The truth is, your employees are your human capital and they are your greatest asset. Your competitors can open up shop and begin operating their business right next door to yours. They may even start offering similar products and services to yours, and they may even begin matching or beating your pricing but there is one distinct advantage your business will have over theirs – your people.

Your company’s success hinges on maximizing your most valuable asset. But without adequate time, resources and technology, it’s very difficult to find the right people, develop and manage your people, manage the paperwork and protect your business.

PEOs Provide Human Capital Management Expertise

By tapping the expertise of a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) for human capital management you receive an array of solutions your company can use to maximize its most valuable asset whether you have 5 employees or 500. With a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), you’ll have more to focus on running your business, boost your bottom line and put your people first.

PEOs help you find the right people by:

• Providing recruiting best practices
• Providing job description development
• Providing new hire salary information
• Providing interview guidelines and assistance
• Providing candidate assessments
• Managing new hire forms and processes

PEOs help you develop and manage your people by:

• Providing employee development best practices
• Providing an employee information management system (HRIS)
• Providing employee skills and assessment tools
• Providing performance management tools
• Providing employee orientation programs
• Providing employee training and development tools

PEOs help you retain your best employees by:

• Providing employee retention best practices
• Providing attractive employee benefit options
• Providing employee assistance programs
• Providing employee discount programs
• Providing reward and recognition programs
• Providing sample flexible work arrangements

PEOs help you manage the paperwork by:

• Providing HR forms and processes
• Providing time and attendance systems
• Providing online payroll and HR systems
• Providing unemployment claims administration
• Providing COBRA, FMLA and Section 125 Administration
• Providing full benefits enrollment and administration services

PEOs help you protect your business by:

• Implementing HR policies and best practices
• Assisting with employee on-boarding and off-boarding processes
• Managing employment related regulatory compliance
• Providing workers’ compensation coverage
• Providing workplace safety evaluations and assistance
• Providing drug free workplace programs

Why PEO Brokers of America

PEO Brokers of America works with many different PEO’s. This approach allows us to find the right PEO for each client. For more information or for a free quote call or email us today at (888)370-5406 or info@peoboa.com.

The post Why Your Company Needs a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

The 6 Tell-Tale Signs That Someone Is An Employee And Not A Contractor

The post The 6 Tell-Tale Signs That Someone Is An Employee And Not A Contractor appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

The way we do work is always changing.

As new technology continually makes us more efficient, and evolving collaboration strategies have a noticeable impact on the dynamics within the workplace, every organization finds itself dramatically different at the start of a new year from the way it was 12 months ago.

The year 2014 was absolutely not an exception, as new mobile and cloud-based tools brought major change to work as we know it.

What’s interesting is that every time work changes, in theory human capital management should, too. If our employees are modifying their strategies over time, then how is the HR function adapting and keeping up?

That should be an especially salient question now, in early January of 2015. If workers are setting New Year’s resolutions, then those responsible for human capital management (HCM) strategies should consider doing the same. I blogged earlier about why I believe 2015 will be the year of the employee, and data is starting to back this up.

What employers need to be doing

According to Benefits Pro, there’s been a great deal of research into what new trends should be expected to shape HR in 2015. Deloitte Consulting has led the way, revealing its expectations for the new year in, Predictions for 2015: Redesigning the Organization for a Rapidly Changing World. In it, Deloitte principal Josh Bersin notes that the rise of Millennials and the arrival of the “24/7 work environment” amid a changing tech climate have converged to change the game.

The report states that,

Employers will be challenged to re-engineer the workplace, rethink jobs and reshape the way to attract, engage and manage people if they are to drive business performance amidst a growing global economy in 2015. Organizations should focus on bold, innovative strategies to develop leaders, engage employees and foster a healthy workplace culture if they want to succeed in a global environment where competition for talent will be fierce.”

So what strategies in particular are likely to be big in 2015? Here are five (5) in particular:

1. Redesigning performance management

Organizations are becoming more progressive about the way they oversee their employees.

Companies are becoming less reliant on the annual appraisal process. The new model is one that promotes agility and transparency, allowing for staff members and their managers to collaborate on guiding the workforce together.

2. Helping the overwhelmed employee

Our colleagues find themselves overworked and stressed – for these individuals, it’s time to do something constructive to help them.

In 2015, in addition to implementing employee assistance programs (EAP) that focus on wellness, HR may want to look at ways to redesign the schedule to liberate the overwhelmed parties, especially shift-based workers.

