Justworks Review
A one-stop-shop employee management platform, Justworks is easy to use, intuitive, and ready to make life simpler, but it might not be a fit for all small businesses.
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Expert Analyst & Reviewer
UPDATED
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Justworks
| Total Rating | 4.0 |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Excellent |
| Customer Service | Fair |
| Integrations | Fair |
| Reviews | Excellent |
Payroll Processing Time
4 daysPricing
Starts at $49/monthBusiness Size
Small-medium (25-175 users)Justworks At A Glance
- Justworks is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that manages companies’ HR administration, payroll, risk and compliance issues, insurance, employee training, and more.
- Justworks operates under a co-employment model; the company becomes the employer of record for tax purposes, so it may not be the best solution for some small businesses.
- With 24/7 support, Xero and QuickBooks integrations, and robust benefits offerings, Justworks is a great match for businesses that need to handle administrative services but prefer to outsource those responsibilities in return for a reliable, all-in-one solution.
Pros
- Easy to use
- Transparent pricing
- Great insurance options
Cons
- Lack of customization
- Limited reporting options
Table of Contents
What Is Justworks?
Justworks is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) offering HR administration, payroll, employee benefits, employee training, and compliance tools for small- to mid-sized businesses and startups. A PEO is a human resource company hired to take over control of some of your business’s functions.
As a PEO, Justworks has better buying power when it comes to insurance options, handles business compliance, and provides small businesses with access to tools and services that may typically be reserved for larger enterprises.
Justworks Pricing
| Justworks Plans | Price | When To Use |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Starts at $49/employee per month | If you need essential compliance, HR, benefits, and payroll features |
| Plus | Starts at $99/employee per month | If you need employee insurance benefits in addition to HR and payroll |
Justworks operates under a subscription model with two plans: Basic and Plus. The Basic plan offers compliance tools, benefits, HR, and payroll. Plus adds medical, dental, and vision benefits to everything included in the Basic plan.
Businesses can choose monthly or annual subscriptions for Justworks. You’ll pay less if you have enough employees to move up a payment tier.
Justworks doesn’t offer a free trial. If you find that Justworks’ services aren’t a good fit for your business, you’ll need to call up to cancel your account’s services.
Justworks Basic
Justworks’ Basic starts at $49/employee per month and includes:
- Payroll for salaried and hourly employees
- Off-cycle payments
- Vendor and contractor payments
- Employer payroll tax filings
- W-2 and 1099 filings
- Unemployment insurance filings
- Employment practices liability insurance
- 24/7 support
- HR consulting
- Harassment prevention and inclusion training
- Online employee onboarding
- PTO management
- Calendar, doc center, directory
- Accounting software integrations
- Reporting
- Commuter benefits
- Plan setup
- Org charts
- eSigning
Justworks Plus
Justworks’ Plus starts at $99/employee per month and includes everything in the Basic package, plus:
- COBRA administration
- Health advocacy services
- One Medical (when available)
Extra Justworks Cost & Fees
| Justworks Extra Costs | Price |
|---|---|
| Time Tracking | $8/employee per month |
| 401(k) Retirement Plans | Variable |
| Fitness Memberships | Variable |
| Life Insurance | Variable |
| Workers' Compensation | Variable |
| Health & Wellness Perks | Variable |
| Disability Insurance | Variable |
| Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) | Variable |
Justworks plans include the option to add on services for an extra cost. Most of these additional costs are related to benefits, including 401(k) plans, life insurance, health insurance, and workers’ compensation, so the price will vary.
In addition to benefits, Justworks users will need to pay extra to use Justworks Hours, the company’s time-tracking software. If your business relies on time tracking for payments, the software may be a useful addition.
Is Justworks Easy To Use?
Everything front-facing on the Justworks cloud-based platform is designed with ease of use for the client. With that usability and ease comes a careful simplicity; you will sacrifice customization when you want ease.
As with any SaaS provider, ease of use will depend on personal experiences and preferences. Some users mention difficulty finding reports or fixing mistakes without the need for customer service to intervene.
Justworks Features
| Feature | Availability |
|---|---|
| Auto-Schedule Payroll | |
| Payroll Tax Support | |
| Bonus Payroll | |
| Off-Cycle Payroll | |
| Employee Management | |
| Paid Time Off | |
| Time Tracking | (integration only) |
| Reporting | |
| HR Support | |
| Onboarding Support | |
| Benefits Administration |
As a Professional Employer Organization, Justworks is a co-owner of your business for tax purposes. For businesses that need robust HR support but may not be able to afford an HR department, a PEO is the right fit. Justworks allows your business to offer health insurance and other benefits. You’ll be able to offload compliance and tax responsibilities, letting Justworks handle the work.
As an all-in-one solution, Justworks is a solid option. However, some of the company’s features could use some polish and feature expansion. For example, Justworks’ payroll services are limited to a four-day processing time and no paper check printing.
If you’re looking for a platform to simplify payroll, HR, and employee benefits, there are better options, including Gusto and ADP Payroll — see how these two popular payroll options stack up in our Gusto VS ADP comparison.
Payroll Processing
Running payroll with Justworks is simple, although the platform’s features are relatively basic. That said, businesses can send payroll with a push of a button and automate the payroll runs.
