There’s no denying that small and medium-sized businesses play a crucial role in New York’s economy. The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that 99.8% of all businesses are small businesses. Even more impressive, 50.2% of all private-sector employees in the state work for one of these small businesses.
When you started your company, you may not have anticipated all the needs that come with a growing business. As you hire more employees, you could find yourself spending more time handling HR concerns than handling the operation of the business itself.
If you’re ready to get some help with your HR functions, a professional employer organization (PEO) can help. There are PEO companies working in Albany that can ease some of the paperwork that comes with running your company.
After you’ve learned a bit more about what an Albany PEO company can do for your business, call (678) 376-1212 to speak with one of PEO brokers. Our brokers help small business owners like you find PEOs with the services and experience they need to continue to grow and expand.
What PEOs Do to Help Albany Companies
PEOs are HR outsourcing organizations. They can provide services that fully-staffed HR departments typically handle in larger companies. In this way, a PEO allows your small business to have the same quality HR services as larger companies, but at a fraction of the cost of hiring in-house staff.
Developing and Implementing Recruitment Campaigns
Research by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) suggests that, on average, it costs more than $4,000 and takes more than 40 days to hire a new employee. As an average, this means that your business may end up spending more, particularly if you’re not familiar with the best recruiting strategies.
A PEO can help you by managing any hiring campaigns you run. This means that the professionals at the PEO will handle the job postings, reading applications, and even conducting initial phone screens on your behalf. When you finally get to interview candidates, you can rest assured that your PEO partner has vetted them thoroughly.
Payroll and Benefits Administration
Calculating wages can be a straightforward process, but it can become very difficult as your employee roster expands and you have to deal with federal taxes, state withholdings, and other garnishments. Administering benefits can present the same sorts of difficulties, between keeping track of employee time off and dealing with insurance companies when issues creep up.
A PEO can handle as much or as little of your payroll and benefits administration as you’d like. Your PEO can provide access to software to make the process easier for you to do yourself, or they can take over the process entirely for you.
Employee Self-Service (ESS) Sites
Employee self-service sites are an excellent tool to give your employees more autonomy. ESS sites allow your employees to track their hours worked, request time off, get training, and read important company documents like their employee handbook. Your PEO partner can design and create an ESS site that works with your company culture so that your employees can efficiently handle certain HR issues as they develop.
Legal Compliance in HR Operations
Both the New York Department of Labor (DOL) and the federal DOL have vast amounts of regulations that all businesses need to comply with. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in hefty fines to your business. Depending on the violation, these fines can be severe enough to shut down many small businesses.
Fortunately, your PEO partner can handle the legal compliance for any outsourced HR functions. This means you have a team of trained professionals handling your HR needs in a way that will stay on the right side of federal and state law. When new laws come up that may affect your business, your PEO can let you know how it will impact your company.
PEO Costs
The costs of a PEO will depend on the services you’re looking to receive and the size of your company. PEOs typically offer one of two payment plans for their partner businesses:
- Fee per employee – A flat fee charged to the company for each employee
- Fee-based off gross payroll – A percentage of your total payroll costs
What type of payment works best will depend on the size of your company and the sort of employees you have. Smaller companies, particularly whose employees are highly specialized and well-compensated, can fair better from a fee per employee schedule. Larger companies, particularly those with lower-wage employees, might be better off with a fee-based off gross payroll.
Finding the Right PEO for your Albany Company
When you’re ready to find the right PEO for your business in Albany, call (678) 376-1212. The PEO brokers at NetPEO are standing by to schedule an initial needs analysis to determine what sorts of HR outsourcing needs you have. If you’d like a professional broker to manage the search for your next PEO, call NetPEO today!
