No, it was more like about $1300, but still...I was just recalling the reduction from gross my employee suffered, but I forgot to consider the extra I had to kick in, as you imply. I didn’t much mind the 6% FICA, but the unemployment insurance & worker’s comp, for a worker who did zero physical work other than walking in the front door and pouring coffee (oh, that was the big hazard!) and cranking the FAX machine and pushing his chair in was jaw-dropping. If were to add in med insurance, then it would crank up to nearly $1600, I’m sure.
Employees are very expensive when you add in all your contributions as employer and any el-nonproducto periods of “training”, if needed. Obviously, and of course, many employees can be valuable moneymaking parts of your business, but they can also cause lots of problems and turn around and sue you for trivia.
In two later businesses I had which were very successful, I simply would not take on employees. I couldn’t see how it would be profitable. I just grew the thing until the point where I maxed out what I could handle on my own and capped it there.
I’m a Mechanical Contractor. The insurance (WC/Liability) can be quite cumbersome if you don’t shop around. The matching taxes and additional 5.4% State Uninsurance Fund kills you each quarter in my state. Right now I have no employees. If a large job comes up, I’ll let a Subcontractor deal with the payroll. It’s almost impossible, really!