What is needed to hire employees?

MaxWax

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So I just got my first office building contract and want to hire an employee. I was wondering what steps I have to take to do this, what kind of extra insurance I need etc. Thanks in advance.
 
A few things that come to my mind are...

1. An E.I.N. (Employer Identification Number)
2. Workman's Comp Insurance
3. An Emplyee's Right to know center. Think Bulletin board near a time clock with federal minimum wage, OSHA information etc. postings in it.
4. Full OSHA Compliance to include accurately updated MSDS books etc.
5. A business accountant.
6. A business attorney.
7. PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) to include various gloves, respirators, fall protection etc.

Big Brother don't make it easy on a Brotha.
 
1. Register your business and note that you will have employees. This will ensure you get reminders about quarterly tax reports and unemployment insurance, withholding, and other local benefit funds that you may be forced to deduct.

2. Setup an accounting solution and order checks with which to pay your employees. OR there are several services like ADP that offer automatic payroll processing. From what I have priced out it would be sort of ridiculous to buy this kind of payroll service for 1-2 employees only but it scales up rather inexpensively if you plan on growth and hiring more workers.

3. W4 forms for all employees hired.

4. Separate business checking account to fund your payroll account. Trust me it is just easier than pulling it out of the general fund because sometimes you never know how long it will be before they will cash their check.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. You could always just pay them cash, lol.
 
In addition to what the others have said you will also need to register for Unemployment insurance for the state of FL
 
lol just get them as subs and pay them cash to start out. that way you dont have to get Workman's Comp Insurance
on them. just put a ad on craigslist and you will get lots of calls.Some will be no good and some will be ok then some times you will get a real good one.All I am saying is try it out before you buy. I get mine for 1/2 year only then its slow down here and I go up north . snowbird
 
lol just get them as subs and pay them cash to start out. that way you dont have to get Workman's Comp Insurance
on them. just put a ad on craigslist and you will get lots of calls.Some will be no good and some will be ok then some times you will get a real good one.All I am saying is try it out before you buy. I get mine for 1/2 year only then its slow down here and I go up north . snowbird

A 1099 sub contractor is a good option but in NJ you would be required to pay employer share on some of the disability and wc. General liability insurance.
 
A 1099 sub contractor is a good option but in NJ you would be required to pay employer share on some of the disability and wc. General liability insurance.

In TN you better make sure they are licensed too. Otherwise they will be considered employees
 
Max, Let me start with I live in California so your laws are probably a little different.
But with that being said, we own a Staffing Agency. This is a great way to get your first employee. You should look around price shop vs what you will get. They can provide you with the employee or if you have someone in mind find an agency and ask for a discount as you will be sending them the employee.

They will cover the workers comp., taxes, unemployment, payroll, etc. Make sure they are responsible for all of that stuff in the contract. You will still need your own Liability Ins. for your Office,Workspace,Shop.

Make sure the contract has a clause about how and if you want to bring that employee on full time you can WITHOUT paying extra. With us this is usually 90 working days or 720hrs. Also make sure you don't have to take them on early in case you aren't ready.( You will need to do some homework on your states Work comp laws, and employee laws).

In California you do not have to have w comp on the owners. If you do your own payroll, taxes,w comp,etc. you can pay yourself as an employee and then if need be claim unemployment.

YOU WILL WANT TO CHECK YOUR LAWS AND TALK WITH YOUR ACCOUNTANT.

Be careful, as when you get your business license you may get a lot of people sending you all sorts of stuff saying you need this. In Ca. for example I was paying an out of state company $150 - $300 a year to register my bus. with the Secretary Of State and be the name of server. You can do this yourself for $25.

LIKE I SAID DO YOUR HOMEWORK.

Hope this helps and Congrats on your new business.
You must be a work a hillock,:laughing: (just kidding) it is a lot of work but well worth the time.
 
Be extremely careful with 1099s. The gov't is cracking down hard on employers who are mis-classifying employees at 1099 independent contractors. Bottom line is, if you down a detailing shop and you have employees detailing cars, they are NOT 1099s. No ifs ands or buts about it.
 
Btw, there is a very important distinction when someone says "paying cash". You can legally hand an employee cash, but you have to follow all the same laws for withholdings, reporting, etc. I did that for my employees who did not have checking accounts. They liked it and I liked not writing checks. But, all taxes were deducted and paid, they received a completed itemized statement right from Quickbooks.


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Another option that I am currently researching is leasing an employee! You do the hiring and a third party company does all of the IRS, Federal, and state requirements. All you do is pay that company along with their fees. You get to be in complete control without all of the headaches. The employee is yours full time and you don't have to keep re-training.

Staffing Agencies: a good option when you don't need a full time employee but there is no guarantee that you will get the same person each time (double check that - I am not an expert). If they quit the agency, you lose.

Sub-Contractor: be careful... this is an IRS red flag! If they get to set their own schedule and use their own tools along with a number of other rules, they might be a sub-contractor.

Good Luck
 
If you just needed some "helpers" from time to time instead of a regular employee check with a local church. There are always young people at churches looking to pay for missions trips and summer camps etc. Sometimes the pastor knows of a family facing a hardship that could use a little extra cash to make ends meet. You should be able to reach an agreement where these people "volunteer" their time and you make a "donation" to the church. It avoids all the IRS stuff and it becomes a tax deduction for you.
 
Another option that I am currently researching is leasing an employee! You do the hiring and a third party company does all of the IRS, Federal, and state requirements. All you do is pay that company along with their fees. You get to be in complete control without all of the headaches. The employee is yours full time and you don't have to keep re-training.

