In a general sense, the Employer of Record is simply the entity that serves as the employer for tax purposes while the employee performs work for a different company.  The Employer of Record, often referred to as the W-2 Employer of Record because they are responsible for issuing W-2s to the employee, shoulders the responsibility for all the traditional employment tasks and liabilities.

When applied to a contract staffing situation, the Employer of…

Forget about ghosts and goblins. When it comes to running your own contract staffing back-office, there are very real risks that can keep any recruiter up at night.

Handling the back-office duties associated with contract placements becomes more complicated each year as employment regulations continue to increase. 

Here are just some of the scary details to fear:

1. IRS audits — The IRS seems to be cracking down on…

When adding contract staffing services to your existing direct-hire recruiting business, you must first decide if you are going to handle the back-office tasks (payroll, benefits administration, employment paperwork, invoicing, etc.) in-house or if you are going to outsource them.

Many small firms or "one-man shows" choose the latter. After all, it can take the average recruiter one to six months to get set up to handle contract staffing issues in-house.  Not only…

If you have contractors in your home state, it may not be a big deal for you to run your own back-office, particularly if you are already processing payroll and handling taxes, unemployment,  Workers' Compensation, benefits, etc. for your own staff.

But before you can take placements in other states, you're going to have to do a lot of legwork and homework. Every state has different laws and requirements you will have to follow for the contractors you have placed…

As the demand for contractors continues to increase, clients are getting more picky about the vendors they select to supply them with the help they need. One issue we are seeing companies scrutinize more closely is the Certificate of Insurance.  

A Certificate of Insurance is a document that proves that the vendor is insured to take on the liability associated with employing the contractors.  When you place contract candidates, most major clients will want to…

(This series focuses on the most common reasons we've heard for why recruiters don't want to offer contract staffing.  These reasons are based on common misconceptions about contract staffing and prevent recruiters from reaping the benefits of offering contractors to their clients.)

Reason #4: I don't have time to deal with the hassles of contract staffing

Many recruiters believe that having contractors is going to cost…

In a typical contract staffing situation, a company utilizes the services of a worker for a specific amount of time and outsources the employment of that worker to a third party. That third party is often referred to as the Employer of Record and serves as the W-2 employer for that worker.  As the Employer of Record, the third party takes on the legal liability and the responsibility for the following employment…

Contract staffing is a great way to supplement your direct-hire placements with a steady stream of income. But why should you give away part of that income to a contract staffing back-office? Well, there are a number of reasons, and just for fun, we'll count down the top 10 reasons for you, Letterman-style:

10. No more employee questions or issues

9. Stop worrying about missing payroll

8. Stop worrying about whether a client will pay to cover the payroll…

Using a contract staffing back-office is a great way to reap the benefits of placing contractors without the hassle and risk that comes with employing those contractors.  The question is, which contract staffing back-office should you entrust to be Employer of Record for your contractors?

Obviously, you want a back-office that has been in business for a long time and has a good reputation.  But beyond those basics, here are a few…

Companies that simply view interns as cheap labor could be missing out on a great opportunity, according to a Bloomsberg Businessweek "Today's Tip" post by Jim Belosic, Founder of ShortStack.

Instead, Belosic recommends that employers look at internships as an "extended…

Many recruiters shy away from contracting because they think it is too complicated. But as we pointed out in our last blog post, when a recruiter uses a contracting back-office, the process is actually very similar to a direct-hire placement. In fact, in many ways, contract…

You already know that  you should do contracting. You know it can help you keep income flowing when direct-hire job orders are sparse. And you  know that more and more of  your clients want contractors and are probably going to your competitors to get them.

So why aren't you doing it?  Well, there's a misconception out there that contracting is hard.  Let's face it, it sounds hard. Who is the legal employer of the contractors? What…

Contracting is a great way to bring in an additional stream of steady, more predictable income. But many recruiters shy away from contracting because they don't want to take on the financial, legal, and administrative burdens that come with employing their contractors.

Luckily there is a way to sidestep those burdens and still reap the rewards of offering contract staffing to your clients - by utilizing a contracting back-office. So that just leaves…

As if employers didn't have enough trouble in 2010, the number of retaliation and discrimination claims and class action lawsuits increased, according to a recent article by Human Resources Executive Online.

Many employers that had never experienced any type of discrimination complaint in the past were hit for the first time in…

When the phrase "Lost Time" is brought up in referrence to Workers' Compensation claims, it usually refers to the money that must be paid to a worker injured on the job to make up for the wages they lose while they are unable to work.  The longer workers are out, the more lost time benefits that must be paid, which results in higher Workers' Comp premiums for your clients at renewal time. But there is another form of "Lost Time" that can be just as costly to your clients.

That is the…

One of these recruiters was…

Since President Obama took office, there has been a marked shift in how immigration enforcement is handled. Where immigration raids aimed at capturing illegal immigrants were more common during the Bush administration, now U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is relying on I-9 inspections to find and fine employers who do not follow immigration laws.  As a result, employers are becoming more educated about the inspection process and fines that could be assessed.

As a…

When you are looking for new contracting job orders, don't overlook your smaller clients.  

Contracting is not just for large corporations anymore. In fact, according to the American Express Small Business Forum, "Small business owners have dramatically increased their use of contractors," and the money they have spent on contracting over the past nine years has doubled.

Here are some of the main reasons smaller employers hire contractors:

1. To…

The government has focused a lot of attention lately on workplace issues, increasing enforcement against such problems as worker misclassification and…