PEOs - Programs for Training Your Employees
Professional Employer Organizations. Many companies have discovered that using one to meet their human resources needs provides relief from the rigors of personnel administration. Also known as PEOs, Professional Employer Organizations assume the burden of everything from screening and hiring to payroll/benefit administration and firing. What you may not know about PEOs is that most of them also have training programs in place to help you.
PEOs are in more demand than ever, primarily because, among other things:
• Insurance is much more costly for small and medium-sized companies than it is for larger employers.
• Workers' Compensation insurance is often difficult to acquire and costly when you do.
• You are subject to up to 60 different employment-related governmental regulations.
• State Unemployment Insurance Funds, many on the cusp of insolvency, are likely to increase your SUTA taxes.
• The competition for the best employees is stiffer than ever and small and medium-sized employers are frequently hamstrung by the fact that
they are unable to provide sufficiently attractive health insurance and other benefits.
• The sheer volume of work managing your human resources has become almost overwhelming and the potential costs that can arise from
not doing so correctly are staggering.
Successful PEOs assume the responsibility of addressing these challenges and others. What they don't do is run your company (if the one you are considering says it will, keep shopping!). Although Professional Employer Organizations administer your human resources (HR Outsourcing), you must still manage your human resources.
The PEO that's right for you will train you to on the best manner in which to onboard your new hires, train them once they start and supervise them to maximize production while minimizing potential liability for costs associated with unemployment benefits, employment discrimination, workers' compensation and wrongful termination, for example.
Now wait a second, you say. Aren't PEOs responsible for all of those things? Don't I just have to run my business and if anything employment-related goes wrong, it's the PEO's problem, not mine? No, that's not quite how it works.
Professional Employer Organizations are, in essence, co-employers with you of your staff. What does this mean? It means that the PEO and you are both potentially liable in the event, for example, a disgruntled former employee sues you for wrongful termination.
PEOs have an incentive (i.e., their own survival) to ensure that their clients know everything they need to know to manage their personnel functions sufficiently to get the maximum benefit from their PEO. The incentive extends beyond simply minimizing your costs, however. Why? Because PEOs share the financial risk and, therefore, the financial burden of each employment-related cost.
So, how can Professional Employer Organizations ensure that you are utilizing their services to maximum effect? By training, of course. If you are looking at Professional Employer Organizations for your business, ask if they train you to:
• Fully integrate their payroll procedures into the scheduling of and timekeeping for your employees;
• Educate you on the most efficient and effective way to onboard your new hires;
• Provide you with training to improve safety in your workplace;
• Instruct you how to manage your workers' compensation claims;
• Provide your supervisors the knowledge necessary to effectively evaluate and, if needed, discipline employees;
• Consistently update those same supervisors on changes in employment law so that they are properly equipped to carry out their
responsibilities in a way that minimizes your potential exposure to a successful unemployment claim, discrimination charge or wrongful
termination lawsuit.
A partnership with a PEO Company provides you with tremendous benefits, allowing you to focus on the mission critical task of running your operations. Professional Employer Organizations: They train, your business stays on track.
About the Author
Carolyn Sokol is a frequent contributor to PEOcompare and writes about issues that may affect small businesses such as Outsource HR. She is a founder of PEOcompare.com which helps match small businesses with PEOs, for exampe in PEO New York or PEO California for their particular needs. Her background is in marketing and communications, employee education and training, development of policies and procedures and the ongoing delivery of outstanding service to customers.
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