Questions? Start here.

A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) is a company that handles HR, payroll, benefits, workers’ compensation, and compliance for other businesses through a co-employment arrangement. You stay in charge of your people and your operations while the PEO takes on the administrative side of employing them, usually with access to better benefits than a smaller business could reach alone.

A PEO works through co-employment: it shares specific administrative employer responsibilities with you, mainly payroll, benefits, workers’ compensation, and compliance, while you keep control of your business and your team. You handle the work and the people; the PEO handles the paperwork, filings, and benefits behind it.

PEOs typically charge either a per-employee, per-month fee or a percentage of total payroll. VestedHR uses whichever model works best for your industry, some clients are billed per employee, others as a percentage of payroll, and builds a custom quote around your headcount and the services you use. You see real pricing instead of a generic rate.

For most small and mid-sized businesses, yes. A PEO gives you big-company benefits, less administrative work, and stronger compliance, which is hard to match on your own. Research from NAPEO has found that businesses using a PEO grow faster, have lower turnover, and are less likely to go out of business.

A payroll company processes payroll and files payroll taxes. A PEO does that and more, adding benefits, HR, compliance, and workers’ compensation through co-employment, often with access to better benefits because your team joins a larger group.

An HR outsourcing firm handles specific HR tasks on a contract basis, usually the pieces you hand off one at a time. A PEO enters a co-employment relationship and takes on the HR function as a whole, from onboarding and employee handbooks to policy development, day-to-day HR guidance, and the compliance work that runs underneath it all. That fuller relationship is also what lets a PEO offer benefits under its own plans, which a task-based outsourcer can’t do.

An Employer of Record (EOR) becomes the full legal employer of your staff, often used to hire in places where you have no business entity. A PEO uses co-employment, so you remain the employer and keep control while the PEO handles HR administration. Most established US businesses want a PEO, not an EOR.

No. You keep full control over hiring, managing, and letting people go, and your team still works for you. VestedHR does not own or lease your employees; co-employment only shares the administrative side, like payroll, benefits, workers’ compensation, and compliance filings.

Yes. A PEO can manage payroll, state tax registration, workers’ compensation, and compliance across multiple states, which is one of the harder parts of growing. VestedHR supports businesses in all 50 states.

No. VestedHR specializes in small and mid-sized businesses. Whether you have a handful of employees or a growing team, the support scales with you.

VestedHR handles payroll and tax administration, benefits administration, compliance support, employee handbooks and policy development, record-keeping, and day-to-day HR guidance. We also support hiring with background and pre-employment screening.

VestedHR offers access to medical, dental, and vision insurance, life and supplemental coverage, and retirement plans through group plans with established providers. Because your team joins a much larger pool, you can offer coverage a business your size would struggle to reach alone.

Yes. VestedHR processes payroll, files and deposits your local, state, and federal payroll taxes, and issues year-end W-2s, so payroll runs accurately and on time without you managing it.

Yes. VestedHR offers pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation billed on your actual payroll, manages claims from first report through resolution, and helps with safety programs and certificates of insurance.

VestedHR serves businesses across many sectors, including construction and the trades, professional and business services, manufacturing and distribution, technology, hospitality and food service, staffing, and nonprofits. Construction and the trades is our first fully built industry practice, with more on the way.

VestedHR supports hiring and onboarding, though the hiring decisions always stay yours. We help with pre-employment and background screening, onboarding paperwork and setup, and the best practices that give new hires a smooth start. Recruiting support is available too, so reach out for details.

VestedHR is based in Palm Harbor, Florida, and supports businesses in all 50 states.

Yes. VestedHR is ESAC accredited and meets the standards of SHRM, NAPEO, and FAPEO. ESAC accreditation means an independent organization continuously verifies our financial stability and business practices and backs them with financial assurance.

The biggest difference is how it feels to work with us. Our team is based in the U.S., and when you call, an advisor who knows your business answers, instead of a ticket queue or a phone tree. We are privately held with no private equity backing, so we answer to our clients rather than outside investors, and that lets us focus on a customer-first experience. We are small enough to stay close to every client.

VestedHR partners with insurance brokers, benefits consultants, and HR advisors to bring PEO solutions to their clients. Brokers keep their client relationships and add value while we handle the HR, benefits, and compliance work behind the scenes.

Reach out for a free price analysis and a conversation. We will learn how your business runs and put together pricing that fits, with no obligation.