What Is Justworks?
Justworks makes it easy to run payroll for anyone who needs to be paid at your company. You can set up profiles for full-time, part-time, salaried, hourly and contract workers, plus vendors. They can also set up everything on their own through the self-serve employee portal. You’ll handle running payroll, while Justworks processes tax filings for your W-2 and 1099 workers. You can set up weekly and/or biweekly payments or run as many off-cycle payments as needed, at no extra cost.
Featured Partners
1
Rippling
Yes
Yes
$35/month plus $8 PEPM
2
OnPay
Yes
Yes
$40 per month + $6 per user
3
Paychex Flex
Yes
Yes
$39-plus per month, depending on company size and needs (6 month free offer)
4
Gusto
Yes
Yes
$40 per month plus $6 per user
How Justworks Works
Justworks is designed to help you handle important human resources (HR) tasks, such as payroll, staffing, benefits and healthcare enrollment securely on the cloud. It acts as a professional employer organization, or PEO, meaning it offers the support of a larger company with an HR team for an affordable price.
You can use Justworks to select the right insurance products and benefits for your employees, set up workers’ compensation, receive answers to difficult HR situations and more. In addition, it integrates with other solutions you may already use.
Is Justworks Right for Me?
The reason to choose Justworks over some of the other best payroll services is only if you’re looking for a PEO in addition to payroll software. It’s an expensive choice, but if you need the added HR tools and access to lower-cost insurance for employees, it could be a good fit for your company.
Justworks Is Best For:
- Small Businesses With Extra HR Needs: If you’re in search of a PEO that can replace an in-house HR team as well as a payroll software and don’t mind paying more for it, Justworks is worth exploring.
Justworks Is Not Recommended For:
- Startups or Small Businesses Looking for a Bare-Bones Payroll Solution: If you’re a startup or newer small business with a limited budget and solely in need of a payroll software, Justworks isn’t the best fit.
What Sets Justworks Apart
Justworks is not your run-of-the-mill payroll software. It’s a PEO you can count on to manage your payroll, insurance, employee training, compliance, taxes and other HR tasks. If you decide to use Justworks, you give it some control of your business. It becomes your co-owner for tax purposes.
This is all great if you’re looking to offload your HR functions and don’t want to hire an in-house HR team. However, if you’re simply in the market for a basic payroll solution, Justworks may be too robust for your needs.
Justworks Features
Justworks doesn’t have time tracking in its payroll and HR software, but it does offer its own app you can integrate to sync with payroll (and your accounting software). The caveat is that the time-tracking app comes with an additional cost: Justworks Hours costs $20 to $45 per month as a base cost, plus $5 to $9 per person per month. There is no mobile app, but you can access your account on a mobile browser.
Integrations are important for payroll services, especially accounting software integrations. Justworks syncs easily with the best accounting software, such as QuickBooks and Xero. Also, Justworks offers 24/7 support via phone, email, live chat, Slack and by text.
Ease of Use
The Justworks interface is sleek and easy to use, even for the least tech-savvy administrators and employees. It’s fairly straightforward to add new employees or vendors and access reports to get an idea of how your business is performing. If you prefer, you can create your own customized reports using the pre-built report feature. Plus, there are a variety of self-service tasks that employees can easily complete on their own. If they need help, the tutorials found in the Help Center are sure to come in handy.
Compliance
When it comes to compliance with federal, state and local employment laws, Justworks excels. It files your taxes and unemployment insurance, offers workers’ compensation and handles all Affordable Care Act (ACA) filings. In addition, Justworks provides online training programs on topics such as workplace harassment and online resources to keep you and your employees updated on the latest regulations and policies. You can also turn to the Justworks team for personalized compliance advice.
Onboarding
Justworks truly simplifies the onboarding process, which can often be a hassle. Your new employees may input their personal and banking information directly into the platform, alleviating administrative burden. The platform also offers employee handbook management, e-signing, new-hire reporting, offer letters, policy templates, secure document storage and harassment prevention training.
Tax Filing
If you’re overwhelmed with taxes, you’ll be pleased to learn that Justworks can file payroll taxes and forms, including W-2s, 1099s, 940s and 941s electronically on your behalf. You’ll be able to access these forms whenever you’d like and can run payroll reports to gain a clear picture of your company’s performance. Keep in mind that you’ll still be responsible for income tax returns, such as Form 1120 and Schedule K-1.