3. Emphasizing corporate learning

Increasingly in the future, we’ll realize that job skills are the most important currency in the world.

For this reason, organizations will make learning a top priority so that their talent can develop and shine.

4. Investing in talent acquisition

Of course, it’s also a matter of bringing in high-quality people in the first place.

That’s why organizations in 2015 are likely to invest in better recruiting technologies to help them track down the best possible talent.

5. Developing HR itself

Last but not least, the HR department can only reach its full potential if it’s well-staffed, right?

Human capital management leaders should take a moment this year to develop the talents of their own internal people. As the HR function is transforming into a business partner, it will be critical to developing business acumen, underscored by tying HR efforts to the goals of the company.

Originally Posted @Ceridian’s HCM blog.

For more information on how PEO Brokers of America can help your company with human capital management, contact us today!

888.370.5406

info@peoboa.com

request a quote

The post 5 Big Changes Coming to Human Capital Management appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

Proposed Rule Would Permit Incentives, Emphasize Confidentiality

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) describing how Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to employer wellness programs that are part of group health plans. The NPRM is available in the Public Inspectionportion of the Federal Register, and will be officially published on Monday, April 20, 2015. Members of the public have 60 days from that date (or until Friday, June 19) to submit comments.

The EEOC’s proposed rule would provide much needed guidance to both employers and employees about how wellness programs offered as part of an employer’s group health plan can comply with the ADA consistent with provisions governing wellness programs in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), as amended by the Affordable Care Act. In addition, the EEOC is also publishing a Fact Sheet for Small Businesses and a Question and Answer document for the general public.

Many employers that provide health insurance also offer workplace wellness programs intended to encourage healthier lifestyles or prevent disease. These programs sometimes use health risk assessments and biometric screenings to determine an employee’s health risk factors, such as body weight and cholesterol, blood glucose, and blood pressure levels. Some of these programs offer financial and other incentives for employees who participate or achieve certain health outcomes.

Although the ADA limits the circumstances in which employers may ask employees about their health or require them to undergo medical examinations, it allows such inquiries and exams if they are voluntary and part of an employee health program.

The NPRM further requires that if an employee health program seeks information about employee health or medical examinations, the program must be reasonably likely to promote health or prevent disease. Employees may not be required to participate in a wellness program, and they may not be denied health coverage or disciplined if they refuse to participate

The EEOC’s proposed rule makes clear that wellness programs are permitted under the ADA, but that they may not be used to discriminate based on disability. The rule explains that under the ADA, companies may offer incentives of up to 30 percent of the total cost of employee-only coverage in connection with wellness programs. These programs can include medical examinations or questions about employees’ health (such as questions on a health risk assessment).

This limit is generally consistent with limits that HIPAA imposes on wellness programs. The rule also makes clear however, that the ADA provides important safeguards to employees to protect against discrimination based on disability. Accordingly, medical information collected as a part of a wellness program may be disclosed to employers only in aggregate form that does not reveal the employee’s identity, and must be kept confidential in accordance with ADA requirements.

“The EEOC worked closely with the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury in developing this NPRM to harmonize the ADA’s requirement that medical inquiries and exams that are part of an employee health program must be voluntary, and HIPAA’s goal of allowing incentives to encourage participation in wellness programs,” said EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang.

Employers also may not subject employees to interference with their ADA rights, threats, intimidation, or coercion for refusing to participate in a wellness program or for failing to achieve certain health outcomes. Finally, individuals with disabilities must be provided with reasonable accommodations that allow them to participate in wellness programs and to earn whatever incentive an employer offers.

In addition to setting a limit on incentives, the NPRM, which includes interpretive guidance that will be published along with the final rule, requires that employers provide employees a notice that describes what medical information will be collected, with whom it will be shared, how it will be used, and how it will be kept confidential. The interpretive guidance also includes an extensive discussion of both legal requirements and best practices that ensure confidentiality of employee medical information.

The Commission looks forward to receiving comments on the NPRM that will shape the final regulation.   In addition, the Commission has asked a number of specific questions in the preamble to the NPRM on which it seeks comment before finalizing the rule. Methods for commenting are specified in the notice in the Federal Register.

One of the six national priorities identified by the Commission’s Strategic Enforcement Plan is for the Commission to address emerging and developing issues in equal employment law, including issues involving the ADA among other possible issues.

The EEOC enforces the federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. More information about the EEOC is available at www.eeoc.gov.

