4 Questions to Select a Contract Staffing Back Office

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 back office should you entrust to be the Employer of Record for your contractors?

Obviously, you want one that has been in business for a long time and has a good reputation. But beyond those basics, here are four questions you may want to ask:

1. What happens if a client doesn’t pay an invoice?

If the back office provider’s standard practice is to ask recruiters to pay any client invoices that are “uncollectible, you may want to consider your ultimate financial obligation. Just imagine if a client who uses several of your contractors suddenly decides to stop paying invoices. You could find yourself “on the hook” for several thousand dollars!

2. Do you provide contractor benefits?

Getting quality, affordable benefits is the top priority for many workers. This is especially the case since healthcare has become more and more expensive. So if you want to attract the best contract candidates, then make sure your back office offers benefits to its contractors.

3. What positions do you accept?

Some contract placement services will only place office professionals who fall under the standard 8810 Workers’ Compensation code. Why? Well, since those positions come with the lowest risk of Workers’ Comp (WC) claims, the WC rate for them is much lower than for other positions.

But if all of your placements don’t fall into that classification, you will have to handle your own tasks for those placements. OR you’ll need a separate back office provider that can handle your placements outside the 8810 code. When shopping for a back office, find out before you have a job order what positions they can and cannot place.

4. Do you recruit candidates and fill your own job orders?

Some contract staffing back offices also recruit and place candidates, in addition to handling the tasks for recruiters. If that’s the case, remember that they will be working closely with your candidates, as well as your clients. Your safest bet is to stick with a provider that does NOT do any recruiting. Instead, they simply serve as the employer and handle the tasks for the candidates you place.

Selecting a quality contract staffing back office is an important decision because of the sensitive tasks they handle. Be sure to do your due diligence and select your partner carefully.