HR Outsourcing · Architecture
Junior staff salaried-exempt because that is how studios have always run, AXP supervision hours nobody documents, layoffs that follow the project calendar: architecture firms inherit an employment model that predates the rules now applied to it. BEG HR outsourcing, powered by isolved, puts certified HR professionals on it for a fraction of an in-house HR hire.
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The Architecture HR Problem
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Fact Sheet 71 on internship programs.
Architecture HR Compliance
Architecture licensure runs through documented experience: candidates log AXP hours under the supervision of licensed architects, and the firm carries its own obligations for license verification, renewal tracking, and continuing education. When supervision relationships live in memory instead of records, the firm cannot show who supervised what, and a licensure dispute or board inquiry becomes archaeology. HR outsourcing builds the employment-side structure: license verification at hire, renewal tracking with named owners, job descriptions that distinguish licensed from unlicensed roles, and supervision assignments documented in the personnel file rather than reconstructed from old project directories.
The all-nighter before a submission is studio folklore. It is also, for many junior employees, unpaid overtime accruing as liability. The FLSA professional exemption requires specific duties and a salary threshold, and unlicensed junior staff producing drawings under close direction frequently fail the duties test no matter what the offer letter says. State rules can be stricter still. HR outsourcing reviews every role against the real tests, documents the analysis for the roles that are exempt, converts the ones that are not with a managed communication plan, and writes timekeeping policies that fit how a studio actually works.
Architecture staffing tracks the development cycle, and firms shrink and regrow with it. The legal risk concentrates in the transitions: layoff selections with no documented criteria, severance offered inconsistently across similar roles, and rehires weeks later that contradict the stated reason for the cut. Final pay deadlines and continuation-of-coverage notices vary by state and are easy to miss in a compressed week. HR outsourcing brings process to the cycle: written selection rationale, correct notices and final pay in each state, consistent release agreements, and rehire documentation that keeps the story straight from separation to return.
Architecture has a long tradition of student interns, and wage law has a short list of conditions under which they can be unpaid. The primary beneficiary test asks who gains more from the arrangement, and an intern producing sheets for a billable deadline looks like an employee under every factor that matters. For a for-profit firm the safe answer is usually to pay, and to document the educational structure either way. HR outsourcing designs the internship program: paid or academically integrated, with written learning objectives, defined supervision, and offer paperwork that does not promise employment it does not mean.
Firms now design for sites in one state, with staff living in three others, under a license held through reciprocity in a fourth. Each employee state brings its own leave laws, sick time accrual, pay transparency rules, and final pay deadlines, while professional registration questions follow the projects. A handbook written for the office lease address covers a shrinking share of the actual workforce. HR outsourcing tracks the states where people really work, keeps policies and required notices current in each, and flags what a remote hire or a new state registration will change before it happens rather than after.
Who This Serves
A principal, a dozen designers, and an employment model inherited from studio culture rather than written policy.
Licensed architects, junior designers, and admin staff on salary structures that were never checked against the duties tests.
Mixed licensure tracks, NCIDQ and AXP candidates, and supervision documentation that should live in personnel files.
Summer interns and co-op students whose programs need structure before wage law supplies it retroactively.
Designers across several states, one handbook, and a compliance gap that widens with every out-of-state hire.
A second or third location, new state obligations, and project layoff cycles that now cross office lines.
How You Buy It
Essential is answers on demand from live HR professionals. Expert adds the done-for-you compliance assets: your handbook, posters, new hire packets, and leave guidance. Elite adds a dedicated HR Business Partner with proactive compliance alerts. Full detail on the HR outsourcing overview.
Your monthly estimate on screen - no call required
Payroll the bigger headache? BEG's core service is managed payroll for architecture firms. Working alongside the builders? See HR outsourcing for construction.
Questions
Certified HR professionals handle your handbook, licensure and AXP documentation policies, exempt status reviews for junior staff, project layoff guidance, and manager coaching, sized to a studio instead of a global practice.
No. Exempt status depends on duties and salary tests, not job titles or studio culture. Many junior design roles fail the tests, and unpaid overtime accrues as liability until someone checks.
Yes. The primary beneficiary test decides whether an intern can be unpaid, and most production work in a studio does not qualify. HR professionals structure internships that hold up.
No. There is no co-employment and no employer-of-record change. Your firm stays the employer; the HR professionals support your team. Powered by isolved.
A fraction of an in-house HR manager. Answer six questions in the estimate form and your monthly range appears on screen; exact pricing is confirmed on your discovery call.
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Your monthly estimate on screen - no call required