For more information on how PEO Brokers of America can help provide your company with better benefits, perks and discounts, and a better HR infrastructure, contact us today!

888.370.5406

info@peoboa.com

request a quote

The post EEOC Issues Proposed Rule on Application of the ADA to Employer Wellness Programs appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

Most small-business owners know the frustration of spending more time than they want or should on non-revenue-generating activities. From payroll and human resource management to benefits and compensation, entrepreneurs can spend up to 40 percent of their precious day engaged in these necessary but time-sucking tasks.

The answer for many growing companies may be to hire one of the 700 professional employer organizations (PEOs) in the U.S. These companies become the legal employer of your staff and handle all the payroll, benefits and HR functions.

“Most small businesses are under 25 employees, and that means the owner is the most productive, is critical to the success of the business, and has to get out there and generate sales and products,” says Milan Yager, president and CEO of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations. When small businesses outsource non-core activities, “they can focus on the business of their business,” says Yager.

But when does it make sense to hire a PEO? While PEOs aren’t for every company, those that do use them can often offer better benefit packages and thus hire better talent, says Ed Vargas, senior vice president of health and benefits at Aon Consulting. “We help them set up a Fortune 500 package of benefits,” he says.

In assessing whether or not you should hire a PEO, there are several questions to consider before you make a decision:

• How big is your company? Expert opinion varies on how large a company should be before it hires a PEO. A general rule of thumb is “when administrative processes begin slowing down the productivity of the firm,” says Dan Sheridan, president and chief operating officer of Extensis, a PEO. While it is different for every company, “this typically occurs when a business reaches 10 to 15 employees a week,” says Sheridan.Some PEOs won’t work with companies that have fewer than 10 employees. “Once a company gets very big, then it is easier to have an in-house HR department,” says Janis Sweeney, owner of National Employee Management Resources, a PEO. The sweet spot for a PEO, she says, is between 16 and 80 people. The composition of your workforce is also important. Companies that only offer insurance to a few key executives wouldn’t benefit from PEOs.
• How much does a PEO cost? Like all professional services, the way a PEO prices services varies depending on the company. Industry experts estimate that the cost ranges from about 2 percent to 11 percent of wages. Another way to look at the expense is per employee. With that measure, it would run between $500 and $1,500 per employee per year. For very small companies with only two to five employees, some PEOs might price their services at a flat fee of $150 per month.On the flip side, it is important to try and estimate the total cost of your HR functions. Truth is, most businesses “have no idea what their true costs are, as they only think of wages but never add up all the other things,” says Yager.
• How much control do you want over your HR functions? A PEO acts as a business partner to the client company. If a business owner wants to control all aspects of a business and is not open to suggestions or following through on recommendations a PEO makes, then a PEO may not make sense, says Jim Thibodeau, president of StaffScapes Inc.Businesses do lose a bit of flexibility in the coverage they can offer when they use a PEO. Related to the issue of control is the perception of your employees. “Employees are used to seeing [your business name] on the check,” and the PEO becomes the check signer, says Sweeney.
• What services do you need? “Picking the right PEO is of paramount importance,” says Sheridan. The PEO should be certified by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation, have experience in the client’s industry and cover that company’s territory, he says. Also bear in mind that some PEOs specialize in a Web-based high-tech approach, while others are focused on face-to-face support.

By: Entrepreneur Magazine

Remember — each PEO is different, and business owners would do well to work with PEO Brokers of America

Contact us Today for a Free Quote:

888.370.5406

info@peoboa.com

request a quote

The post Is It Time to Outsource Human Resources? appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

ESCO Communications, an Indianapolis-based audio/visual equipment installer, has provided health insurance for its 100 employees for more than 40 years, but when CEO Chip Roth was faced with 40 percent price hike on the company’s plan last year, he realized he needed to make a change. The cost increase–coupled with expected complexities of the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare–led Roth to WorkSmart Systems, a local professional employer organization that pools health benefits for the employees of 200 small companies.

“Health insurance was the real driver,” Roth says. “By joining a larger pool and spreading the risk around, we were able to keep our rates the same as they were.”

Related: Tax Dilemmas Add to Burden of Healthcare Reform for Entrepreneurs

With insurance premiums on the rise and health reform kicking into high gear, many small companies are looking for strength in numbers. Some are joining PEOs so they can provide a menu of affordable health plans to their employees, and outsource the complex administrative tasks associated with them. Matt Thomas, founder and president of WorkSmart, says his company is on track to double its sales in the three years ending in December 2015. “A lot of that has to do with the Affordable Care Act,” he says. “Even larger companies that wouldn’t normally look at PEOs are looking now, so they can avoid some of the ramifications of [the law].”

