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Navigating the Sea of Staffing Requirements

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Article Overview: Navigating the sea of staffing requirements - If your business is growing and you're starting to think about what the next steps might be, you might have "staffing up" on your list of things to think about. But it's not as easy as that. Adding onsite staff can be a complicated procedure and you'll need to have the right paperwork, licenses, and insurance in place before your new-hire steps foot into the office. In this article, you'll read about some requirements and you'll discover an often-overlooked intermediate step that can be less costly and more efficient.

Navigating the Sea of Staffing Requirements

Navigating the Sea of Staffing Requirements

No matter how small you may intend to keep your business, at some point you will need to consider hiring employees. And if you have employees, you'll incur paperwork!

While you should obtain legal counsel when hiring staff – since legal requirements vary from state to state and municipality to municipality – this article provides an overview of the paperwork you'll likely need to handle. 


Business License/Certificate: If you originally organized your business structure as a one-person operation, your current license and certificate may not be sufficient. Contact the agency where you initially filed to inquire as to whether you will need additional documentation when hiring employees.


Job Application/Identification Documents/Other Paperwork: Depending on your type of business and the area in which you live, you may be required to keep employee files. The requirements for these files may include a formal job application, copies of identifying documents, trade certificates, college degrees and any number of other documents. Even if these documents are not required in your state, they may become necessary should disputes arise. Speak with a qualified small business professional or an attorney to develop an employee records system that is accurate and contains all necessary documentation.


Business Liability Insurance: When you selected business liability insurance, you chose a policy that was right for your company at that time. However, bringing in employees often increases risk. Speak with your insurance agency to determine whether you need to raise your coverage. Also speak with an attorney about liability for your employees’ actions. For example, if an employee steals from your company? Will the insurance cover it? What if an employee steals from your customer? Will your company be liable?



Workers Compensation Insurance: Workers compensation is another important concern. If your employee is injured on the job, the company may be held responsible for his medical treatment. Be sure that you carry sufficient workers compensation insurance.

The topic of business insurance is extremely complicated. It is highly recommended that you work with an insurance agent that specializes in small businesses, as well as a qualified attorney, to ensure that you are carrying proper insurance.



Employee Taxes: From Social Security and Medicare to income tax, you may be responsible for tax withholdings from your employees’ paychecks. Tax law is specific, detailed and ever-changing. The penalties for errors may be severe. Never attempt to set up employee withholding without speaking with a qualified professional such as a CPA or tax attorney.



Obtaining Outside Help


If the tasks involved in setting up and maintaining personnel records, tax withholding and other paperwork seem daunting, you have other options. You can still "staff" your organization but you can staff it with outsource professionals who work virtually. This might include freelancers, contractors, and virtual assistants. Today's internet makes your organization's positions as easy to do online as they are to do in your office.

If you think that you will eventually need to hire onsite staff instead of virtual staff, outsourcing your work is a cost effective way of scaling up if you're not yet ready to bring staff into the office. In a way, it's the step between solopreneur and business owner/manager.

There will come a point when you need to staff up, and you might eventually have to navigate the sea of paperwork and requirements. When you do, these guidelines (along with the counsel of an accountant and attorney) will help you. And in the meantime, a cost effective intermediate step is to outsource to freelancers and virtual assistants.

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Article Tags: business liability insurance, business license, business structure, college degrees, formal job, insurance, insurance agency, job application, legal counsel, license certificate, municipality, necessary documentation, paperwork, person operation, small business, trade certificates



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Hi! - Hi everyone! I'm Laura from Platinum Staffing Solutions. Like the saying goes, "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear", I guess I'm ready! I'm looking forward to reading and posting/ meeting like minded entrepreneurs, this a first for me. I'm usually reading, studying or attending workshops locally, it's time to step up the game. I own PlatinumStaffingSolutions.ca, as I've mentioned, I started my own company over two years ago to be able to do what I know how to do with the integrity that lacked where I was previously working. It's a *people* centered agency that keeps the best interests of both the professional and the hiring company in mind. It's a tough industry, especially right now, any leads or referrals would be appreciated. Business-wise I'm very big into Napoleon Hill, Wallace Wattles, W. Clement Stone, Genevieve Berhendt, Florence Shinn - all of the late/greats; I'm wary of the modern writers but still like to read what applies to keep learning or see different perspectives; no one theory of success applies to every business out there. Hopefully you'll drop me a line and see ya' on the boards!
Why a project fails? - The top 10 factors that have driven failed projects are: 1. Project sponsors are often not committed to the objective. They have a lack of understanding of the project and are not actively involved in the project strategy and direction. 2. Some projects do not meet the strategic vision of the company. If business needs are not clearly defined, it will result in a project that does not add value to the bottom line or enhance business processes. 3. Projects are started for the wrong reasons. Some are initiated purely to implement new technology without regard for whether the technology is supportive of the business needs. The converse of this is a project that does not support existing technology, resulting in major scope creep and resultant expenditure. 4. Staffing is a reason for failure, eg not enough dedicated staff (project managers and project team members) allocated to projects. Project team members lack experience and do not have the required qualifications. Line-staff believe that they will be able to manage projects but are only 40% available to do so. Focus in this regard is not on the delivery of the project, but on the comfort zone of the project manager and his own time management. 5. Incomplete project scope. No clear definition of the project's benefits and the deliverables that will produce them. 6. A project plan that is non-existent, out of date, incomplete or poorly constructed and just not enough time and effort spent on project planning. 7. Project value management is not put into practice to evaluate baseline cost agreed during baseline transfer against actual costs spent at any given time. Project costs and financial do not form an integral part the project during execution. 8. Insufficient funding, and incorrect budgeting is still a major reason for projects not delivering their goals and objectives within the quality framework that was required, because projects always need to deliver yesterday within X budget. 9. No formal project management methodologies and best practices aligned to the company's specific needs are used to assist project performance. Companies do not want to invest in best of breed methodologies that will benefit the bottom line over a period, with projects delivered within budget. Companies do not recognise the value of using a methodology to support and enable them to record their own best practice project results for future reference, and to build a knowledge base within the company. 10. Not all project are going through a formal signed off process using a proper post mortem process to determine lessons learned and to build their own reference model for future use. A certificate signed off between sponsors and other third-parties will demonstrate project success but even that is quite seldom.
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