Are you a small or medium-sized business (SMB) owner looking for HR solutions? When you’re running a small business, it can be difficult to manage all the responsibilities on your list. If you’re running a retail store, your priority is serving customers, not managing onboarding, compliance needs, and benefits enrollment. That’s why it makes sense for SMBs to work with a PEO to solve their HR demands. However, with so many PEO options available, knowing which to choose and what qualities to look for can be quite complex. Alternatively, if you’re already engaged with a PEO, you might be pondering the most effective ways to assess their services and credentials. Let’s review the best way to choose and evaluate a PEO so that you and your business get the best service possible.
What SMBs Need to Know About PEOs
If you’re new to the PEO model, PEO stands for Professional Employer Organization. PEOs work on behalf of small and medium-sized businesses to help them manage day-to-day HR tasks. PEOs allow SMBs to focus on growing their business while the PEO manages tasks like HR administration, benefits enrollment, retirement plans, compliance needs, payroll services, and more. By outsourcing these tasks to a PEO, the SMB benefits from trained experts covering each of these intricate areas. Rather than splitting the attention of a small business owner to, for example, learning employment regulations to stay compliant with laws and ordinances, this busy business owner can focus on what they do best: growing their business. Mistakes can be costly and potentially catastrophic when it comes to areas like legal compliance, HR administration, and risk management. Instead of feeling obligated to take all these responsibilities on your own, as many small business owners do, entrust these tasks to highly skilled HR professionals who assist your current team. Our HR professionals work in harmony with any in-house HR staff you have, serving as an essential resource to draw upon.
Evaluating the Quality of Service from Your Current PEO Partner
There are many factors to consider when evaluating the quality of service from your PEO. This evaluation is important because it can help you determine how effective your PEO partnership is. One of the items to review is your PEO’s responsiveness to requests and queries. Your PEO is there to help you solve any challenges you may encounter, so their responsiveness is crucial. One facet of the PEO’s responsiveness is their method of answering questions. Most PEOs commonly use call centers to field requests from clients, but this can be detrimental to the client’s experience.
When you are dealing with a call center, you speak with someone who does not necessarily know all the details of your company, your situation, and your employees. If you have a situation that needs more than one phone call to resolve, you must explain the situation repeatedly to the call center agent who answers the phone. This can be inefficient and frustrating for clients. That’s one of many reasons why PrestigePEO does not believe in using call centers. Personalized assistance stands as a primary service sought after by numerous small and medium-sized business owners. For example, PrestigePEO assigns a dedicated service team to each of our clients. Clients can call their service team directly whenever they have a question. This way, your issue is handled by a team that learns your company thoroughly and walks you through each situation from its inception to its resolution.
Additionally, consider the qualifications of the individuals administering your service. At PrestigePEO, all our HR Benefits Partners are SHRM and HRCI-certified. They have the experience and certifications to guide you through any dilemma. Your payroll will be handled by our team of FPC and CPP-certified experts, who will ensure that your funds are handled efficiently, accurately, and on time. The same is true for our compliance and risk management team, our workers’ compensation team, and our retirement plan services team. Your business deserves to receive answers from highly qualified experts, and that’s exactly what you’ll find at PrestigePEO.
PEOs Can Help SMBs Access Low-Cost Employee Benefits
Another key reason that SMBs choose PEOs is for employee benefits pricing. Employee benefits expenses rank high among the expenditures for small businesses. Larger corporations hold an edge as they tap into more competitive pricing via extensive group rate plans, leveraging their size advantage. Yet, partnering with a Professional Employer Organization grants small businesses the same advantage in purchasing power. Besides securing competitive primary benefit prices, you gain access to a comprehensive range of ancillary benefits that your employees will appreciate. The PEO can access employee benefits by utilizing all the employees at every company that has an active partnership with the same organization. Rather than having only five employees, for example, you are now able to price employee benefits as if you had five hundred employees. For these reasons and more, this is why small and medium-sized business owners prefer to work with a PEO. When evaluating which organization to choose, be sure to look for low benefit costs, but also consider the quality of the benefits. You should be able to access high-quality employee benefits with numerous offerings for your team members.
Regulatory Compliance Services From a PEO
A PEO can be instrumental in helping businesses navigate the complicated laws that surround employment. PEOs can help your business stay compliant with any new regulations and laws that arise. As the world of employment law is constantly changing, it’s critical to have someone closely monitoring any laws that may affect your business. In addition, the increase in the popularity of remote work has further complicated regulatory compliance. Your business may be in New York, but if you have a remote worker in California, you likely need to comply with that state’s laws as well. These are concerns that a PEO is fully equipped to handle. PrestigePEO prides itself on keeping our clients constantly updated with compliance changes and informing them of any action they need to take.
In addition to crucial compliance support, you should also verify the certifications that the PEO holds. Three stringent certifications regulate PEOs. Only 1% of PEOs have earned and maintained all three certifications, and PrestigePEO is proud to be among this distinguished group. Read on for an overview of these certifications and why they’re important.
Certified Professional Employer Organization (CPEO)
The first certification is the Certified Professional Employer Organization (CPEO), which is issued by the IRS. As a CPEO, PrestigePEO meets the IRS’s strict financial and tax reporting requirements. The CPEO certification demonstrates that we maintain the highest industry and government standards for payroll administration, federal employment tax reporting, and payments for our clients.
Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC)
The second certification is the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC). ESAC requires PEOs to meet the most rigorous financial, ethical, and operational standards. This certification demonstrates that PEOs are adhering to important industry standards. It also proves a PEO’s financial stability, ethical business practices, adherence to regulatory requirements and provides surety bonds that help protect the payment of wages, payroll taxes, employee benefits and insurance premiums.
The Certificate Institute’s Worker’s Compensation Certification
The final certification is The Certificate Institute’s Worker’s Compensation Certification. The Certificate Institute verifies that PrestigePEO’s risk management program meets proven insurance industry risk management best practices to reduce work-related accidents and health exposures to control workers’ compensation insurance losses. These three certifications offer our clients peace of mind that their businesses will be handled with the utmost care and highest standards.
Understanding the Importance of PEO Transparent Pricing
For all the services provided above, your PEO should embrace full transparency as a standard practice. Beyond providing certifications for industry standards, they should maintain clarity in their pricing structures and models. This transparency is pivotal in fostering trust between you and your PEO, forming the bedrock for a mutually beneficial working relationship. As clients grasp the “what” and “why” behind their payments, it builds credibility, reinforcing their confidence in the PEO.
Hidden HR management fees or bundled additional costs have no place in a transparent relationship. Enrolling in employer services with your PEO should be an informed choice, empowering you to make the best decisions. A comprehensive view of fees should be readily accessible, allowing you to confidently present and discuss them with supervisors as your business expands. Collaboration between you and your PEO on agreed HR solutions should continuously elevate your business operations. Another crucial aspect of a transparent relationship involves benefits renewal pricing. Annually, there exists an opportunity to assess plans and enhance coverage. This process should adopt a consultative approach aimed at fostering long-term retention.
Choose the Best PEO for Your Business
Important elements to remember when selecting a PEO include personalized customer service, adherence to compliance regulations, and transparent pricing. PEOs provide substantial assistance to small and medium-sized businesses. However, it’s crucial to thoroughly evaluate your options to choose the PEO that best aligns with your business needs. PrestigePEO has the experience, certifications, and compassion to cater to your HR needs with care. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.
