Human Resources

Whether you’re just establishing your business or you’re in the early years, you may want a refresher about all the HR-related tasks and policies that need to be implemented. We’ve created this helpful checklist so you can walk through each HR need to ensure you’ve handled it. Since HR covers so many aspects of a business, this tool can help you identify where your HR bases are covered and where you need to bring in a partner.

Standard Written Policies for Hiring and Termination

It’s important to have a clearly spelled out protocol for both bringing on new employees and letting employees go.

New Hire Orientation Packet and Onboarding Procedure

Welcoming new team members is an important part of creating a healthy workplace culture. Ensure all new hiring tax forms, NDAs, and codes of contact are signed and stored.

Harassment Policy and Investigation Protocol

Protecting your employees from harassment is essential. Make sure you have a strong anti-harassment policy that is written in accordance with all local and national laws, and a plan for investigating any complaints that are made.

Healthcare Insurance Policy and Administration

Since healthcare legislation can change quickly, you need to be able to respond to those changes with a robust healthcare plan that offers a bevy of options to employees. Make sure you can answer any and all questions that come up or can point your employees to someone who can answer them.

Retirement Package Selection and Administration

For this, you’ll need to compare available retirement plans and decide on your company’s matching contribution, if any. Retirement contributions should be deposited from employee payroll.

Medical Leave, Long Term Disability Leave, or Family Medical Leave Policies

Accidents and crises do happen, and as an employer, you must have a plan in place for the unthinkable. Serve your employees by establishing parameters and supports around unplanned and unexpected leave.

Paid Time Off, Unpaid Time Off, and Vacation Policies

Good workers need time off, and they need to understand how they can request time to relax and rejuvenate. Vacation policies can vary among sectors, so conduct informal research to see if your PTO is in line with your industry standards.

Parental Leave Policies

When a new child is added to the family, your employees will need to take time away from work to care for that child. A clear, generous parental leave policy will help support your employees as they support their new arrival.

Employee Job Training

All positions have specific skills, technology, or protocols that must be taught and mastered in order to do the job well. Having a set curriculum for commonly used skills will be incredibly beneficial to employees.

Unemployment Claims Administration

First, you need to make sure that all SUTA and FUTA requirements are met. After that, if a former employee makes an employment claim, you must be able to verify their employment and explain the reason for their termination.

Employee Handbook Development

Once you’ve developed your HR policies, you need to make sure those policies are available to workers. They should be carefully vetted by an HR professional and an attorney to ensure they follow all relevant legislation.

Performance Reviews and Assessment

Documenting employee performance and keeping excellent records about the underlying evidence for those reviews will pay dividends in the future. This information can provide data about hiring, termination, employee progress, and promotions.

Conflict Resolution Strategies

It’s human nature that not everyone in a group will get along. You need to have clear steps to help two parties who are at odds reach a mutually beneficial solution. If the conflict continues to escalate, you need to have documentation around the steps you took to facilitate an effective resolution.

You’ve probably realized that a homegrown HR solution might not be the most effective for your small business. Instead, maybe you’re looking to partner with an outsourced HR company to better serve your employees. As a company, you can decide between an HRO or PEO.

For any company, regardless of size, a good HR department is a must-have. But, because HR tasks can be so time-consuming and costly, many companies decide to outsource these services to either a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) or a Human Resources Outsourcing (HRO) agency. Both types of companies offer important HR services, but there are a few differences that employers should be aware of before choosing the right service provider.

What is a PEO?

PEOs are for companies that want to outsource their entire HR department. The best PEOs offer everything from payroll management and employee onboarding to benefits negotiations, and they can completely eliminate the need for an in-house HR department. PEOs are best for companies looking for a ready-made solution to all their HR needs.

Because PEOs usually represent multiple organizations, they can often provide small businesses with better bargaining power for benefits packages. Since employees are part of a larger pool, this also lowers the cost of HR services per employee. These benefits make PEOs a great solution for small businesses or new businesses that don’t already have in-house HR departments.

What is an HRO?

While the best PEOs provide an all-in-one HR solution, HRO provides more of an à la carte option. Instead of taking on all of a company’s HR tasks, HRO can assume a specific role, customized for each individual business. Many businesses use HRO for a particularly complicated task, like payroll, or help with a major organizational shift. A HRO provider can be the perfect solution for companies who need assistance with compromising situations or employee recruiting and onboarding. They can also help with tasks like creating an employee handbook, developing training programs, or drafting job descriptions.

HRO services are good for businesses with existing HR departments that aren’t ready or able to relinquish total control of all HR tasks to a PEO. Many businesses today manage sensitive data and are unable to turn all their employees’ data over to an outsourced HR agency due to cybersecurity concerns. HRO allows companies to maintain control over their data systems, while still gaining the administrative benefits from HR outsourcing.

So, how do you choose between a PEO and HRO for your company needs? The experts at LBMC Employment Partners are happy to assess your needs and help you decide which solution is best. Contact us today to learn how we can help!

1. Overwhelmed Employees

If there’s a clear sign that you or your current team is overwhelmed with a heavy workload, it’s likely that adding HR or payroll tasks to the list of responsibilities will only make things more challenging. Not only can an HR outsourcing company ease the burden of managing employee needs like payroll and benefits, but they can also help employers to improve company culture through development and training activities, answering employees’ insurance and benefits questions, and offering tips for keeping employees challenged and loving their jobs.

2. Lack of Time, Knowledge, or Resources

Simply put, if you don’t have the time, knowledge, or resources available to you as an employer for handling payroll and human resources, it’s time for outsourcing or upgrading your payroll and HR needs. The return on your investment will be well worth it, and you’ll not only feel the relief from a management perspective, but your employees will also notice the difference, as important company responsibilities will not only be handled promptly but also in an organized and efficient manner.

3. Reduction of Staff

Any time a company experiences a reduction in staff—whether someone leaves, gets fired, or even furloughed—it places an additional burden on other staff members, especially employers. As others are left to pick up pieces after employees are gone, it’s essential that there’s a plan in place for keeping important tasks like payroll management and human resources moving along without error. This is a great example of when an HR outsourcing partner can step in and save the day, relieving the burden that can come along with staff reductions.

4. History of Costly Errors

Administrative mistakes are costly—especially when it comes to payroll, payroll taxes, or even hiring and firing. That’s why it’s essential to partner with an experienced HR or payroll services provider to avoid serious errors. There’s nothing like the peace of mind that can come along with outsourcing your HR needs, and specifically payroll or payroll taxes.

5. Juggling Multiple Software Programs

Let’s face it—no employer wants to juggle between a handful of software systems when it comes to employee management. Enlisting an HR outsourcing partner can help you merge your human capital management into one easy-to-use software system like UKG Ready, which can streamline your workplace processes from the recruitment process all the way through retirement, using powerful data analytics tools to help HR departments make more strategic decisions.

Here for You Today, Ready to Grow with You Tomorrow

LBMC Employment Partners is not only equipped to guide you with your current needs, but we have the experience, resources, and flexibility to grow with your payroll and HR needs along the way. Contact us today to learn how we can help you focus on your business while we handle the details of often complicated employment challenges and human resources issues.

Fill out the form below to learn more about our services and get a quote.