Pros & Cons of Justworks: Analysis of a Leading Payroll Software

Growing businesses with small HR teams often confront the daunting task of handling a growing workforce. With an increasing number of employees, the administrative processes, such as managing payroll and benefits and staying compliant with evolving employment regulations, become more intricate. To tackle these challenges effectively, businesses can leverage the expertise of a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) like Justworks.

PEOs provide a comprehensive suite of HR services and user-friendly payroll software solutions, which can significantly lighten the load on in-house HR teams. Looking at the pros and cons of Justworks, we will explore the advantages and drawbacks of using the platform and analyze the impact of its features on optimizing HR and payroll processes for businesses dealing with an expanding workforce.

Over the past decade, there has been a notable 40% increase in the adoption of PEOs among small businesses. This growth trend can, in part, be attributed to the surge in remote workforces, which saw a significant boost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interestingly, 71% of employers who have incorporated a PEO into their operations are better equipped to manage remote workers, a noteworthy contrast to the 49% of employers who do not utilize PEO services.

The primary driver behind the choice to engage a PEO remains consistent: access to cost-effective and high-quality employee benefits in the United States, whether employer-sponsored, voluntary, or supplemental. These investments in PEOs consistently pay dividends, as employers utilizing PEOs report significantly enhanced overall outcomes. To further enhance the employee benefits experience, employers prioritize the integration of decision support tools within HR and benefits administration technology, assisting employees in making informed enrollment decisions. However, it’s important to note that adopting third-party HR and benefits administration platforms may come with additional costs. Thankfully, solutions like Justworks offer a single, integrated platform that encompasses all these essential tools, streamlining the process, especially for businesses. A detailed look at the pros and cons of Justworks shows why.

What is Justworks?

Justworks offers a comprehensive HR and payroll solution ideally suited for small and mid-sized businesses in various industries. This versatile platform encompasses many features, including payroll processing, HR management, compliance, benefits administration, workflow automation, time tracking, and robust reporting.

Its user-friendly design sets Justworks apart, ensuring an accessible experience for new users who seek to explore and utilize its capabilities. Unlike other payroll software alternatives, Justworks excels in benefits management, providing access to diverse health plans and seamless integration with payroll and HR, allowing for the creation of tailored compensation packages for different employee tiers. Additionally, it streamlines payroll processes with features like automated deposits and reimbursement workflows.

In addition to its core offerings, Justworks simplifies HR operations with tools for onboarding, directory maintenance, PTO management, access control, document handling, organizational chart creation, and interactive calendars. Robust reporting features also empower managers to track key business metrics and customize reports as needed. Furthermore, the integrated time tracking feature ensures precise recording of employee hours and related data, enhancing HR and payroll functions.

As for its customer support, Justworks provides round-the-clock assistance to its users via various communication channels with the help of a team of certified HR consultants and experts. Moreover, the platform integrates seamlessly with popular applications, including some of the best payroll software systems, offers mobile access, and provides flexible plan options to accommodate businesses’ evolving needs.

Justworks Pros and Cons

1. Online Onboarding for Remote Teams

Simplify the onboarding process for your remote employees with Justworks, offering a straightforward, automated, and online experience. Through Justworks, new hires get access to user-friendly tools like the online dashboard, enabling them to complete essential tasks, from setting up direct deposit to choosing health insurance plans. This ensures a seamless and efficient onboarding journey for new employees from anywhere in the United States or across the globe. For enhanced efficiency, consider integrating Justworks with Greenhouse to improve the information flow during the hiring process. It is, however, important to note that although Justworks accommodates remote teams from outside the U.S., its payroll and PEO solutions are exclusively available to businesses or companies based in the U.S. for now.

2. Automated Time Tracking

Justworks offers Justworks Hours, a versatile time-tracking solution suitable for on-site and remote employees. This tool boasts features like geofencing to uphold employee accountability and seamless payroll integration, streamlining time tracking for enhanced operational efficiency. Notably, it allows you to extend time-tracking capabilities to contractors, offering a comprehensive solution for hourly and contract workers. Directly syncing with payroll eliminates the need to manage a separate solution, ensuring businesses run smoothly and employees receive accurate and prompt compensation.

3. Payments

Among the key components of payroll software is the payment function. Justworks offers a comprehensive payments function that empowers businesses to efficiently manage various types of payments. These payments encompass contractor pay, bonus payments, off-cycle salary, expense reimbursements, and other forms of supplemental pay. Justworks provides flexibility in choosing the payment method, allowing you to disburse funds through either direct deposit or check, depending on your preferences and the needs of your workforce.

Moreover, Justworks facilitates precise control over payment details by enabling you to specify whether payments should be based on gross or net pay. This versatility caters to different payment structures and preferences within your organization. Additionally, you can easily configure the type of taxes and deductions associated with each payment, ensuring compliance and accuracy in financial transactions. Justworks’ payments function offers a convenient and adaptable solution for businesses to manage their various payment needs efficiently and accurately.

