A PEO (Professional Employer Organization) partners with companies to provide comprehensive HR outsourcing. PEOs are a one-stop shop that help manage a company’s HR, employee benefits, compliance and payroll.

A PEO works through a co-employment arrangement, which means that the PEO contractually shares certain employer responsibilities with the company. The PEO takes on many of your employee-related employer responsibilities, while you continue to manage and run your business. Co-employment allows the PEO to handle functions such as payroll, benefits, and tax related government filings. You are still the boss! This just gives you more time to focus on your mission while PEOs handle administrative tasks.

Generally with PEOs, your employees have access to a wider variety of benefits at a cheaper cost than your company could get on its own. There is power in numbers! A PEO’s collective bargaining power means your employees can get access to benefits at lower rates. Such benefits include health, vision, dental, flexible spending accounts, retirement plans, life insurance and more.

PEOs process payroll for your employees. They manage the regular compensation of employees along with payroll record maintenance and management, payroll compliance, online pay stubs and W-2s, payroll management reports and PTO accruals.

You can also pass off your daily HR duties to a PEO. They help to manage your liabilities as an employer, providing employee handbooks, new hire on-boarding, termination assistance, employee relations support, liability management training and more.

Worry about government compliance? According to the National Small Business Association, over 33% of small businesses get fined each year for making payroll mistakes.  And that’s just payroll! PEOs constantly monitor changes to state and federal labor laws that could affect your business, as well as advise you on what actions you need to take to comply.

A PEO takes care of workers’ compensation coverage and claim resolution. Specialists can guide you through the process surrounding work-related injuries, including monitoring claims and assisting injured workers’ return to work.

PEOs are great for small and mid-sized companies. They allow business owners to focus on managing core business functions while outsourcing HR administrative duties. The benefits of PEOs can also be used to attract and retain top talent. The cost of health insurance only goes up every year, and being able to offer your employees discounted rates is a big perk.