Removing Uncertainty From a Temporary Workforce

THE CHALLENGE 

When a Wandering Workforce Runs Into a Compliance Wall

In media and entertainment, entertainment employer of record programs have become essential. The industry runs on a wandering workforce, professionals moving project to project, sometimes simultaneously, sometimes for a single day, sometimes for months. Project rosters shift constantly. And every time someone moves, there is a compliance exposure if nothing is tracking it.

One leading studio was feeling that exposure directly. As the company expanded its contingent workforce to include more remote workers, the limits of its existing setup became impossible to ignore. Timecards were processed manually through email. Payroll visibility was minimal. Tracking which workers had been on which projects relied on production managers’ memory rather than any system of record. And as the workforce spread across cities and states, multi-jurisdictional compliance had no automated support behind it.

According to Allied Market Research, the global contingent workforce management market is projected to reach $465.2 billion by 2031, growing at a 10.5% CAGR. For entertainment companies managing distributed, project-based talent across multiple states, having a dedicated entertainment employer of record in place is what keeps that growth from becoming a compliance liability.

Three specific challenges had to be solved:

1. Burdensome Manual Processes Draining Time and Visibility

The company was processing timecards through email with no real visibility into where payroll dollars were going. Every timecard was a manual task, and the cumulative cost in time and accuracy was significant.

2. No Way to Track a Frequently Redeployed Workforce

Despite constantly moving workers across projects, the company had no system to track project history. Redeployment decisions depended on production managers remembering who had worked where, which created bottlenecks and blind spots.

3. New Worker Classification Regulations With No Compliance Infrastructure

The client needed to bring formerly 1099 workers into proper classification while meeting mandated sick and vacation time requirements across multiple jurisdictions. The client had no visibility into applicable local laws by worker location and no system to manage them.

THE SOLUTION

A Complete Entertainment Employer of Record Program Built for the Industry

Workwell North America assumed full Employer of Record and payroll responsibility for the client, covering taxes, compliance, unemployment, benefits, W-2s, and workers’ compensation. This immediately brought the client into compliance with new employee classification regulations and removed the compliance burden from the internal team entirely.

Onboarding was rebuilt from scratch. Workwell tailored the company’s onboarding processes to set workers up for success, creating customized documentation across both Workwell and the end company’s resources, including handbooks, guides, talking points, FAQs, virtual I-9s, tax forms, and all state-required notices.

At the center of the technology solution was Talient, Workwell’s proprietary VMS. The team designed a payroll solution that enabled fast, cloud-based timecard processing, replacing the email-based manual system entirely. Supplemental reporting gave the client full visibility into every project each worker had completed, supporting project management, workforce planning, and redeployment decisions. Multi-jurisdictional compliance on timekeeping, wages, taxes, sick and vacation time, and workers’ compensation was managed directly through Talient, with Workwell’s in-house compliance team monitoring state and federal requirements as they evolved across the U.S. and Canada.

THE RESULTS

Compliant, Visible, and Running on Time

By implementing a tailored entertainment employer of record program, Workwell North America helped the studio eliminate its compliance exposure and reclaim the time it had been losing to manual administration.

• Onboarded 70 employees across the U.S. and Canada in 6 months
• Eliminated manual timecard submission entirely through cloud-based processing
• Streamlined and modernized all payroll processes, minimizing human error and accelerating processing speed
• Eliminated the client’s compliance responsibility for all payrolled employees
• Ensured correct multi-jurisdictional legal compliance throughout the U.S. and Canada
• Freed the client’s team from workforce administration to focus on strategic priorities

The entertainment industry is already moving. Workwell North America builds the entertainment employer of record infrastructure that lets it move compliantly.