Labor of Love
It’s Labor Day. Today we celebrate workers, and that term covers most of us, in any industry and any age. It’s a perfect time to understand your options relative to workers as a small business.
First up we have volunteers and interns. Depending on your organization, it might be possible to have volunteers and college interns. Many firms may qualify at local colleges to be a college credit class. Identify the intern coordinator at each college around you and call them for information. Our dog swimming business successfully used animal behavior interns to support our efforts. It was a win/win for their hands-on education and a life saver for us to fill in staffing gaps.
Next would be the use of consultants. This is where your services pair up on a team and approach a project with distinct duties. There is usually a project manager, who that is will often be determined by the type of the project and whose insurance will allow the management of the project.
In this scenario, payment often flows from the owner of the project to the project manager who then sends out the payment to each consultant. At year end, a Form 1099 often needs to be sent to each participating consultant by the project manager. We have seen this approach used with interior designers, architects, social workers, lawyers, the list can be endless for professional services organizations. The biggest advantage to this approach is that no firm needs to take on payroll, emplpyee taxes, or costly benefits.
Another option, short of hiring employees,, would be to work with an employee services company which leases workers. They take care of all the emplpyee requirements, such as benefits and taxes, and issue the annual W-2 Form required for reporting income and associated taxes. Your small business would usually pay a monthly fee to the employee services corporation .
And, finally, hire your own employees. This allows you to find the best and most qualified workers, all under your control. You will need to set up employee tax payments and consider benefits, such as paid time off, health insurance, and others. The help and support of your accountant is critical to setting this option up to ensure tax and legal compliance.
The important takeaway here is that you have options. Review them with your accountant and perhaps your lawyer. Always utilize your business guidance professionals.
In the dog world, most canine competitors cannot do their job alone. They need handlers and a support network and someone to provide treats for the work they accomplish. Consider how you can best treat your organization with the various options for workers. It should pay out in the end and, often, four paws are better than one!
Be well.
