Day-to-day duties can be time-consuming and daunting when you're part of your company's human resources personnel. Without the right knowledge and updated information, employers can make mistakes that affect their entire company. A professional employer organization, also known as a PEO service, takes away that burden and manages the legal and administrative HR tasks for you.
When you use this type of service, you establish a co-employment relationship. This means you sign a contract with the PEO company, which becomes the employer of record. The PEO company becomes an administrative employer over your company. You handle all worksite duties, and the PEO solution handles administrative items such as payroll, benefits and risk management.
There are many benefits to establishing this contractual agreement with a PEO service. This relationship allows you to forget about the little tasks that do not produce revenue for your company so you can focus on the strategy and organization of your business. It can lower costs of hiring an HR staff, and most PEO services will provide the benefits for your company so you have experts available at all times.
Many PEO solutions provide the services to handle processing payroll, compliance issues and workers' compensation claims, and they assist with hiring and termination processes as well. With many PEO companies, you can choose the areas you need assistance with. You can create a custom agreement that fits your business' size and industry.
Take a look at our articles about PEO companies. Also, check out our top three PEO services: ADP, TriNet and Employer Solutions Group.
PEO Companies: What to Look For
When looking for the best PEO service for your company, you'll want a solution that provides assistance in all areas of HR, like the hiring process, payroll administration, benefits, even terminations and layoffs. You should also ensure the business will work with the size of your company and is licensed in your location.
Here are the criteria we look for in this type of solution.
HR Services
The best PEO solutions provide assistance in all areas of HR. Many of these services assign you an HR professional to assist you. Many of these solutions handle all administrative tasks in your company – such as payroll processing, claims management and talent acquisition – so you can focus on worksite duties and business strategies.
Because you are entering a co-employment relationship with the PEO service, many PEO companies provide benefit packages for your employees and are available to tackle all relevant questions. Health, dental and vision insurance options are the most popular benefit packages, but also look for a PEO service that offers additional options, including 401(k) plans and flexible spending accounts.
Features
Make sure the company is licensed in your state. Each state has different regulations regarding workers' compensation insurance and unemployment insurance, and a PEO company cannot assist you unless it is licensed in your location. Also be aware that many PEO services require a long-term commitment, while others only require a 30-day written notice of cancellation. Be sure of the term length before you sign an agreement with a service.
Help & Support
If you're paying for PEO services, you need to know that help is readily available when you have questions or concerns. Email and telephone are the most popular options for reaching representatives, and many companies also provide live chat for faster support. Some companies' websites also include FAQs, articles, videos or even company blogs filled with information on the companies and their processes.
With help from a PEO company, you can streamline your HR department and know that professionals are readily available to handle all the administrative tasks that come with running your business.