Things don’t always work out. And this is true, too, where it comes to employees. Sometimes, it’s because the person you hired can’t or won’t do the job you need them to do. Other times, it’s you: you didn’t scope the job out correctly, so you hired a wrong set… Read More »How to Let an Employee Go, for Small Businesses
In the US, there are a lot of laws about how businesses should treat their employees. These employment rules and regulations apply to different sized businesses in different ways. Larger businesses can afford to hire lawyers to help them comply with these laws. But, as a small business, you don’t… Read More »US Employment Rules and Regulations: A Guide for Very Small Businesses
So far, 2023 has been a strange year for jobs. Very large companies have been doing mass layoffs—some of them have had multiple rounds already. But unemployment rate is still very low. As far as we can tell, small businesses are still having trouble recruiting new workers. So, now that… Read More »Great Job Posting Sites for Employers
Most people don’t like to do detailed, repetitive math. And payroll math is nothing but detailed and repetitive. It’s too easy to get things wrong and risk being fined. Traditionally, your accountant could handle payroll calculations for you. But, these days, there are a lot of small business payroll software… Read More »Great Small Business Payroll Software
When you start a business, you hope the business grows. But, sometimes, it grows and then it shrinks. You have to let employees go even though they didn’t do anything wrong. This is where unemployment insurance comes in. The employees can get a payout from the state government to tide… Read More »How Unemployment Insurance Works, for Small Businesses
Most workers in the US know that if you work overtime, you get paid 1.5 times your normal wage. And most workers don’t mind making a little extra money from time to time. But businesses like to have steady, predictable expenditures. Having to pay overtime wages tend to make payroll… Read More »How to Calculate Overtime Pay, for Small Businesses
Supply and demand. It’s basic capitalism. And this concept applies to the labor market too. As a business, when you need help but there aren’t a lot of applicants, you raise wages to get or keep your workers. You typically pay a lot more than the minimum wage. But if… Read More »Understanding Minimum Wage Calculations
Having employees can get expensive. You have to pay all sorts of extra taxes and insurance. We covered the nitty gritty of these extra costs in our how to hire employees article. Independent contractors, on the other hand, are easy. You just pay them for the job. So why don’t… Read More »Contractor vs. Employee: An Explainer for Small Businesses
Congrats! Your business is finally at a stage where you need to hire your first employee. For some of you, this is after a long period of working by yourself or with contractors. For others, you’ve set up the other aspects of your business, are ready for your grand opening,… Read More »How to Hire Your First Employee, for Very Small Businesses
When someone hands you a contract, the safe thing to do is to hire a lawyer to review it. But lawyers are expensive. And when you’re a nano, micro, or even a mid-tier influencer, those legal fees might eat up all the money you’ll make from the project. In other… Read More »How to Negotiate an Influencer Contract, for Creators