Time Tracking
Time tracking is available through Justworks Hours, which is essentially a time and attendance software. Employees can use it to clock in and out and you may configure it with applicable company policies and relevant employment laws. You’ll be able to check Justworks Hours at any time to see the hours your employees and various departments worked. It will also allow you to keep tabs on overtime.
Benefits Administration
Along with most PEOs, Justworks can provide your employees with a variety of benefits at great prices. These include health, dental and vision insurance, life and disability insurance, 401(k) retirement plans, health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts and workers’ compensation insurance. You can also ask them to assist with other perks, such as commuter benefits, gym memberships and mental health assistance.
Analytics and Reporting
Justworks offers basic analytics and reporting features that relate to payroll, HR and benefits. A few examples of its reports include training status reports, PTO request reports and company census reports.
The reports can be customized to meet your unique business model and needs. You can also export them as CSV files and save or share them with ease. If you’d like access to more reporting options or are seeking more robust reporting, you can integrate Justworks with QuickBooks or Xero.
Accessibility
Justworks has mobile apps that are compatible on iOS and Android devices. Employees can use the app to access their profiles, pay stubs, benefits and time off. There’s also a documents section that securely stores their tax documents, such as W-2s and 1095-Cs. For access to all the features, employees can log in to their accounts on a desktop.
Justworks Pricing and Plans
Basic Plan
The Basic plan covers payroll, includes 24/7 support, offers self-serve onboarding, tax filing and gives you access to workers’ comp insurance, 401(k) and other perks.
Plus Plan
The Plus plan also includes access to medical, dental and vision insurance, health savings accounts (HSAs) and COBRA insurance. It also helps you with federal and state compliance, such as with harassment prevention training.
Customer Service and Support
We were impressed with how quickly we received a response when we called Justworks and asked a basic question. It offers support via phone, email and live chat. There’s also a help center, videos and tutorials. Surprisingly, however, you don’t get access to a dedicated support representative.
Additional Features Worth Noting
Justworks acts as a PEO so, in a way, it’s a co-employer partnered with your company. This benefits your employees because they can choose health insurance at lower costs than if you were to go through a health insurance broker or find it yourself.
Justworks Alternatives and How They Compare
Justworks vs. OnPay
Both Justworks and OnPay offer a long list of features. Justworks, however, is a bit pricier because it acts as a PEO that can handle your HR tasks instead of an in-house team. If you require this additional capability and don’t mind paying more for it, Justworks is likely the way to go.
Justworks vs. Wave Payroll
Justworks is far more robust than Wave Payroll. With Wave, you only get tax filing if you operate in certain states. Plus there are no opportunities to shop for and enroll in employee benefits programs. These might not be issues if you’re looking for a basic payroll provider at an affordable price point.
Justworks vs. Gusto
While Gusto is cheaper than Justworks, it offers many of the same features. The major difference between the two platforms is that Justworks is based on a PEO model and can take HR functions off your plate. Gusto’s primary focus is payroll administration. Lean more about Gusto vs Justworks.
Our Expert Opinion
There’s no denying that Justworks is pricey compared to other payroll providers. However, the higher price tag might be well worth it for small businesses that are looking to scale with the knowledge and assistance of a PEO that can support them with payroll, HR, employee benefits and compliance.
Payroll Solutions Tailored To Your Business Goals
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is Justworks a PEO?
Yes, Justworks is a PEO, or a professional employer organization, so it can partner with your business and serve as a co-employer. It includes a payroll service, but also HR tools. A PEO such as Justworks gives you and your employees access to benefits, insurance and compliance support that you can’t typically get with just a payroll service.
Who are Justworks’ competitors?
Many of the best payroll services focus on HR and payroll equally. Consider looking into Gusto, Rippling and ADP if you want a direct competitor of Justworks. Other Justworks alternatives that put payroll first and HR second include Paycor, OnPay and Wave Payroll.
How long has Justworks been in business?
Startup Justworks was founded in 2012 and focuses on providing benefits, automated payroll, compliance support and serves as an HRIS to other startups and small businesses.
How does HRIS help employees?
An HRIS system gives employees a central place to access their benefits without having to contact HR. This helps employees to stay engaged and use their time efficiently.
