Justworks Review

Pros

• Easy to use
• Transparent pricing
• Great insurance options
• Positive customer reviews

Cons

• Lack of customization
• Limited reporting options
• Extra cost for time tracking
• Can get expensive

What Is Justworks?

Justworks is a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) that offers both payroll software and traditional PEO services, including 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. Justworks’ standalone Payroll plan gives businesses access to payroll and HR tools without joining Justworks’ PEO. Its PEO plans add co-employment, broader HR compliance support, benefits access, and additional support services.

For a PEO, Justworks is very affordable and receives many positive reviews from customers, earning it a top spot on our list of the best PEO companies.

Justworks Pricing

Justworks offers transparent pricing across its payroll and PEO products, with add-ons available for services such as time tracking and benefits.

Its standalone payroll plan is priced differently from its PEO plans, so businesses should compare the payroll-only and PEO options carefully before signing up.

Overall, Justworks gets major points for being transparent with its pricing and not requiring customers to go through a custom quote process like so many other payroll and PEO services.

Unfortunately, Justworks’ payroll-only plan is quite a bit more expensive than the best payroll software options on the market.

Here’s a breakdown of each plan.

Justworks Payroll

Justworks Payroll includes:

• Payroll processing for employees
• Multi-state payroll
• Payroll reporting
• Custom pay schedules
• PTO management
• HR tools
• Customer support

Justworks PEO Basic

Justworks PEO Basic includes:

• Payroll processing for contractors & employees
• PTO management
• HR Compliance
• HR tools
• Expense management
• Applicant tracking
• Custom reporting
• Commuter benefits
• Worker’s comp
• HR consulting
• 401(k) accounts
• Life & disability insurance
• EPLI insurance
• R&D tax credit

Justworks PEO Plus

Justworks PEO Plus includes everything in the Basic package, plus:

• Advanced analytics & insights
• Medical & dental insurance
• COBRA administration
• Mental health & health advocacy services
• One Medical & Kindbody (where available)

Extra Justworks Cost & Fees

Justworks plans include the option to add on services for an extra cost, including:

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. As a PEO, Justworks often has discounts on insurance pricing.

Learn more about what types of insurance businesses need or check out our business insurance pricing guide to start your insurance search.

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 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

Justworks’ feature set varies significantly depending on if you are using the payroll-only software plan or if you are using one of Justworks’ PEO plans.

The payroll-only plan is fairly limited compared to other SaaS payroll software options like Gusto and ADP. It’s also quite a bit more expensive, so you may get more value with a different option.

As a Professional Employer Organization, Justworks acts as a co-employer for certain HR, payroll, tax, and benefits responsibilities. 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.

We’ll dive into exactly what you can expect from Justworks, but remember that feature availability may vary from plan to plan.

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 Time Tracking is available as an add-on for Payroll, Basic, and Plus plans. It syncs with Justworks Payroll and PEO and supports mobile clock-in/out, geofencing, overtime tracking, shift notes, reporting, and Slack integration.

Features include:

• 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, accounting integrations with QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero, and Sage Intacct may expand 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 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 integrates with accounting platforms, including QuickBooks, NetSuite, Xero, and Sage Intacct.

Justworks Customer Service

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. We expect nothing less from a PEO and are happy to see that Justworks’ support is solid.

The larger your plan, the more access to dedicated support you have — the PEO plans even include HR consulting. Overall, customers have left a large number of positive reviews regarding Justworks’ support.

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 Complaints

• Limited integrations
• Limited reporting features
• Fees
• Adding changes (like new employees) can take a while to reflect in the platform

 Positive Justworks Reviews

• Easy to use
• All-in-one employee management
• Excellent customer support with quick response times
• Automations save time
• Good benefits available to offer employees

Is Justworks Secure?

Justworks publishes security practices designed to protect payroll, HR, and employee data, including encryption, two-factor authentication, vulnerability scanning, audits, and internal security policies.

• 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 is a strong option for small to midsize businesses that want payroll, HR, compliance support, benefits access, and PEO services in one platform. Its transparent pricing, strong customer support, and benefits options make it especially appealing for businesses that want more than basic payroll software.

However, Justworks may not be the best fit for businesses that only need simple payroll. The standalone payroll plan is more expensive than many payroll-first competitors, time tracking costs extra, reporting is somewhat limited, and integrations are not as extensive as some larger HR/payroll platforms.

If you want a PEO with transparent pricing and strong support, Justworks is worth considering. If you only need basic payroll, compare Justworks with options such as Gusto, OnPay, Square Payroll, or QuickBooks Workforce.