About Employer Advantage
A Professional Employer Organization (PEO)
Employer Advantage offers to their clients and worksite employees the services and expertise of a personnel department within a large corporation. Few, if any, small businesses can afford a full-time staff consisting of an accountant, a human resource professional, an attorney, a risk manager, a benefits manager, and a manager of information services. Employer Advantage offers this expertise to all their clients.
By providing these services, Employer Advantage enables their clients to concentrate on their business without the challenges and distractions associated with the "business of employment." As a result, Employer Advantage enhances the profitability of their client companies. Further, costs related to monitoring of, and compliance with, employment laws are reduced, as are the often significant costs of failure to comply with such laws.
In addition to providing important services to their business clients, Employer Advantage offers substantial advantages to worksite employees. In many cases, these employees would not be provided the number, or quality, of benefits that Employer Advantage can offer. These benefits include health insurance, retirement savings plans, disability insurance, life insurance, dependent care reimbursement accounts, vision care, dental insurance, employee assistance plans, job counseling and educational benefits. Each individual business's cost of establishing and administering this range of plans would be prohibitive. However, due to economies of scale, Employer Advantage can sponsor and offer these plans at an affordable cost.
In many cases, employees of small businesses would not be protected by employment laws in the absence of the Employer Advantage relationship. Because worksite employees are included in the larger workforce of Employer Advantage for purposes of determining statutory coverage, they are in many cases covered by employment laws that would not have otherwise applied. Further, there is generally a higher rate of compliance with these laws by Employer Advantage than by its clients because Employer Advantage provides a full-time staff responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance with such laws.
Benefits of PEO Services
For your business, a PEO:
- Provides experienced professionals in HR, benefits, payroll and risk management.
- Assumes certain employment related liabilities.
- Delivers professional assistance with compliance (payroll, OSHA, EEOC).
- Provides secure Internet access to payroll, benefits and personnel data.
- Provides access to professional HR guidance and materials.
- Manages claims.
- Supplies clear, easy-to-read and professionally written employee handbooks, policies, procedures and practices.
- Improves cost control.
- Delivers access to better benefits.
- Reduces turnover.
- Provides quality benefits and recruiting assistance to attract and retain the best employees.
- Provides you more time to focus on your bottom line.
- Gives you the opportunity to grow your business faster.
For your employees, a PEO:
- Provides access to comprehensive benefits often previously unavailable - 401(k), Section 125 plan, comprehensive insurance benefits, Flexible Spending Plan.
- Delivers on-time and accurate payroll.
- Provides professional assistance with employment-related issues.
- Supplies easy-to-read employee handbooks, policies, procedures and practices.
- Enables more employees to receive statutory protection.
- Improves communication among and between employees.
- Offers up-to-date information on labor regulations, workers' rights and worksite safety.
- Processes claims efficiently and responsively.
- Enables employees who move from one PEO client to another to avoid loss of eligibility for benefits.
- Provides improved access to payroll information, benefits, personnel data, vacation and sick time accrual, and specialized reports.
- May offer credit union membership and banking privileges.
- Frequently offers exclusive employee discounts and rates on travel, entertainment and services.
For government, a PEO:
- Consolidates several companies' employment tax filings into one.
- Provides more professional preparation and reporting.
- Accelerates collection of taxes.
- Extends access to medical benefits to more workers.
- Provides access to 401(k) retirement savings opportunities to more employees.
- Improves the communication of government requirements and changes to small businesses and their employees.
- Reduces litigation by resolving many problems before they reach court.
- Allows government agencies to reach businesses through a single-employer entity.
