What Will My Employees Think of a PEO?

The word “co-employment” occasionally scares business owners. Will I be giving up control of my own workplace? Will points of contact and communication methods change? What will my employees think of a PEO “stepping in”?

These are common concerns and as a business owner you certainly have the right to be concerned! While the term “co-employment” may sound a bit scary, let’s review a few things first!

You do not lose control over your business in a co-employment relationship. You will retain ownership of the company and control over its day to day operations.
On paper, as co-employers, you contractually share or allocate employer responsibilities and liabilities. The PEO will likely take responsibility for administration, payroll, taxes and benefits. Because a PEO may also be responsible for workers compensation insurance, they may want to focus on improving worksite safety and ensuring your company is continually in compliance.

We always recommend strong communication with employees at the beginning of a new PEO/co-employment relationship. It’s not a difficult transition for anyone within the workplace, but clear communication always promotes a positive working environment.

Many employees would never realize there was actually a PEO operating behind the scenes if it wasn’t for their paycheck. Because PEOs take over payroll responsibilities, the checks your employees receive will likely have the PEO’s name on it.

The only other change they will notice is the number of advantages they now have because your company is associated with a PEO. These advantages include: streamlined payroll and claims processing, robust benefits, better communication and even improved job satisfaction through clear expectations, easy-to-read employee handbooks, and the fact that they’ve got experienced professionals on their side to handle employment-related issues.

If all fears are finally aside and you’re now ready to make the switch to a PEO, call Employer Solutions Plus at 727-698-6207. We can also answer any additional questions or concerns that you may have!

When is the Best Time To Switch to a PEO?

Whether you’re a company looking to engage in a PEO contract for the first time, or a company that already works with a PEO but is looking to make a switch, timing is everything!

It is a common misunderstanding that PEO contracts need to begin on January 1. If companies wait for the next calendar year, they could waste months overpaying for services, experiencing dissatisfaction, or outgrowing a vendor.

However there are a few red flags that are worth paying attention to, so that money is not lost or wasted when making a switch. Here are just a few:

  • Payroll Tax Restarts: You must be careful to avoid payroll tax restarts. Sometimes the amount of money put toward State Unemployment, Social Security, Medicare, and other taxes to date can be forfeited.
  • Health Insurance: With a health insurance switch, the amount of deductible that employees have paid to date with another health insurance provider can be forfeited. While this won’t necessarily be an upset for you as the business owner, but it may result in several disgruntled employees!
  • Anything Paid in Advance or Deposits Made: Did you make a deposit on workers compensation insurance? Do you pay any insurance premiums one month in advance? These are important things to look at so that you don’t have an overlap of services (or costs) when starting with a new provider.

While the above mentioned items are worth paying attention to, they aren’t worth scaring you away from a new PEO contract. Did you know that some PEOs offer credits for taxes already paid? That’s right, even if you have put money toward SUTA or other taxes, you can be “reimbursed” by your new PEO. Employer Solutions Plus can identify the most convenient (but also the most cost-effective) time frame for making the switch! Need some help? Contact us today!

 

PEO Growth Trends – Grow With Us!

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.

 

Analyzing Proposals – Which PEO is Best for My Company?

Did you know that the team at Employer Solutions Plus is available to help you analyze PEO proposals? That’s right; we don’t just put together PEO proposals, we also assist clients that are already halfway through the process!

One of the most difficult tasks can be sorting through countless proposals. You’ve likely already compiled an assessment of workplace needs and wants surrounding employee management and risk management, as well as determined your employee benefits needs.

The first step in analyzing a proposal is making sure that the PEO’s capabilities, services, and benefits align with your requested needs. If they do, add them to your pile of possible PEO candidates. May sound simple enough, but if you’re already halfway through the process you know how large of a time investment sending out RFPs and identifying your workplace needs has already been.

And, selecting the best PEO for your company isn’t often as easy as laying out all the proposals for side by side comparisons. Each PEO will likely come back with customized solutions for your specific needs. Each has its own pricing model, way of conveying data, proposal template and even fine print that you may not 100% understand.