Here’s a look at Justworks’ payroll features:
- Four-day payroll processing
- Multistate payroll
- Split deposits across multiple accounts
- Payment reminders
- Automated payroll
- Bonuses, commissions, and reimbursements
- Garnishments
- One-time payments
- Direct deposit
- Pay employees and contractors
- Unemployment tax reporting
- Payroll tax filing
- PTO policy tracking
- Payroll reports
- Timesheet sync
Employee Management & PTO
Employee management is simple within the Justworks platform. Set and track PTO policies, manage time-off requests, and store important documents within the platform.
Here’s a look at Justworks employee management and PTO features:
- PTO policy management
- Sick and vacation days
- Time off requests
- PTO accruement
- Holiday and sick pay
- Employee directory
- Online document storage
- eSigning
Time Tracking
Justworks only offers time tracking through an integration with Justworks Hours. While the service isn’t built-in, it’s an add-on that allows businesses to track and manage employee hours while staying within the Justworks ecosystem.
Here’s a look at Justworks Hours time-tracking features:
- Overtime calculator
- Contractor hours
- Multiple pay rates and schedules
- Summary of hours
- PTO
- Mobile app
Payroll Tax Support
Justworks gets the job done when it comes to payroll tax support. The company handles local, state, and federal payroll tax calculation, filing, and payment for businesses.
Justworks’ payroll tax support features include:
- Automatic tax calculation, filing, and payment (state, local, and federal)
- W-2s and 1099s
- Employee access to tax forms
Reporting
Justworks offers basic reporting features across three categories: benefits, HR, and payroll. However, integration with QuickBooks or Xero will increase your reporting options.
Justworks’ reporting features include:
- 12 built-in reports
- Report customization
- QuickBooks and Xero integration
HR & Onboarding
Justworks wants to make everything about the HR process seamless. Justworks’ basic HR features include document storage management and onboarding assistance. However, those are just the basics.
Here’s a look at Justworks’ HR and onboarding features:
- Employee handbook management
- Harassment prevention training
- HR consulting
- Secure document storage
- eSigning
- Compliance support
- New-hire reporting
- Offer letters
- Policy templates
- Self-guided employee onboarding
Benefits Administration
Justworks will help employees enroll and compare plans. Everything is automated and uploaded to the Justworks portal. Better yet, using a PEO will allow your employees to save on their benefits.
Justworks benefits features include:
- Discounted benefit rates
- Health, vision, and dental
- Disability insurance
- Wellness perks
- Mental health assistance
- Fitness memberships
- HSAs
- Commuter benefits
- 401(k) retirement plans
- Life insurance
Justworks Customer Service
| Justworks Support | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
Justworks is doing great things when it comes to how and when you can get in touch with assistance. Whether it’s a live chat or a Slack message, Justworks wants to be available to you at all times.
Like many other SaaS services, the individuals answering customer service calls are amazing and kind but might lack specific knowledge about payroll, taxes, insurance, or any other complicated questions business owners may have.
Justworks Integrations
Compared to competitors, Justworks doesn’t have many integrations. That’s fine for businesses willing to hand over the reins, but if businesses have preferred providers for talent management or company calendars, they might not like the Justworks options.
Justworks does integrate with Xero and QuickBooks. Giving up control of certain programs might be a dealbreaker for some businesses — always check with a Justworks rep to ask about specific integration requests.
Justworks Reviews
Justworks has an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau and averages solid scores on other review sites. On Capterra, Justworks has a 4.8/5 rating with 184 reviews.
Reviewers cite Justworks’ ease of use and range of features as software positives. Negative reviews zero in on the company’s poor integration offerings and limited reporting.
Negative Justworks Reviews & Complaints
- Limited integrations
- Limited reporting features
- Fees
Positive Justworks Reviews
Most people who work with Justworks have no complaints about the system, and they have the following positive things to say about the company:
- Easy to use
- All-in-one employee management
- Automation
Is Justworks Secure?
Justworks employs a robust set of security features to keep your data safe. With no history of major data breaches, Justworks has a solid reputation when it comes to security. Here’s a breakdown of Justworks’ security features:
- Firewalls, HTTPS, and bank-level encryption
- Encrypted datastore
- Two-factor authentication
- Security updates
- Daily vulnerability scanning and assessment
- Quarterly audits and risk assessments
- Internal security policies
The Final Verdict: Is Justworks Worth It?
| Justworks Review | |
|---|---|
| Business Size | Small-medium with 25-175 users |
| Pricing | Starts at $49/employee per month |
| Choose If You Need | Hands-off compliance features; combined payroll, benefits, & HR; payroll tax support |
A one-stop-shop employee management platform, Justworks is easy to use, intuitive, and ready to make life simpler for small/mid-sized businesses.
However, a PEO is more expensive than some other payroll/HR systems geared toward small businesses, such as Gusto or Square Payroll. Without a free trial, hop on a demo with a Justworks rep (they are sweet, capable, and very dogged) to see if the interface works for your company.
The software doesn’t have a bevy of bells and whistles, and the interface isn’t trying to become the next modern thing in HR. Justworks, like its name, just works — and it works for businesses that want/need to capitalize on better insurance options for their workers and don’t mind turning over the bulk of the work/responsibility to a one-size-fits-most model.
Justworks FAQs
Davina Ward
Expert Analyst & Reviewer
A New York native, Davina earned her BA in English from SUNY Geneseo in 2018. After graduating, she began her career as a freelance writing generalist before finding a niche writing about SaaS. Davina unironically enjoys testing and reviewing software on her free time but otherwise can be found oscillating between hobbies every few weeks or so — most recently, longboarding.
View Davina Ward's professional experience on LinkedIn.
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