PEOs, available for the past 30 years, provide health benefits and handle human resources tasks, including payroll, workers’ compensation insurance and other benefits. And because a PEO does all of this for a group of companies, rather than just one, it can typically achieve economies of scale that individual companies can’t. The most recent data indicates that the sector is growing: PEO industry revenue reached $92 billion in 2012, a 13.6% increase over 2010, the year the health legislation was signed into law, according to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations in Alexandria, Va.

Related: Is It Time to Outsource Human Resources?

PEOs generally charge a flat monthly fee per employee or paycheck, or they take a percentage of each client’s total payroll. If a PEO does its job well, it should generate enough savings for their clients to offset those fees, says Jay Starkman, founder and CEO of Engage PEO in St. Petersburg, Fla. “Insurance companies reward the aggregation of [employees], so oftentimes PEOs are able to deliver a 5 percent savings to their clients,” on health care, he says.

PEOs also say they save small companies the hassle and cost of hiring their own in-house HR staff, who could cost more than $80,000 a year in salary and benefits a piece. “A PEO does all the stuff that’s not essential to your core business,” Starkman says.

There can be drawbacks to joining PEOs, however. Because a PEO acts as a co-employer, you may feel as if you’re losing some degree of control over your employees. And how competitive a rate your PEO gets for health insurance will depend on the overall demographics and health status of all the employees it is insuring–factors that are out of your control and that will likely change over time.

A big reason PEOs are seeing a bump in interest these days is that many small companies simply need help wrapping their brains around the new health law, says Pat Cleary, CEO of NAPEO. All companies with 50 or more full-time employees will have to offer health insurance, but the intricacies of complying with the law can be hard to navigate. “The perils and pitfalls that are in there for any small business are significant,” Cleary says. “The biggest advantage, in my view, of going to a PEO is to be able to say, ‘Figure this out for me.'”

Related: Employee Issues? Get Professional Help

Frank Romero, chief revenue operations officer of Evanston, Ill.-based Grocer Exchange, a network of independent supermarkets, says he’s more comfortable with health reform since he signed on with Engage PEO in January of this year. “The owners of our supermarkets, which are typically manned at a rate of 30 to 40 people per store, need this, because they can’t afford to do this administration themselves,” Romero says. “And the PEO brings to the table benefits savings that they could never get themselves.”

By: Entrepreneur Magazine

Contact us Today for a Free Quote:

888.370.5406

info@peoboa.com

request a quote

The post Bracing for Obamacare, Some Businesses Try PEOs appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

The post Top 5 Startup Payroll and HR Mistakes appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

Seasonal workers are taken into account in determining the number of full-time employees. However, if an employer’s workforce exceeds 50 full-time employees (including full-time equivalents) for 120 days or fewer during a calendar year, and the employees in excess of 50 who were employed during that period of no more than 120 days were seasonal workers, the employer is not considered an applicable large employer. Seasonal workers are workers who perform labor or services on a seasonal basis as defined by the Secretary of Labor, and retail workers employed exclusively during holiday seasons.  For this purpose, employers may apply a reasonable, good faith interpretation of the term “seasonal worker.”

Employers will determine each year, based on their current number of employees, whether they will be considered an applicable large employer for the next year. For example, if an employer has at least 50 full-time employees (including full-time equivalents) for 2014, it will be considered an applicable large employer for 2015. Note that because employers will be performing this calculation for the first time to determine their status for 2015, there is a transition rule intended to make this first calculation easier. See question 31 for a discussion of this transition rule for 2015 determination of applicable large employer status.

Employers average their number of employees across the months in the year to see whether they will be an applicable large employer for the next year. This averaging can take account of fluctuations that many employers may experience in their work force across the year. The final regulations provide additional information about how to determine the average number of employees for a year, including information about how to take account of salaried employees who may not clock their hours.

For help with ACA and other HR related issues, please call or email us today!

http://www.peobrokersofamerica.com

888.370.5406

info@peoboa.com

request a quote

The post ACA Explained: Calculating Full Time Employees! appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

It used to be that H.R. was a single, physical place that workers could visit — to pick up a form, ask a question, seek advice, lodge a complaint. Now if a company still has a stand-alone H.R. office, it’s probably much smaller than it used to be. If workers need help, they may have to call an “800” number, consult a Web portal or use a software program.

