Small Business, Big Ideas
(And a Few Laughs Along the Way)
Your go-to blog for tips, tricks, and the occasional dad joke about running, growing, and loving your small business. Seriously helpful. Seriously fun.
(HRO) Human Resource Outsourcing: Lifting Small Business Burdens
Human Resource Outsourcing (HRO) takes all or some human resources tasks and hires a third-party source to administer it. An HRO might be contracted to conduct payroll and the subsequent taxes associated with it. It could also handle all employee benefits. Unlike a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), the HRO is usually an a la carte service provider, handling what a company needs instead of bundling all services.
What is a PEO?
A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) is a company that serves as a human resources partner for businesses that want to outsource the tasks and reduce costs. To legally administer many of the roles, the PEO becomes a joint-employer through employee leasing, meaning that they are the employer of record. This gives the PEO both the ability to manage employees and shared liability
What are the five kinds of insurance plans and what's the difference between them?
Let’s assume for a second that you're not an expert at health insurance. You probably wouldn't be able to explain the difference between a HMO, an EPO, a POS, a PPO, and an HDHP.
If this doesn't sound familiar, it's because you had better things to do since the last time you worried about insurance. But now you're deciding which insurance plans you want to offer your employees and acronyms are popping up everywhere. This handy reference guide will help make sense of the insurance literature you've been going through.
Why use a PEO Broker?
First off, if you're scratching your head at the word "PEO," head over here first. This article is a must-read too, but it'll more helpful once you've learned about how a PEO can help boost your business' profitability while saving you weeks of time each year.
Are you in a PEO now? Were you once in a PEO? Read the above article or already know about PEOs? Then you know the advantages that they can bring. But here's why you should never go PEO-hunting without a broker again.
Are you getting the best deal on your PEO?
If you're currently in a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), you've probably wondered if you should have played the field a little more. PEOs are guilty of relying on the complexity of their set-up to obscure costs and keep you from being as well-informed a customer as you might for other services like an accountant or a software vendor.
But "difficult to tell" doesn't mean unknowable. Read on to find out how to do your due diligence with any PEO.
What benefits should I offer my employees — and how much should I contribute?
But most people are lost when it comes to how to structure their plans, which ones to offer, and how much to contribute to each. Not to worry — like most things relating to business, these questions are easy to answer with just a little insight.