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Managed Payroll for 30-Employee Businesses
Managed payroll for 30 employees is the run-up to 50: COBRA, the ADEA, Title VII and the ADA already apply, and the next line, FMLA and the ACA employer mandate, is measured on full-time equivalents that part-time hours count toward. BEG runs it for $25 per employee per month in your existing platform or $45 on isolved, all-inclusive, live in 3 to 5 business days.
At 30 the headcount question stops being how many people are on payroll and becomes how many full-time equivalents the IRS would count. The ACA applicable large employer test averages full-time employees plus FTEs across the prior year, with part-time hours pooled at 120 a month per FTE. A 30-person company with a large part-time or seasonal roster can be an applicable large employer before it has 50 names on the payroll, and the determination is made on last year's numbers, so the count has to be run every year.
FMLA counts differently: 50 employees, full or part time, in 20 or more workweeks. Neither test has tripped at 30, but both are close enough that the payroll system should already be producing an hours-based FTE count each month rather than reconstructing one in December.
Everything at 15 and 20 is in force. In practice that means COBRA election notices on every termination, ADEA-compliant releases, and documented accommodation decisions under the ADA and PWFA. The e-file rule and OSHA logs attached long ago.
The line most recently crossed at 30 employees
| 20+ | ADEA (age discrimination). Applies to private employers with 20 or more employees. Severance and early-retirement paperwork needs ADEA-compliant releases, with the 21-day and 7-day windows. [EEOC, coverage of federal EEO laws] |
|---|---|
| 20+ | COBRA continuation coverage. Group health plans of employers with 20 or more employees on more than 50 percent of typical business days in the prior year must offer continuation coverage. Termination triggers an election notice; below 20 the state mini-COBRA law, if any, governs instead. [DOL, COBRA] |
Already in force below that
- Any size: FLSA minimum wage and overtime [DOL, FLSA salary levels]
- Any size: Federal employment taxes [IRS Publication 15]
- 10+: Electronic filing of information returns [IRS Topic 801]
- 11+: OSHA injury and illness recordkeeping [OSHA recordkeeping, 29 CFR 1904.1]
- 15+: Title VII, ADA, GINA and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act [EEOC, coverage of federal EEO laws]
Next lines ahead of 30 employees
| 50+ | FMLA. Employers with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks are covered; an employee is eligible after 12 months and 1,250 hours if 50 employees work within 75 miles of their site. Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave with benefits maintained, which means leave tracking and benefit deductions continue while pay stops. [DOL, FMLA] |
|---|---|
| 50+ | ACA employer shared responsibility. An employer with 50 or more full-time plus full-time-equivalent employees on average in the prior year is an applicable large employer. Part-time hours are aggregated at 120 hours a month per FTE. Offer affordable coverage to 95 percent of full-time staff or face a 4980H assessment, and file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C every year from payroll hours data. [IRS, applicable large employer] |
| 100+ | WARN Act. Employers with 100 or more full-time employees must give 60 days written notice of a plant closing or mass layoff. Pay in lieu of notice and final-pay timing on a layoff of 50 or more at one site get planned with counsel, not run as an ordinary termination batch. [DOL, WARN] |
| 100+ | EEO-1 report. Private employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more, file the EEO-1 workforce demographic report each year. Job category, sex and race or ethnicity have to sit in the HR record for every employee before the filing window opens. [EEOC, EEO-1 data collection] |
What managed payroll costs at 30 employees
30 employees at $25 per employee per month comes to $750, so the price is $750 a month in your existing platform. On BEG's isolved HCM at $45 it is $1350 a month. Both are all-inclusive: processing, federal and state deposits and filings, new hire reporting, direct deposit, W-2s and 1099s, garnishments, and the threshold-driven filings above. Live in 3 to 5 business days from signing.
Managed Payroll, Handled.
BEG manages payroll at $25-$45 per employee per month, all-inclusive. Get an instant cost comparison for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a company with 30 employees be an applicable large employer under the ACA?
Yes, if full-time employees plus full-time equivalents averaged 50 or more in the prior year. FTEs are computed by pooling the monthly hours of all non-full-time employees and dividing by 120, so 30 full-time staff plus enough part-time hours can cross the line.
How is the FMLA 50-employee count different from the ACA count?
FMLA counts every employee on the payroll, full or part time, and asks whether there were 50 or more in 20 or more workweeks of the current or prior year. The ACA converts part-time hours to full-time equivalents. A company can cross one test and not the other.
What should payroll be tracking at 30 employees that it did not need at 15?
Monthly hours for every non-full-time employee, because both the ACA FTE calculation and the FMLA 1,250-hour eligibility test are built from them. Reconstructing hours from timesheets a year later is where most employers get the count wrong.
What does managed payroll cost at 30 employees?
$750 a month on the existing-platform rate or $1,350 on BEG's isolved HCM, all-inclusive. The $500 minimum no longer binds at this size.
How is the BEG price calculated at 30 employees?
30 employees at $25 per employee per month is $750 a month in your existing platform, or $1350 on BEG's isolved HCM at $45. Both are all-inclusive; the $500 minimum does not bind at this size.
Related Resources
Anthony leads payroll solutions at Business Executive Group, a national managed payroll firm serving businesses across industries. BEG manages payroll at $25-$45 PEPM, all-inclusive, with deep expertise in compliance, multi-state filing, and industry-specific payroll requirements. Get instant pricing at beghr.com.
Authoritative source: U.S. Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division
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