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421 ARTICLES

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421 ARTICLES

IMPLEMENTING CHANGES IN YOUR OPERATION QUICKLY TO SUPPORT CLIENTS THROUGH COVID-19

As the harsh realities of COVID-19 began to impact small businesses everywhere, PEOs were acutely aware that the ability of many of their clients to survive was at risk and that these businesses would be leaning on their PEOs to help navigate the many challenges. In March, we saw a flood of legislative and regulatory activity as Congress and the administration took swift action to protect both businesses and workers as shelter-in-place policies went into effect across the country. 

BY THAD INGE

May 2020

MARKETING IN THE COVID-19 ERA

And just like that, first-time in-person appointments, stopping by, and shaking hands with prospects gave way to online marketing and fully virtual sales interactions. This particular crisis has no doubt revealed the strengths and weaknesses of your digital investments and your historical view about their importance in your sales operation. Whether you made the right strategic bets on digital strategy or not, you’re likely grappling with questions about what to do now and how to emerge from the economic gridlock on top.

BY RYAN MCINERNEY

May 2020

Breaking News • Member News • Coronavirus • NAPEO Gives Back

Please visit our COVID-19 Resource Center (www.napeo.org/covid19) for the latest information and analysis from NAPEO as well as important information and guidance from agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as resources from many of our partners. 

BY

April 2020

HOW DO YOU CREATE A POSITIVE WORKPLACE CULTURE WITHIN YOUR PEO & CLIENT COMPANIES?

At Erigo, we try to practice what we preach and implement the advice we would give to similarly situated clients who want to build a strong workplace culture. First, we start with the goal of creating a culture that will allow the type of employee who will help the organization achieve its goals and thrive. We admit at the outset, to ourselves and to employees, that it may not be the right fit for everyone and some employees may find our workplace to be unfulfilling. 

BY

April 2020

IMPACT OF STATE-RUN AUTO-IRA PROGRAMS STILL DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE

It’s been nearly three years since Oregon became the first state to launch an IRA program that requires private-sector employers to automatically enroll employees in the program unless they already offer retirement plans. By the end of 2019, six states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, and Oregon) had some form of a so-called mandatory auto-IRA program on their books, and three of those programs (OregonSaves, Illinois Secure Choice, and CalSavers) had reached the implementation stage.

BY COURTNEY A. ZINTER, ESQ.

April 2020

IMPROVING THE BUDGETING PROCESS

Budgeting. Some love it and some loathe it. One thing we can all agree on, though, is that budgeting and continually benchmarking your budget performance against your goals is smart for business. Not only will it allow you to project revenue, expenses and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), but it will also guide you to make business decisions every step of the way.

BY TANYA YAKHNIS, CPA

April 2020

THE 5 BIGGEST MISTAKES SALESPEOPLE MAKE

This year marks my 35th year in the PEO space and this article is my 80th penned for PEO Insider. I always try to strike a positive tone, although this article will discuss the mistakes salespeople make in selling PEO. It’s okay to disagree with these mistakes, because we could certainly add many more. The most important thing, however, is that we learn from these mistakes and don’t make them again. 

BY CLAY M. KELLEY, PHR

April 2020

THE INS & OUTS OF CLIENT-SPONSORED & MASTER BENEFIT PLANS

More and more often, benefits are becoming a larger portion of the value proposition of well-run PEOs. PEOs can offer benefits through client-sponsored plans (CSPs), through master medical plans (master), or potentially both.

BY JOHN HARMAN, CFP,® CLU

April 2020

A DEEP DIVE INTO WORKERS’ COMP STATS

Over the past decade, the workers’ compensation (WC) industry experienced the quintessential highs and lows of a market cycle. The goal of this article is to share and discuss recent trends in both the WC and PEO WC space sand provide thoughts on the direction of the market over the next year. We will wrap up the article by sharing some ideas that PEO leadership and risk management professionals can consider to prepare themselves for the more challenging times that will inevitably come.

