Put Your Best Foot Forward in 2021

2020 threw a curveball at many businesses, to say the least. That goes double for anyone who had to manage HR and benefits for their team last year! As you look toward the year ahead, now is a great time to set some resolutions that will set you up for success in your work life. To kick off the new year, check out our best practices that you can implement to make 2021 smooth sailing.

Review Employee Information for Accuracy

The beginning of the year is a great time to take stock of your team’s information and ensure everything is up-to-date. Starting the year fresh with the most current information ensures that you and your employees can receive important notifications and accurate tax documents at the end of the year.

Ask your team members to review their SSN, address (especially if they’re working remotely), and Form W-4 tax information — if you're a Justworks customer, this is all found within their employee profiles. You’ll also want to check that job titles and compensation are accurate, as some may be starting a new role in 2021.

Justworks Customer Tip:

You can get a bird’s eye view of your entire team’s personal and work information by downloading the Company Census Report, found in the Reports section.

Revisit 401(k) Contribution Amounts

Many people start off the year by making financial resolutions, and your employees may take time in January to calculate their 401(k) contribution per paycheck in order to reach the maximum contribution limit by December 31. Now is a great time to remind your team to revisit their 401(k) contribution amounts so they can map out proportional contributions throughout the year and meet their financial goals for 2021.

Justworks Customer Tip:

If your company uses Slavic 401k, employees can update their contribution any time through their Benefits center. If your company uses an external 401(k) administrator, ask your employees to send you updated contribution amounts so that you can update the 401(k) manual deduction in their employee profile.

Record Fringe Benefits Throughout the Year

Do you offer external perks to your team members such as a gym membership or a meal and lodging allowance? These are known as taxable fringe benefits. It's best practice and, in many cases, required by IRS guidelines to record these fringe benefits as you provide them to employees throughout the year. Not only will this save you time at the end of the year when taxes are being recorded on the Form W-2, but your employees won’t have a large chunk of taxes withheld on their final payrolls of the year.

Justworks Customer Tip:

You can easily record fringe benefits in Justworks using our Fringe Benefits tool available in the Payments Center.

Upgrade Your Health Benefits Offering

If we learned anything from 2020, it's the value of health insurance and other health benefits. Make 2021 the year you offer more to your team!

Offering health insurance is step one, but think about how your business might go beyond the basics. For example, through Justworks, benefits-eligible employees have access to these additional services for free:

• Health Advocate - an Employee Assistance Program that provides unlimited and confidential access to dedicated consultants that help resolve healthcare and insurance-related issues.

• OneMedical - a primary care provider that has 40 offices in major cities across the country. With a simple mobile app to schedule in-person appointments or access OneMedical’s 24/7 virtual medical team, your employees can quickly seek care for themselves and their immediate family at any time.

• Talkspace - an online therapy service that makes it easier for your employees to access mental health care and support on their own time. Employees enrolled in a medical plan can connect with a therapist through unlimited text, voice, and video messages, all done through an easy-to-use and HIPAA-compliant mobile app.

Justworks Customer Tip:

Ensure your team gets the most out of being a Justworks health insurance member by reminding your benefits-eligible employees that they have access to these additional benefits for free.

Stay on Top of Employment Regulations

Keeping up with employment regulations and building a safe, inclusive workplace will be a top priority for any business in 2021. This may seem like a daunting task, but Justworks can help.

Our favorite tip? Subscribe to The Scoop, our monthly compliance newsletter where you can find key updates and trends on changing employment regulations that might impact your business.

Also, it's important to remember that implementing a harassment prevention training program for your employees is best practice — and a requirement in states like California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, and New York. If you don't have this in place yet for your business, now is the time to build it.

Justworks Customer Tip:

Administer and reassign harassment prevention training in Justworks. Save time by setting a training schedule so that you don’t have to worry about reassigning the course each year.

Never Skip a Beat in 2021

We hope incorporating these best practices at the beginning of the year will help you start 2021 on the right foot. Want a little extra support? Consider switching to Justworks.

To stay up-to-date on all product changes in the new year, subscribe to our weekly Changelog, your go-to resource for weekly updates in Justworks.