Staffing Agencies: a good option when you don't need a full time employee but there is no guarantee that you will get the same person each time (double check that - I am not an expert). If they quit the agency, you lose.

Sub-Contractor: be careful... this is an IRS red flag! If they get to set their own schedule and use their own tools along with a number of other rules, they might be a sub-contractor.

Good Luck

Leasing an employee in California requires that you have your own Workers Comp. These companies usually charge you for every little thing - per check, child support, W2's, etc. So know what you get upfront.

As for Staffing Agencies. Well, I do consider myself an expert (owner 10 years).
If this is the way you maybe considering you should try to find a locally owned one. Find out how long they have been in the business. Then tell them what you want. Ex. I want the same person everyday not a new guy every other day/week.

When you get the employee he/she is yours to supervise. Talk to the employee first, find out what they are looking for short term, long term, seasonal, part time, full time.

We do all the interviews first then let our customers choose to do there own or not. A lot of our customers have been with us since we started. We have a great relationship and they just call and tell us to send someone as we already know them and what they need/like or maybe even ask if someone who has already worked for them is available.

They can also have them back ground checked (if your going to a customers home this is a good idea to have this done, Could become a liability if something comes up missing). Drug testing, pre employment, random, accident.

I'm not saying this is the only way to go but in my 10 years I have seen A LOT of things go wrong for owners that don't understand all the Laws/Rules of the game. Let me tell you this the rules are always changing!! Miss a payment to the IRS and well it will cost you more than you made with that employee.

You are getting A LOT of advise on here and I'm only trying to get you thinking about what is my best way to start my business safely for your own future. Trust me when I say if you make a bad choice and down the road you are doing well, then get a big fat bill from the IRS or an AUDIT you aren't expecting, it's not very fun.

One more word of advice from experience. As an employee you think one way as an owner you'll think a whole different way. After all you are the one that took the chance.

Employees are your best friend until something goes wrong then it's all about what can they get you for. Let me say, this is NOT every employee. We have worked with and still have many GREAT employee's, but can you tell me which one is and isn't this way by looking at them? We haven't figured this one out yet. So be careful however you choose to pay them. Always protect your self. C.Y.A. was made up for a reason.

Starting a new business is fun and exciting, but we don't always think about what if something happens until it happens.
 
Sorry I was editing before I posted and took to long so I wanted to add this in to the first part I was saying.

Leasing an employee in California requires that you have your own Workers Comp. A lot of these leasing co. do all of the paychecks but only figure out the taxes, unemployment, etc. then send it back to you to track and pay on your own. Make sure if they make a mistake they are responsible for the fine. A lot of them have it in their contracts that they are NOT. Read the contract, run it by a lawyer if you really want to protect yourself. A staffing company takes care of this for you and can fire an employee or take care of an issue you may have with the employee for you. If you don't need them anymore they get them a different job or pay the unemployment, not you.
Leasing companies usually charge you for every little thing - per check, child support, W2's, etc. So know what you get upfront.
 
Well, for my part, I am no expert and appreciate all of the information. It so happened checking the local staffing agencies is on my list of things to do on Monday so I am really glad you are adding this information. In fact, I'll take all you care to offer like, what can I expect to pay the agency (best guess - I am in Florida)?

As far as leasing, again, I am not an expert but did work for someone who payed me through this leasing organization who took care of everything. I don't know all of the details as long as I got paid! I have read in a trade magazine for pressure washing that in Florida the leasing company does pay everything including workmans comp, insurance... everything.

I guess the best thing to do is take the information people like yourself care to share and see how it applies to your own location.

Again I stress, thank you for sharing your knowledge. For my part, I do appreciate it.
 
You very welcome, A lot of what I said comes from our experience with our company and stories other business owners have told us of their horror stories.

Keep in mind every state has different rules/laws.

I remember like it was yesterday starting ours. We had to put it everything on the line and walk away from to great paying jobs. So if someone asks I will share what I can to help them avoid as much learning the hard way as I can.

With everything I've said keep in mind all states are different as are all staffing agencies. We do a lot of what I talked about earlier included with our cost ie. drug tests, background checks, we've even helped clients figure out the labor cost if they are bidding a large job and are unsure what the labor would be. I know don't really know of to many that do what we will do for our clients. But we look at it this way. If we can help you go from a start up to a large co. who will you want to always use. Help others and it will usually come back to you. Not always, we've even had companies that we helped from the beginning and then leave us only to call us within 6 mo. saying I'm in big trouble with my company or I tried others and no one does what you do. Like I said try to find a privately owned company, you may pay more but what will you get in return. That all depends on you and that company.

Like I said on the leasing companies just make sure of what you get. That is true for any type of company you use or do business with.
Make sure they are taking responsibility for what you assume they.
NEVER ASSUME, we all know the old saying when you break down the word ASS U ME.

As for cost it all depends on FL. taxes, work comp, unemployment cost, etc.
For us it would cost you for a $10hr employee about $15.50hr, but you get all of the perks I've talked about with that. Yes that is us paying all of the taxes, wc, unemployment, drug testing if needed, background checks, our fee, W2's/year end filing, etc. You may be more or less. You may be able to find it cheaper but what are you getting or better yet not getting?

We could lease the employees but you would still need your own work comp. California laws. If we leased employees we do all of the payroll, taxes, unemployment, child supports, we would even calculate the work comp for you then tell you what to pay. We would send you payroll reports for your records.

Hope this helps and good luck with your new business.
 
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