The outsourcing of H.R. has accelerated over the last decade and will continue to do so, said Lisa Rowan, a research vice president at IDC, the market research firm. While some companies may entrust their H.R. needs to a single outside firm, it’s more common to parcel out functions to a range of outside providers, she said.

Outsourcing allows companies to offload work that isn’t part of their core business. It also saves money. But some H.R. experts are concerned that the trend has gone too far, to the point that employees are suffering in areas like training and career development, and that employers are losing crucial business opportunities.

Photo

If you look at the wide-ranging traditional duties of human resources, it’s no wonder that companies are seeking outside help. “H.R. is supposed to be responsible for finding, developing, retaining and training the best people,” Suzanne Lucas, author of a blog called the Evil HR Lady, said in an e-mail. It can also be responsible for benefits, compensation, employee and labor relations, business partners, data collection and legal issues.

Outsourcing firms can take up various tasks, from payroll to benefits to recruiting, to free up a client to focus on its strengths, said Don Weinstein, senior vice president for product management at ADP, a large H.R. outsourcing firm. The new health care reform legislation, for example, will have a big impact on employers, some of whom may be overwhelmed by its complexities. Firms like ADP have expertise in areas like this, and thus relieve a big burden, Mr. Weinstein said.

In the last 10 years, the focus of human resources has shifted toward legal compliance and data collection, said Ms. Lucas, who now lives in Switzerland but has 10 years of H.R. experience in the United States. At a company that doesn’t have the means to hire specialists, she said, outsourcing can allow it to “gain vast resources for a relatively small amount of money.”

Problems arise if outside vendors are concerned mainly with maximizing their income and lowering their costs, resulting in “low flexibility and poor service,” Ms. Lucas said. It’s in the best interest of employees at this kind of vendor “to provide as little service as possible,” she said. And at such a vendor’s call center, she said, “I don’t even have to care about morale at your site, because it doesn’t affect my day.”

(Mr. Weinstein asserted that ADP is able to maintain high-quality, individualized service through its call centers.)

MS. LUCAS said that if human-resources professionals work for the same company as the employees they serve, their interests are more closely aligned. If your performance is good, “the company will make more money,” she explained. “A better-performing company means a better bonus for me, a happier workplace, and fewer problems all around.”

But many internal H.R. functions have been “cut to the bone,” said Peter Cappelli, a management professor and director of the Center for Human Resources at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Therefore, the idea that companies will be more strategic about human resources after they outsource “requires some heroic assumptions,” said Professor Cappelli, author of “Why Good People Can’t Get Jobs.”Supervisors may be able to take over some important roles, but many of the people who were experts at recruiting, training and career development have been laid off, he said. So is it any surprise, he added, that companies complain that they can’t find good people?

“The world has moved toward self-service,” he said, and that puts the emphasis on technology, and on information over advice. Sometimes, he said, “there’s literally no one to talk to.”

Other times, there’s the call center. There, Ms. Lucas said, you may find someone who is reading from a script — and often that’s enough. But when your problem is complex, it can be hard or downright impossible to have it solved, she said.

“The best outsourcing leaves some competent H.R. staff as employees,” she said. “When the call center can’t answer a question, they can refer you to the in-house person. It saves money and still provides individualized expertise for employees.”

By:PHYLLIS KORKKI @ NYTIMES

If you are interested in a quote, contact us today.

http://www.peobrokersofamerica.com

888.370.5406

info@peoboa.com

request a quote

The post When the H.R. Office Leaves the Building appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.

“As a small business, you’re very limited in the investment you can make in human resources,” said Mark Perlberg, CEO of professional employer organization Oasis Outsourcing. “A lot of smaller companies might have somebody like the CFO taking responsibility for HR. But it’s a highly specialized area, and it’s a very hard thing to do if you don’t have that expertise.”

Small businesses are increasingly turning over their human resources operations to outsiders, industry experts say. According to a poll conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management, 26 percent of companies cite cost savings as the primary reason for realigning their human resources department with a professional HR management firm. Such firms have expertise in managing traditional HR functions such as payroll, 401(k) plans, recruiting, insurance benefits, training and development, workers’ compensation and other administrative tasks.

By: BusinessNewsDaily

If you are interested in a quote, contact us today.

http://www.peobrokersofamerica.com

888.370.5406

info@peoboa.com

request a quote

The post Should You Outsource Your Human Resources Operations? appeared first on PEO Brokers of America.