When you do find a PEO whose pricing and services stand out amongst the rest, it is recommended that you verify financials including bank and credit references and ask the PEO to show proof of payment history surrounding payroll taxes and insurance premiums. Then of course comes the fine print – Will you be able to cancel the contract if better rates come along or terms of the contract are not met? Who is responsible for each type of liability, you or the PEO?

Our dedicated staff of PEO experts can prepare a custom analysis of proposals for you upon request and we’ll review all of the above, and then some! If we don’t see the perfect fit, Employer Solutions Plus can also offer some alternatives.

Clients of Employer Solutions Plus save themselves time, money, and stress. Call today to take the guesswork out of PEO proposal analysis: 727-698-6207.

Compliance-Smart Time Tracking Systems

It’s no secret that staying in compliance is a real headache. You may be the world’s best boss or business owner, but you probably don’t have an employment law degree. After all, compliance is a full time job!

So, what’s available to help ease the burden of compliance? For starters, good technology. Are you still recording employee hours in an excel file? Having employees sign in and out at the front desk during each lunch break? Here are some common wage and hour compliance concerns for business owners: calculating accurate overtime pay, ensuring employees take their breaks, abiding by minimum wage laws, and payroll record keeping.

Time tracking systems play a critical role in helping to comply with wage and hour laws, and can even help in reducing compensation claims! Imagine this: You’re a retail store with 15 workers on the floor. By your particular state’s law, all workers are required to take at least one break during their shift. If one employee forgets to take their break, or skips it, you’ll immediately get a notification. Are some employees staying overnight to organize new inventory? No problem – These systems are compliance smart and will not only let you know if your employees are eligible for overtime, but will also calculate it for you.

Now, these systems do require a manager’s manual review for accuracy, and you should be familiar with your state’s laws. For example, when “off the clock” tasks, communication, or assignments might be compensable.

There’s no doubt in our minds that technology can be a lifesaver, but we can’t all afford these “extra-smart” programs, complete with tablets, touch screens, card swipe systems, text messaging, mobile applications, cloud-based systems and extensive reporting features… which is where a PEO comes in.

PEOs offer extremely robust HRIS’s (Human Resource Information Systems) and can often afford today’s most effective and efficient systems – the ones that are upward of a $300,000 investment and just out of reach for the small to medium sized business owner. Through the co-employment relationship, PEOs deliver big company perks and benefits to the smaller guys, like us!

For more information on PEO benefits, including compliance and technology, contact us.

How Do PEOs Improve Cash Flow?

Professional Employer Organizations save clients time and money by eliminating the inefficiencies of dealing with multiple vendors. And, for clients that have never worked with a Professional Employer Organization, the new co-employment relationship will likely improve your cash flow as well.

The most common way that PEO clients improve their cash flow is through the PEO’s workers compensation master policy. Even if you are a small company of 10 employees, the co-employment relationship will permit you to reap “big company benefits.” This eliminates debilitating workers compensation items from your cash flow such as down payments, audits, and set monthly payments. Many PEO clients instead enjoy “pay as you goworkers compensation based on gross wages and/or class codes for each pay period.

Second, with the help of a PEO your staff can spend more time on revenue-generating activities. Does your management team lose time (and money) each month tending to payroll, health insurance, administration and employee management activities? Working with a PEO will remove these unproductive activities, permitting you to “make money” all month long through consistently maximizing your internal efficiencies.

And, last but not least, PEOs provide predictability in operating costs. Through a co-employment contract, you rarely experience “vendor surprises” or unexpected expenses each month surrounding operations or employee management. The costs are clear, and they’re consistent.

Employer Solutions Plus can help companies with as few as 5 employees quickly and easily find the right PEO provider for improving cash flow, saving time, and saving money.

To improve your company’s overall cash flow position, contact us.

New Year, New Options …. It’s Time to Review Your Vendors

It’s that time again – time to reflect on the past year and plan for the future. Whether you’re searching for an all-inclusive approach to managing your organization’s vendors in 2013, or just looking for a more cost-effective employee benefits plan, Employer Solutions Plus has you covered!

Do you currently have a vendor budget? Establishing an itemized budget for vendor services such as payroll administration, employee benefits and more provides you with projected expenses for the coming year, and is a simple tool for evaluating and monitoring your performance. Where are your current weaknesses? Where is there too much risk? Is your workers’ compensation policy the very best coverage you can afford?

