Are you an Albany small or midsize business owner interested in partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO), but overwhelmed with all the different types of PEOs out there on the market?

You may want to consider partnering with a PEO broker to help narrow down your decision on what is best for you, your business, and your team of employees. We can help you sift through the services each one provides, the size business, and the type of industry certain PEOs work with, and understand the industry jargon.

What Is a PEO Broker?

A PEO broker is someone who works with employers/owners of organizations or businesses to find an outsourcing PEO partner that will work as the human resources (HR) department for the business. PEOs will help in the management of employee benefits packages, payroll, and other HR administrative duties.

Brokers can serve as viable assistants to identify and vet the best PEO option in the market for you by making sure you understand the pros and cons of the offers from each PEO, also called a co-employer, and sift through the quotes.

It can be overwhelming – and that is what a broker is here for. According to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), there are nearly 500 PEOs in the United States that provide HR services to 173,000 small and mid-sized businesses employing 4 million people.

The Benefits of a PEO Broker

A PEO broker in Albany can benefit your business by honing in on the best PEO for your specific business needs out of the hundreds in the market. As a business owner, you do not have the time for the hours of research you would need to invest on your own.

Partnering with a PEO broker will also benefit your business by:

Reducing costs
Streamlining operations
Saving you time
Managing legal compliance
Hiring internationally
Handling employee hiring and termination while reducing risk liability
Serving as an administrative assistant
Mitigating benefits and health insurance costs

How a PEO Works

An Albany PEO essentially places the employees of a business on the PEO’s payroll, which means the PEO brokerage acts as the employer of record for the employees. The employees will still work for you, the employer, and receive assigned tasks, duties, and responsibilities, but the PEO manages benefits, payroll, and paychecks.

Through the benefit of this new working relationship, you get to focus on running your business while the PEO relieves you of all administrative tasks. The experts behind a PEO can also handle deciding on which legal requirements apply to your business and on the kind of paperwork that is required to have your business stay in compliance with the law, which is especially important as your business grows.

How a PEO Can Help with Your Company’s Health Insurance

There are a few options for employers on the hunt to give their employees access to health insurance. If you have the extra time and patience, you can do the research yourself to find an insurance provider and buy the plans you want directly. But you may not be able to lock in an insurance plan and benefits package that you can afford.

The advantage of a PEO, when it comes to accessing health insurance coverage, is that it can offer its “co-employees” the same affordable rates as a large corporation. PEOs also tend to offer more robust benefits packages, such as fitness and mental health bonuses, 401(k) options, and more.

By using a PEO broker, you can outsource the daunting task of navigating through the process and landing the right PEO for your employees’ health benefit needs.

How Albany PEO Brokers Can Take Over Your Payroll Tasks

We know that payroll duties can be complicated – especially if your business works with these added complexities:

Working with contractors
Incorporating a bonus pay structure
Including time-and-a-half pay

But payroll is about more than just paying your employees their salary. It also includes retirement accounts or 401(k)s, withholding taxes, submitting W-2s, and setting aside funds each payroll for employee benefit plans. Professional PEO brokers can match you with the best PEO to manage this time-consuming process for you and streamline your day-to-day operations.

Employment Laws and PEO Brokers

Any missteps with employment regulations could be costly with fines. PEOs are trained experts in employment compliance on the federal and state levels, which include:

Hiring or terminating employees in multiple states
Onboarding hybrid teams
Filing payroll taxes
Taking on some of the compliance risks for you

The Difference Between a PEO Broker and Health Insurance Agent

In general, the main difference is that health insurance agents represent one particular carrier, and those plans are provided under that carrier. Brokers typically offer a more comprehensive selection of coverage options and perks beyond health insurance.

While health insurance is a must-have, some findings show that it is vital for small business owners to offer more in a benefits package. One in 10 workers, in fact, would take a pay cut to have access to better benefits.

How to Choose the Right PEO Broker for Your Business

A good PEO broker in Albany will sit down with you to discuss in detail the needs of you, your business, and your employees. They will go over topics by identifying your risks, and the coverages you want to help you build out a well-rounded employee benefits package that attracts top talent for your team.

After this, they should also be able to easily:

Shop the market for you to obtain quotes from various carriers to compare prices, plans, and coverage and then clearly explain the options to you.
Assist you with getting any claims, billing, enrollment, and customer service issues resolved.
Stay up-to-date on the ACA and various insurance regulations and provide ongoing guidance and best practices throughout your working relationship.