4. PTO management

Effortlessly streamline your paid time off management with Justworks’ HR platform. You can configure your company’s vacation and sick leave policies, create a customized holiday calendar, and synchronize the Justworks PTO calendar with your company’s holiday schedule. Additionally, you can monitor accruals and approve PTO requests. Employees have the convenience of overseeing their PTO and accessing their team’s PTO records directly within Justworks, whether on their computer or the Justworks mobile app. Moreover, you can also approve time-off requests directly from your email for added convenience.

5. Compliance Management

In addition to ensuring compliance with federal and state tax regulations, Justworks offers businesses valuable access to a range of online training modules, such as Sexual Harassment Prevention. This training module assists businesses in meeting state and city harassment prevention training mandates while promoting inclusivity in the workplace. Furthermore, Justworks extends its compliance support to encompass various areas, including workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance filings, and ACA filings, ensuring that businesses can navigate the regulatory landscape effectively.

6. Access to High-quality Benefits

Justworks offers access to an extensive range of high-quality health insurance coverage, including medical, dental, and vision insurance, and additional offerings such as 401(k) plans and mental health support. The platform also simplifies the health insurance enrollment process, as employees can do this by themselves. Additionally, it incorporates wellness services into the coverage, including primary care and fertility benefits, at no extra cost.

7. Employment Tax Management

Justworks takes on the sole responsibility of handling various crucial aspects of employment tax management, ensuring businesses can navigate the intricate landscape of tax regulations with confidence and accuracy. This includes the management of employment tax liabilities, filing related tax returns, and making deposits and payments for employment-related taxes. Justworks also goes above and beyond in employment tax management by efficiently handling the withholding, reporting, and remittance of payroll taxes, simplifying the often complex task of tax compliance.

Moreover, it takes care of filing W-2s and 1099s, ensuring businesses remain compliant with federal tax regulations. Additionally, Justworks manages employer payroll reporting requirements for tax filings, which encompasses filing Form 940 and Form 941, further reducing the administrative burden on businesses.

8. Mobile App for Employees

Justworks mobile app empowers employees with the flexibility to efficiently manage HR-related tasks on the go. With this app, employees can confidently access and navigate various functions, such as viewing paystubs, checking benefit information, and even submitting time-off requests, all from the convenience of their iOS or Android devices.

It is worth noting that, as of this writing, Justworks does not offer a mobile app specifically designed for employers. The focus is on providing employees with a user-friendly and accessible tool for managing their HR-related activities from their smartphones, ensuring convenience and flexibility in their work-related tasks.

9. Multiple Integrations

Justworks offers robust integration capabilities, streamlining the processes of time tracking, accounting, and payments to save businesses valuable time and resources. By seamlessly syncing Justworks with essential tools like Xero, Quickbooks, and Quickbooks Online, Justworks simplifies the management of tracked work hours and payment-related tasks. This integration centralizes all critical time tracking and payment functions into one convenient platform, enabling businesses to complete payroll tasks efficiently. Additionally, Justworks integrates with Greenhouse Recruiting, providing a seamless solution for handling candidate information.

10. HR Expert Consultation

Justworks is dedicated to supporting its customers with an array of consultation options and round-the-clock customer service via phone, email, in-app chat, and Slack. With access to 24/7 customer support, businesses can confidently reach out for assistance whenever needed. Additionally, Justworks offers the opportunity to schedule consultations with their certified HR consultants, who are equipped to provide tailored guidance and share best practices for effectively managing distributed teams. These HR experts are available to offer insights and solutions related to people management, ensuring that businesses can navigate HR challenges with confidence.

11. Comprehensive Insights

Justworks provides powerful reporting and user-friendly tools to access essential data and insights independently, eliminating the need to rely on external data processing.
With this feature, businesses can create custom payroll reporting by extracting essential data, including member net pay, the total cost per member, and the total employer-paid taxes.

Additionally, Justworks provides an extensive range of reports that cover various aspects of business operations. These include reports related to timecard usage, training status, tax filings, insurance billing, 1099 reporting, and retirement reporting. By offering such diverse reports, Justworks ensures that businesses have comprehensive insights into their operations, enabling them to track and manage various aspects of their business efficiently.

12. Flexible Package and Pricing

Justworks provides businesses with a flexible package and pricing model tailored to their needs. The all-in-one PEO solution is available in two plans, both of which can cater to businesses with up to 200 W-2 employees. However, it is important to note that Justworks PEO’s pricing structure is on a per-employee basis, which can be more costly.

For smaller businesses or teams with up to 30 employees or businesses primarily consisting of contractors, Justworks offers a standalone solution for payroll services. This package starts at $50 per month, with an additional charge of $8 for each additional employee, making Justworks an affordable payroll software for small businesses.

Going Beyond Payroll with Justworks

As this article on the pros and cons of Justworks shows, the payroll solution goes above and beyond the payroll management process by offering a comprehensive suite of HR, compliance, benefits, and reporting solutions. Its integrated platform streamlines complex HR processes, making it accessible and user-friendly for businesses of all sizes.

Notably, Justworks doesn’t stop at payroll—it also provides essential services, including time tracking, compliance support, and a wide array of benefits offerings. With Justworks, businesses can efficiently manage their payroll and HR responsibilities, ultimately allowing them to redirect their resources toward growth and success.