How a PEO will help with employee benefits management.
Employee benefits represent a key aspect of recruiting and employee retention. Most employees and job seekers are typically attracted to a competitive benefits package. In fact, 57% of employees would rather take a job with lower pay but impressive benefits.
However, as you focus on fine-tuning your products and scaling your business, accessing, and managing those benefits can be a challenge. This is when partnering with a PEO will help. A professional employer organization (PEO) can assist with employee benefits management by identifying, designing, and building an employee benefits plan fit for your business. They can handle every aspect of benefits administration so you can focus on growing your business.
What is a PEO?
Simply stated, a PEO is much like an external HR department for your business. The PEO establishes a co-employment arrangement with its client companies. In this legal arrangement, the employer’s duties are divided between the employer of record (PEO) and the employer of the worksite (you, the PEO client).
The PEO assumes HR functions while the business owner retains responsibility for day-to-day operations and management of employees. Partnering with a PEO is a cost-effective solution for managing the risks and responsibilities associated with human resources issues.
The primary goal of PEO HR solutions is to free up valuable time and effort for you and your team, so you can be able to focus on growing your business and expanding your bottom line. What’s more, a PEO can help your business attract and retain the best employees by offering a much broader range of benefits. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that skilled and experienced professionals are handling critical HR functions of your business.
PEO services vary in scope, but most handle things like:
- Payroll processing and tax compliance
- Health benefits
- Human resources practices and policies
- Workers’ compensation claims
- Employee benefits
- Risk management
- Employee training and development
How PEO Solutions Assist with Employee Benefits Management
PEOs offer small businesses the chance to administer competitive employee benefits, attract better talent, and stay compliant with benefits regulations.
Here’s an in-depth look at some of the ways a PEO can help your business manage employee benefits.:
Access to More Robust Employee Benefits
When it comes to employee benefits management, your business should focus on providing competitive packages that highlight your company’s culture and employees’ needs. Employees need to know that you care about their needs and therefore be willing to continue working for your company. Your options, however, may be limited if you sign up for benefits on your own.
By working with a PEO, your business becomes part of a larger group. The PEO brings all their clients together, which allows them to have hundreds or thousands of employees. With the economies of scale, a PEO can negotiate comprehensive benefits packages for you.
This can help lower your benefits cost, while providing your employees the options they want with top carriers. A PEO will consult with you from the beginning to determine the feasibility of offering a benefits package and help you develop a competitive benefits plan.
Design Custom Benefits Plan
Customization is essential when it comes to providing a benefits package that appeals to all of your employees. The U.S. is currently comprised of five generations working side by side, and that’s not likely to change soon.
With so much age diversity, employers will have to stop using one-size-fits-all benefits packages, instead opting for custom benefits plans that appeal to the entire workforce. Even if you have competitive health plans, they might not be appealing to all employees, depending on where they are in their lives.
A PEO can help you design a well-thought-out, custom benefits plan that meets your objectives and your employees’ needs. The PEO will achieve this by:
- Identifying your company’s benefits objectives and budget
- Getting the employees’ input
- Reviewing the current benefits programs
- Conducting a needs assessment
- Considering legal requirements
- Designing the benefits plan
- Communicating the benefits plan to employees
- Helping employees select the best options
- Developing a periodic evaluation process to assess the effectiveness of the plan
- Providing year-round education
A PEO can walk you through the entire process step-by-step and support the implementation of the best benefits program for your employees.
Assist with Benefits Compliance
While outsourcing employee benefits management is certainly cost and timesaving, having PEO experts help you with tax and regulatory reporting reduces the risk of non-compliance. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), for instance, has complex requirements and penalty rules when it comes to errors or non-compliance.
The rules are for:
- the type of health coverage offered
- out-of-pocket maximums
- the dollar limits
- pre-existing conditions
- clinical trials
- preventative care services
- patient protections
- coverage of dependents
Changes to regulatory requirements can make compliance even more challenging. A PEO can help your business stay compliant with all employee benefits laws, including ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, 401(k), Medicare, and other federal mandates.
They can also provide ongoing guidance and support in enrollment eligibility, carrier renewal negotiations, carrier claims management, and forms processing for employee enrollment, termination, and changes.
Administration of Benefit Changes
Many businesses may recognize they’re in need of an employee benefits overhaul. Knowing some changes need to be made does not make it any less daunting. You need to have a robust process that includes looking at market research, talking to your workers, and benchmarking information. You also need to find out how changes will affect your company to avoid any nasty shocks.
Using a discover, design, and deliver approach, a PEO can provide the information, research, and data needed to make recommendations for change. When there’s a major life event, such as marriage, children, divorce, a PEO can update the employee benefits, saving you the hassle of sorting through the personal details and determining which benefits options are available.
Vested HR is the Right Partner for Outsourcing Employee Benefits Management
At Vested HR, we make it easy for small and mid-size businesses to access premium employee benefits management services, without high costs or compliance headaches. We’re dedicated to enhancing and supporting businesses that trust us to identify, design, build, implement, manage, and renew their employee benefits plan.
We work with you to deliver exactly what you need. We also provide top-tier payroll, HR, risk management, and workers’ compensation administration services. Contact us today to request a consultation and learn more about our PEO HR solutions.