As a business owner or member of management, ensuring quality benefits for your employees will naturally be important to you. This can be challenging for larger companies with huge swaths of employees across different departments or locations, but one great resource here is the use of a PEO, or professional employee organization.
At WTA Inc., we’re proud to serve as a top PEO providing solutions to clients around Salt Lake City and nearby areas. From payroll and hiring services to workers compensation claims management and more, we help small and large businesses alike craft quality, comprehensive employee benefits packages. Here are some ways PEOs assist businesses in this area, including PEO employee benefits and assistance with the enhancement of a benefits strategy for larger companies.
What is a PEO?
For those just learning about PEOs, the acronym stands for Professional Employee Organization. As the name suggests, these are companies that specialize in providing human resources services to other businesses.
Specifically, PEOs serve as co-employers with their clients’ employees. This means that while the client company maintains control over daily operations and employee responsibilities, the PEO is responsible for handling HR tasks such as payroll processing, benefits administration, and workers’ compensation.
Benefits Strategy Enhancement
One of the main ways PEOs assist businesses is by enhancing their benefits strategy. This is especially important for larger companies that may have a complex benefits package with multiple options and offerings.
A PEO can help streamline this process in several direct ways:
- Standardizing benefit plans: With a PEO, businesses can create standardized benefit plans that apply to all employees. This saves time and effort in trying to negotiate different benefits packages for different groups of employees.
- Cost-saving measures: PEOs have access to group rates for various insurance plans due to their large client base. This means that businesses can save money on benefits costs by being part of the PEO’s larger pool.
- Compliance assistance: Benefit offerings are often subject to regulations and compliance requirements. A PEO can help ensure that the company’s benefits strategy is compliant with local, state, and federal laws.
- Employee education: PEOs can also provide educational resources to employees regarding their benefits options and how they work.
Reducing Administrative Burden
Another significant way that a PEO can help businesses save time and money is by reducing administrative burden. Human resource tasks, such as payroll processing, managing employee records, and handling compliance paperwork, can be time-consuming and require specialized knowledge. By partnering with a PEO, these responsibilities are outsourced to the PEO’s team of experts.
This allows businesses to focus on their core operations and strategic growth initiatives instead of getting bogged down in administrative tasks. In addition, PEOs often have access to advanced technology and systems that streamline these processes even further, saving time and reducing the potential for errors.
Risk Management
As mentioned before, compliance is a critical aspect of benefits administration. However, there are also other risks involved in managing employee benefits, such as potential data breaches and cyber attacks. PEOs can help mitigate these risks by implementing robust risk management protocols and providing secure technology systems for storing sensitive employee information.
Moreover, PEOs have a team of experts who stay updated on changing regulations and compliance requirements, reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties for businesses. This allows businesses to focus on their operations without constantly worrying about potential risks related to employee benefits administration.
Cost Savings and Business Growth
Outsourcing benefits administration to a PEO can also result in cost savings for businesses. As mentioned earlier, PEOs often have access to better rates from insurance carriers due to their economies of scale. In addition, they can handle other administrative tasks such as payroll, recruitment, and training, which can lead to further cost savings for businesses.
By outsourcing these tasks, businesses can focus on their core competencies and strategic growth initiatives. This allows them to allocate resources more efficiently and effectively towards growing their business rather than being bogged down by time-consuming administrative tasks.
As you can see, there are numerous ways PEOs help businesses craft quality employee benefits packages while improving other major areas of your company. At WTA Inc., we’re proud to serve as a top PEO for businesses around Salt Lake City – contact us today to learn more!