Am I In Need of Outsourced HR?

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Have you been contemplating outsourcing some of your HR-related tasks? Answer “NO to just a few of the questions below and you’re probably right: it’s time to offload some HR responsibilities!

Did you know that outsourcing HR to a trusted partner can actually help grow your business? With HR and employee management taken care of, you can focus on your core competencies and sales.

  1. Do you have a full database of HR forms and templates to maintain a compliant HR department?
  2. Are you familiar with the 180+ federal employment laws?
  3. Do you have access to discounted background checks and drug screening for new hires? Do you even conduct background checks?
  4. Do you offer benefit rich plans to your employees?
  5. Do you have a fast and accurate system for payroll reporting?
  6. Do you have a workers compensation policy in place that truly protects you?
  7. Do you have convenient pay-as-you go workers compensation policy linked directly to your payroll?
  8. Have you improved cash flow and predictability in operating costs through your current form of HR management?
  9. Do you have enough time each month to focus on bottom line activities and growing your business?
  10. Are you an “employer of choice?”

At Employer Solutions Plus, we represent the “best of” outsourced HR services. We represent multiple providers in PEO Strategies, Payroll Only Solutions, Health Insurance Options / Employee Benefits and Ancillary Benefit Program. This allows us the flexibility to customize a cost effective solution to meet the individual needs of our clients.

Isn’t it time to relax and rest easier when it comes to managing your HR related responsibilities? Contact us to get started!

How To Recruit & Retain Top Performing Attorneys

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Practice owners know the value associated with recruiting and retaining really great attorneys. As these attorneys grow and succeed, so does your firm. But how do we do it – What reels in the great attorney, and what keeps them around?

Employer Solutions Plus offers the following tips for recruiting and retaining top performing attorneys:

Tips for Recruiting:

  • Utilize LinkedIn: LinkedIn is among the most useful social media tools for recruiting online. You have direct access to people’s resumes, recommendations and track records. LinkedIn also promotes convenient and affordable recruiting.
  • Ask for recommendations, not referrals: Referrals are often candidates passed along through word of mouth or mutual contacts. Recommendations are personal relationships that people trust and respect and are willing to put their own reputation on the line for!
  • Have a UEP (Unique Employment Position): What differentiates your firm from others in the area? Have a list and be sure to let top candidates know.
  • Hire for the Future: Everyone’s goal is growth and success, isn’t it? That is why you should hire for today, but also for tomorrow. You want a candidate that can grow with your firm, not just someone who meets today’s needs because it makes the most economic sense. Top performing talent will benefit the firm as a whole over time and is worth the investment.

Tips for Retaining:

  • Benefit Rich Plans: It’s not always about money; sometimes it’s about the benefits you provide for both your attorneys and their families.
  • Include Your Attorneys In Decisions: Is the firm headed in a new direction? Are you considering expanding into a new branch of law? Involve your top performing attorneys. This demonstrates your need and respect of their opinion. Sometimes it’s that simple!
  • Be Flexible: Attorneys work a lot of hours and this can take its toll on everyone’s personal life and family life. Be flexible with your workplace hours. If there isn’t a large and pending trial this week, let your attorneys work one day from home, or attend a school function for their child. Kind and considerate gestures go a long way!
  • Compensation: Providing a competitive compensation package is an important part of retention. People want to be recognized financially for all of their hard work. They may be perfectly happy at your firm, but if Law Firm B down the street is offering to pay them more for exact same position, you may be at risk of losing talent!

We recognize that the abovementioned steps are a lot to take on for the busy practice owner, or even office manager, which is why Employer Solutions Plus specializes in HR solutions for law firms.

Contact us today for more information on recruiting and retaining top performing attorneys!

PEO Growth Trends – Grow With Us!

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If you’re a business owner, you’ve likely heard of PEOs (Professional Employer Organizations). Countless businesses are turning to PEOs to save themselves from the growing burden of employment administration. PEOs also offer improved employment practices, improved workplace compliance, HR assistance, payroll services, risk management, comprehensive employee benefits packages, and so much more!

Overall, they help you perform more productively and profitably! But, just how popular is the co-employment business model?

According to NAPEO (National Association of Professional Employer Organizations) the year 2012, and all years prior to that, were full of growth and opportunity within the PEO industry.

Approximately 110,000 small to mid-size businesses across the country utilize a PEO and those numbers will significantly grow in 2013. In just the past year, industry revenue grew by $8 billion, totaling in at $92 billion!

This just goes to show you that when you focus on your core competencies, you will thrive! With that said, we invite you to join the PEO family and all that it has to offer. When you permit a PEO to manage all tasks outside of your company’s core competencies, you can operate much more effectively and efficiently, permitting organizational growth.

With healthcare reform well on its way the regulatory challenges for small business will only increase; the landscape is getting extremely complex to say the least. With a PEO, you will only focus on your revenue-generating tasks!

Contact us today to learn more.

 

Transitioning from 1099 to Employee – Employer Checklist

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Do you have a worker that has been a 1099 to date but it’s now time to classify them as a W2 employee? In an ideal world, this would happen right around the end of the year so that the switch could be made on the 1st of the year, simplifying your business’s and employee’s taxes.

But, sometimes the switch needs to occur prior to that; misclassification is punishable by tax penalties so it is not recommended that you delay the transition to W2 employment if it is in fact necessary.

The misclassification of employees as independent contractors presents a serious problem for affected employees,employers, and the entire economy. The Department of Labor has countless initiatives in place to identify misclassifications and get workers the benefits they are entitled to such as family and medical leave, overtime, minimum wage and unemployment insurance.

When you employ a 1099 worker, the only forms necessary for the worker to complete each year is a W9, which is a request for the taxpayer identification number and certification. The worker is responsible for paying their own taxes as an independent contractor.

When the worker becomes an employee, much more responsibility falls on you as the employer. Below is a “hiring” checklist for transitioning into a W2 position. We strongly recommend consulting with a professional such as Employer Solutions Plus that can assist you in any of the areas below; each has its own complexities. Essentially, switching a 1099 worker to a W-2 employee should be handled just like a new hire would be.

  • Form W-4 for Federal Income Tax Withholding
  • State Income Tax Withholding Form
  • Form I-9
  • E-Verify (Even if your worker has already worked with you as a 1099, E-Verify is very important. It confirms the eligibility of the employee to work in the U.S.)
  • Register with State Employment Notification System
  • Review and Issue Employee Handbook (This helps ensure compliance)
  • Enroll in Benefits

It is also recommended that you consider the assistance of a payroll service provider if you are not using one already. A payroll service provider will handle all of the above-mentioned forms and verification processes for you, and help streamline your payroll each month.

For more information on hiring or transitioning an employee from 1099 to W2, contact our team.