Some Help for the Freelance Nation

I’ve always felt that my business was a service that you either needed, wanted, valued, or not. Working through a staffing agency isn’t for everyone.

But for those interested in some guidance, a staffing agency can not only help you land freelance work, or a new full-time job, but bridge the pitfalls of being a freelancer.

We help pay your taxes.

As your employer, a staffing agency pays payroll taxes and off-sets self-employment tax, because when you are working through a staffing firm, you are legally their employee.

You always get paid.

Employees of M+P complete weekly timesheets and get paid every other Friday through direct deposit. Any timesheet disputes are resolved by us and the client for which you work. If you work, you get paid.

Competitive pay.

Believe it or not, we often pay people more than they would make on their own. Not always, but we try. Our rates are based on what the market will bear, what people in salaried roles earn doing the same job, and what we can get each person for each gig.

We’re motivated to pay people as much as we can to be competitive, fair, and to ensure that they keep coming back to us, year after year. We also pay you overtime if you work in excess of 40 hours in a week, extra cash that a freelancer is never able to recoup working their own gigs.

The good ones provide benefits.

Medical and dental insurance is expensive. Good staffing agencies will offer coverage to employees once they have worked a set number of hours. Often, because the staffing agency has a lot of employees, they are able to negotiate decent rates for good coverage.

Many staffing agencies also provide 401K’s (like us!), and some even provide time off pay or bonus pay.

As an employer in the City of Portland, Mathys+Potestio was legally obligated to provide sick time off this year. We decided to take it one step further and provide paid time off for all employees across all the states in which we do business.

The gaps between gigs.

For the professional freelancers out there who have their own businesses, we can provide gigs when you’re between projects. It’s all about timing—things don’t always match up—but having spent 15 years maintaining such relationships, chances are good that the stars will align eventually.

We protect your back.

We’d all like it if every project went well, every client was a dream, and no one ever made mistakes. But bad things can happen, and a staffing agency provides a layer of security to guard against legal traumas.

Staffing agencies carry heavy loads of liability insurance, and if you complete work as our employee, we’ve got your back.

Groceries.

No, we don’t actually provide you with groceries, but if you come to our office, we’re happy to share our snacks.

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