Even if you are currently satisfied with your organization’s vendors, there may be more competitive options out there for you; such as authorizing a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) to manage all employee management services and set up a more economical, streamlined approach. It certainly does not hurt to shop, especially if you have a valued partner to do it for you.

At Employer Solutions Plus, we review your existing vendors and provide recommended alternatives at no cost to you, which not only saves you money, but time as well.

Our New Year’s Review covers:

  1. Payroll Administration
  2. Employee Benefits
  3. Human Resource Management/Administration
  4. Risk Management (Including Workers’ Compensation Insurance)
  5. PEO Options

What will you do in 2013 with the money you save on vendor expenses? Hire someone and expand your team? Invest a few more dollars into marketing initiatives? Lease a larger space?

At Employer Solutions Plus, we represent multiple providers in each product category listed above. This allows us the flexibility to customize a cost effective solution to meet the individual needs of our clients. Contact us today for your New Year’s Review.

How Do I Know Which PEO Is Right For Me?

So, you’ve decided that the co-employment business model and HR outsourcing is right for you… but according to NAPEO (National Association of Professional Employer Organizations), there are about 700 PEOs operating in 50 states….where does one start with that big of a selection?

Employer Solutions Plus offers the following guidelines to companies considering the co-employment relationship:

1. Compile an assessment of workplace needs and wants surrounding employee management and risk management.
2. Determine your employee benefits needs.

3. Align the PEO’s capabilities, services, and benefits with your exact needs. Are they capable of meeting your goals?

4. Verifications:

  • Verify the length of time that
    the PEO Vendor has been in business.
  • Are risk management practices independently certified by the Certification Institute?
  • Are operational, financial and ethical practices accredited by Employer Service Assurance Corporation (ESAC)?
  • Is the PEO a member of NAPEO?
  • Does the PEO meet all state requirements?

5. Ask the PEO for client and professional references.

6. Check the PEO’s financial background, including bank and credit references. Ask the PEO to prove that it pays its own payroll taxes and insurance premiums in a timely manner.

7. Is the PEO fully insured or partially self-funded (concerning benefits)? If third party, is their insurance carrier authorized to do business in your state?

8. Reinforce credibility through personal contact; request a personal presentation by the PEO.

9. Review the service agreement very carefully. Who is responsible for each type of liability? Key words to look for are “responsible for.” This means that the PEO assumes all cost and liability associated with the action. Words such as “assist with” or “consult with” means that the business owner assumes liability.

10 Will you be able to cancel the contract if better rates come along or terms of the contract are not met? We understand the 10 steps above are a lot to take in, and it’s especially difficult to find the time for this process when you’ve got your own day-to-day activities and clients to worry about. At Employer Solutions Plus, we manage PEO shopping for you, and present you with the best possible options after analyzing numerous PEOs on the aforementioned criteria.

Clients of Employer Solutions Plus save themselves time, money, and stress. Call today to take the guesswork out of the PEO selection process: 727-698-6207.

The Co-Employment Business Model

PEO, Professional Employer Organization, Employee Leasing, Co-Employment, Human Resources Outsourcing …. As a business owner or human resources professional, you’ve likely stumbled upon these terms. But, what exactly is a PEO? What does the co-employment relationship entail?

A PEO (Professional Employer Organization) is an organization that offers a cost-effective and comprehensive approach to helping you manage your company’s human resources. Unlike a standalone payroll company, or benefits company, that assists with one single component of HR, a PEO offers a full suite of HR-related services including but not limited to employment administration, recruiting, hiring and firing, workers’ compensation, employee benefits, payroll, compliance, best practices, employee training, and performance management.

PEOs permit business owners to focus on their core competencies, while leaving HR and employee management to the experts! Co-employment refers to the separation of human resources, employee management and liabilities that occur when you work with a PEO.

In the co-employment business model, your employees work for both you and the PEO. Business and day to day activities go about as usual, but the PEO assumes all administrative functions, and more importantly, shares many of the liabilities associated with your business and employees.

PEOs save businesses time and money! To learn more about PEOs and the co-employment business model, contact us today.