're still at the office and not on vacation just yet. How to breathe some life into the stale office holiday party? Business Tips Fun

Over the past couple of months, we’ve been quietly rolling out a few key changes to improve our payroll and payment features. As always, we’re aiming to quickly respond to your pain points and support an increasingly flexible scope of payments. Justworks Love Product Updates

NerdWallet is a source for information, insight, and consumer-driven advice about personal finance. It also connects you with experts and financial comparison tools to help you grow your small business. The more challenges your small business can overcome, the stronger it will be. The next time you’re faced with a small business financing hurdle, consider these expert solutions. Business Tips

Strong leadership is at the core of every successful business. Most leaders seem to have something in common: they each have a certain panache that drives their business forward and evokes admiration. Maybe they’re great at relating to people, or perhaps they have completely innovative ideas. Founders of startups have a particularly tough road ahead of them; it takes a strong leader to move a startup forward. Make sure your best qualities stand out and use our 11 tips to become a great startup leader. How do you ensure that you are the best leader you can be? Leave your tips in the comments.

The nature of the workplace in the US is changing. Employees are increasingly willing to work remotely, part time, and with flexibility. In fact, over 15 million people in the U.S. are self-employed. Companies can employ a variety of employee types. Did you know that a company's workers can fall under seven classifications? Full-time employees. Part-time employees. Temporary workers. Independent contractors. Statutory employees and non-statutory employees. Interns. Volunteers. We've built a comprehensive guide outlining all seven employee types. You can download it for free here.).

Most people in the work force have experienced boring team building activities before. And how many ice breakers can one team really go through to learn about each other? But t eam building is important for uniting coworkers, working on strengths and weaknesses, and boosting employee morale. So how can we make team building exercises less mind numbingly boring? Believe it or not, activities do exist that are fun, unique, and unite coworkers together. They can range from a simple game to start off a meeting to a day-long offsite. Business Tips

How you deal with failure says a lot about you. Do you give up, or do you persevere? Most great leaders have dealt with failure at one point or another in their careers. While many failures are preventable or even due to untreated solopreneur fatigue , startups are an inherently tough business with a high failure rate. In fact, 90% of startups fail. But great startup leaders know how to take that failure and turn it into a lesson - and ultimately, a success. Follow our tips, and who knows? Maybe you’ll become the next great startup success. Business Tips

We're gearing up for our first anniversary of Justwomen, a quarterly event we host to celebrate female CEOs, founders, and entrepreneurs. Our anniversary event on November 16th features Katherine Ryder, founder and CEO of Maven , and Anu Duggal, the founding partner of F Cubed. At Justwomen, Katherine and Anu will discuss the nature of investments and investing in the startup world. We also caught up with Katherine beforehand. As the founder and CEO of Maven, Katherine oversees the first digital clinic for women. In 2009, she worked with former U.S. Interested in attending Justwomen?

If you've ever switched your company's healthcare provider, you know it's a crucial decision for your business. Healthcare quality, cost, and network directly affects the health and happiness of your employees. Your benefits package is also a deciding factor for new candidates. And if your company is over 20 full-time employees, the Affordable Care Act will mandate that you offer health insurance beginning in 2016. Navigating the process can be overwhelming, regardless of how many times you've done it before. So where to begin? The first step is always picking how you want to access healthcare.

We've built a handy reference sheet that outlines how owners can be paid. You can download it for free here. In many businesses workers are paid wages or a salary, and that compensation is subject to income tax withholding and employer taxes. But sole proprietors, partners in a partnership, and the members of a limited liability company are never paid wages because they are considered to be self-employed. So how do such individuals take money out of the business? It is by means of an “owner's draw” or just a regular old “draw”? Compliance Payroll

By now, business owners have likely realized that the number of tax documents that the IRS requires companies to file is significant. There’s a reason that accountants responsible for corporate taxes make so much money. Taxes

One of the most common forms of corporate structure is the Limited Liability Company (LLC). As we’ve already covered, if you’re aching to get your business started and don’t need much liability or potential tax optimization, the sole proprietorship is your best bet. But if there is going to be more than one person owning the business, you want to ensure that you’re not held liable, and can take advantage of certain business friendly taxes, the LLC might be the next best step for you. Read on to learn the advantages and disadvantages of an LLC. Download it for free here.