By providing payroll, benefits, and HR services and assisting with compliance issues under state and federal law, PEOs allow small businesses to improve productivity and profitability, to focus on their core mission and to grow. The employees of small businesses also prosper. Under a PEO, employees gain access to big-business employee benefits such as 401(k) plans; health, dental, life and other insurances; dependent care; and other benefits they might not typically receive as employees of a small company.
Services Offered by PEO Companies
- Employer payroll tax filling
- Safety and risk mitigation services
- Human resource consulting
- Health benefits
- Regulatory compliance assistance
- Payroll processing
- Workers compensation insurance Employer’s practice and liability insurance Training and development
Top 4 Benefits to Using a PEO Company
1. Risk Protection
PEO companies are local experts who can efficiently protect your business from certain risks. For instance, payroll mistakes can be quite expensive. Besides that, these firms are crucial in ensuring that you avoid fines and penalties that may be issued due to lack of business compliance.
2. HR Compliance
Employment laws are quite dynamic, complex, and constantly changing. On the other hand, the business environment is quite competitive. For business, keeping tabs on the ever-changing laws while still keeping focus on the efficient running of your business.
However, if you fail to apply current HR laws in your business, then this might cost you heavily. You definitely don’t want to get fined by federal agencies constantly.
Well, a PEO can help you avoid all these issues. They know the type of your business and specific HR compliance laws that apply to it. They are also able to implement the HR solutions on time, saving you from unnecessary fines.
3. Efficient Payroll Process
Such a firm can help you reduce the costs and time invested in processing payroll and other costs related to accounting. This is because an accredited PEO definitely has a modern payroll system that helps to ensure that the payroll process is automated.
4. Comprehensive Workers’ Compensation
Workers’ compensation is always a demanding task that’s time-consuming and costly. Business organizations end up spending lots of money and more time trying to implement them. From claims management to insurance premiums, you need to have a good support system to handle the compensation process.
As your co-employer, a PEO ensures that you provide your employees with an effective workers’ compensation plan through its own insurance program. Besides that, such a firm is in the best position to handle certifications, audits, compliance, and all paperwork related to the running of workers’ compensation programs.
Overall, PEOs are the right co-employers who ensure that you save your time and money while running your business efficiently. They are flexible to hire and the availability of a wide array of PEO companies means that you can always find a company that suits your needs.
What to Look for in a PEO
There are hundreds of PEO firms and therefore choosing one can be quite overwhelming.
Are they certified with the IRS?
Being certified means that the PEO has applied to be certified with the IRS, has provided extensive information about its financial information, company viability, background checks on key employees, tax compliance history and other related information and has obtained at least a $1 million surety bond to guarantee the PEO’s ability to pay all federal employment tax liabilities to the IRS.
Consider Your Needs
You need to assess what your business needs to ensure that it aligns with whatever firm you end up choosing,
Understand that the aim of hiring a PEO is to help your business grow in accordance with different regulatory measures. The facets of your business that you should consider first include:
- Human Resource: how do you want to manage your HR responsibilities? Of course, outsourcing the services of a PEO can help to effectively manage how your business recruits employees, slots vacations, and other employee issues.
- Payroll management: this is in relation to the payroll system as well as filing taxes. Your business needs to comply with the business laws and regulations. A good PEO should be able to provide you with a simplified but effective online payroll system.
- Risk management: it’s not easy to effectively manage the risks and potential threats your business could be facing. Besides that, it’s costly and time-consuming. By assessing and understanding what your business needs, you will be able to determine the best PEO that can help you to manage your company’s risk by creating a safer work environment.
Firm’s Administrative Competence
You need to know if the company has the right expertise when it comes to business administration and management issues. What’s its competence? What experience does the firm’s internal staff have when it comes to handling different businesses in various niches? What are their qualifications including professional training? What position do they hold in the company?
The Contract Structure
Dealing with an external company requires the signing up of contracts and application of policies. Different companies have unique types of contracts and policies. However, your goal should be to find an ideal company that suits your budget.
Besides that, the firm should have functional policies that complement your business’s needs. This way, you can decide if you want a long-term or short-term contract. It’s also important for the PEO firm to clearly outline its license cancellation policy.
4 Ways a PEO Can Help Your Business Grow
By providing all of the above-mentioned services and assisting with HR issues and compliance with employment regulations under state and federal law, PEOs take a lot of time-consuming tasks away from small business owners so that they can put more of their time and energy into their business goals.
The advantages of using a PEO are numerous for both employers and employees:
- Better benefits: A PEO can offer better benefits at lower costs by pooling their clients’ employees together. This can even include additional benefits, such as dental, vision, and life insurance, that are often too expensive for a small business to offer. Not only does this help employers and employees save money on their insurance benefits, it helps small business compete against larger companies when trying to recruit skilled workers.
- Compliance: Employment law is constantly changing, and it’s not easy for employers to keep up with the latest updates or changes. Something as simple as a paperwork error can cost a small business owner thousands of dollars or more in legal fees and penalties. Because PEOs focus on HR administration, they are constantly up-to-date with the latest changes to employment law, ensuring their clients stay compliant.
- Happier employees: Competitive benefits, consistent compliance, a well-organized payroll system, knowledgeable HR staff, and more time freed up for employers to focus on the business; all of these aspects work together to help ensure employees are engaged and able to focus on their jobs.
- Significant business growth: PEO clients surveyed by NAPEO in 2017 reported a 10 percent median revenue growth from 2015 to 2016 versus 5 percent for similar non-PEO firms. 70 percent of employers surveyed by NAPEO reported that their revenues have increased and 66 percent reported that their profitability has increased since becoming a PEO client.
The benefits of partnering with a PEO are numerous and far reaching for small and mid-size business owners. Finding the right PEO for your business can take all of the mundane administrative employment tasks off of an employers’ plate so they can focus on increasing revenues and growing their business.
PEO FAQs
Who Uses a PEO?
Generally, PEOs are ideal for use in a broad range of industries, including retailers, small to medium-sized manufacturers, plumbers, and mechanics among others.
What is an Accredited PEO?
You can check the ESAC website to determine if the firm you have chosen has accreditation.
What’s the Difference between PEOs and Employee Leasing?
Meanwhile, employee leasing involves supplying a business with new workers. The contract can be temporary, long-term, or based on the type of available work. When the project is completed or the contract ends, the employees leave as well.
How Do Employees Benefit from PEO?
Are PEO Agreements Common?
Between 2008 and 2017, PEO companies had a compounded annual growth rate of 8.3%. This is an extremely high level of growth that’s 14 times higher than the whole of the US’s rate of employment.
How Much Do You Need to Pay a PEO Firm?
In case the business owner decides to be charged based on the percentage of their overall payroll. In most cases, PEO firms usually charge 3-10% of the company’s overall payroll.
Conclusion
PEOs are important for the professional running of any business with employees. They have the necessary professionals and essential systems that help to ensure all your administrative tasks are handled. They help to effectively handle business tasks that are related to employment including essential taxes, payroll, and employee benefits.
Choosing a good PEO firm can help to ensure that your business grows significantly. This is because they are co-employees who help to reduce employment costs while ensuring that the business has good internal relations.
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About Emplicity:
Since 1995, Emplicity has provided a smarter, more secure, and integrated platform of employer services. As a Professional Employer Organization, or PEO, the California-based HR outsourcing firm simplifies the compliance, administration, and support businesses need in the areas of employee benefits, payroll, and human resources technology.
NOTICE: Emplicity provides HR advice and recommendations. Information provided by Emplicity is not intended as a substitute for employment law counsel. At no time will Emplicity have the authority or right to make decisions on behalf of its clients.
