For small to medium-sized businesses, day-to-day operations can become cumbersome and distract focus from critical business functions and company growth. Managing human resources issues, employee benefits, payroll and workers compensation can make small to medium-sized business lose their way without proper assistance.
Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act combined with numerous new compliance regulations are taxing the administrative teams of many businesses.
An easy way for these businesses to find relief from their troubles is through outsourcing.
Outsourcing can allow businesses to take advantage of professionals with expert knowledge in specific fields, without the need to employ someone full-time. This allows them to focus on what is important — their core business. Certain business functions are often not a core offering to clients, but can be difficult for a small or medium-sized business to manage without dedicating significant time and resources to it. These functions can include the following:
Human Resources
Small and medium-sized business often do not have a dedicated human resources department; instead, they may have one or two staff members who are expected to manage all human resources functions. Hiring an outsourcing partner can help your business stay in compliance with local, state, and federal labor laws, background screening and assessments, employee training and handbooks, as well as Fair Labor and Standards Act (FSLA) requirements and EEO-1 reporting, as well as recruiting efforts. Expertise in these areas of human resources can greatly help businesses find talent and retain existing employees.
Payroll Services
If instead of a payroll department your accounts are managed by one harried bookkeeper and an executive who has to approve all purchases and payroll items, outsourcing payroll services can enable your business to pursue greater growth potential.
When outsourcing payroll services, find a partner who can assist with all aspects of the finance efforts related to your business. This includes help with local, state and federal tax management, W-2 processing, and tax filings and tax deposits services.
Risk Management and Workers’ Compensation
Total workers’ compensation benefits in 2013 were $63.6 billion, while employer costs were $88.5 billion. These numbers are expected to rise as more individuals are finding new employment.
Within these areas, small to mid-size businesses continue to pay more money as they grow, which means that they need to have actionable plans not only for workers’ compensation costs, but for risk management to try to minimize these costs.
Finding an outsourcing partner to help create risk management plans and manage workers’ compensation expectations is critical to help businesses cut costs and maintain profit levels, which in turn can greatly help both the business and their employees. Outsourcing OSHA guidance, claims administration, worksite safety evaluations and investigations related to serious accidents and loss trends can be extremely helpful in allowing growth for small to medium-sized businesses.
Regardless of the size of your businesses, finding new and innovative ways to solve these issues, such as outsourcing, can offer outstanding benefits for the long-term viability of these companies.
If you are looking for assistance with Human Resources for your small to medium-sized business, consider the benefits of joining NARFA today. NARFA provides all HR support and functions for your business, including enrollment, claims processing, eligibility, compliance and COBRA administration. NARFA has around the clock call center support for any issues. You will have your own dedicated customer support representative, and large administrative burdens placed on your business due to new legislation and compliance rules will be handled by the NARFA team. NARFA also administers all wellness programs. Learn more about NARFA membership and experience how the power in numbers and our industry experience can help you and your business.
Thank you to our friends at Smart Business Magazine for some great content for this piece.
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