BY FRANK HUANG

March 2020

BUILDING THE RIGHT TEAM FOR THE RIGHT PEOPLE

Even though many PEOs share much in common and might look the same from the outside, no two PEOs are built the same way. It might be a unique service offering or a niche client base that distinguishes one PEO from another. For Burlington, Massachusetts–based Genesis HR Solutions, it’s the company’s management structure. Bob Burbidge founded the company in 1991 and still serves as CEO, but his top two executives share the role of co-president. Patty Hilger and Diane Stevenson were promoted to the role in 2014 when Burbidge recognized that the time had come to hand over day-to-day operations.

BY CHRIS CHANEY

March 2020

EMPLOYEE STOCK OWNERSHIP PLANS & PEOS

Some PEOs wonder about the implications when a client employer has established an employee stock ownership plan, or ESOP, for its bona fide common-law employees. There is certainly no harm in being cautious. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) lawyers will be the first to tell you that there has been a significant amount of litigation related to the alleged mismanagement of ESOPs, and any PEO would quite naturally not want to get caught up in needless legal disputes.

BY MALCOLM SLEE, ESQ., JOHN BARLOW, ESQ., AND SETH PERRETTA, ESQ.

March 2020

HELPING CLIENTS DEAL WITH ICE VISITS

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) comes knocking on a client’s door, it can be an intimidating event. Under the Trump administration, onsite investigations have increased exponentially, with ICE initiating 6,848 worksite investigations, 5,981 I-9 audits, 779 criminal arrests, and 1,525 administrative arrests in Fiscal Year 2018 alone. Although employers may want to refuse entry to ICE officials, employers must allow the officials to conduct their business, albeit in accordance with employers’ rights.

BY TODD J. KAISER, ESQ., CURTIS Y. CHOW, ESQ., AND JEFFREY W. PARKER, JR., ESQ.

March 2020

MILD GROWTH FORECAST FOR 2020

Most PEOs showed increased revenue in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to NAPEO’s Pulse Survey, though the extent of growth was the lowest in the study’s history.

BY

March 2020

THE POWER OF MANY

In September 2019, NAPEO gathered in Austin, Texas, for its Annual Conference & Marketplace. It was a remarkable conference in many ways, but the most remarkable was the astoundingly successful kickoff of the NAPEO Gives Back initiative.

BY BARRON L. GUSS

March 2020

Trends, Stats, News

TRENDS WHERE IS HR GOING IN 2020? The HR Trend Institute, founded in 2014, has been following human resources trends and publishing reports for the past five years. For 2020, here are some of the trends it predicts will unfold: • Holistic HR, using technology and being more human-centric; • Working more closely with employees to find their needs rather than focusing on improving the process...

BY

March 2020

WHAT I’VE LEARNED ABOUT WORKING WITH BROKERS

While there are many pros and cons of working with independent agents to fill up your sales pipeline, PEOs of all sizes are harnessing this rapidly growing channel to fuel growth. Of the many shapes and forms an independent agent takes, I’ve had the most success with one segment: property and casualty agents and brokers (i.e., brokers).

BY VIC TANON

March 2020

APP UPDATE

After months of development, we released the Nextep app in May 2019. Our goal was simple: Give our clients and their employees the power to manage their info any time, any where, and on any device. I talked about how we developed our app in an article on page 54 of the September 2019 issue of PEO Insider.® This article follows up with feedback about the rollout and what clients found most valuable in the new app.

BY BILLY MILLER AND JA’VON BERRY

February 2020

CASE STUDY: PAYROLL CRISIS MANAGEMENT

We live in a technology-centric world: So much so that it’s easy to become dependent. People are always connected. Instant feedback is expected. Financial transactions are easily processed and tracked online. But what happens when that ability is lost?

BY BILL MANESS

February 2020

IS CALIFORNIA’S NEW AB 5 LAW A BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY FOR PEOS?

On September 18, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law legislation known as Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5). If you are not operating in California or do not routinely work in business sectors that use the services of independent contractors, you may rightfully be asking, “What is AB 5 and why do I care?” PEO companies familiar with the legislation and the California landscape do care and, as you will see, perhaps you should too. Many PEOs see AB 5 and the business climate it creates as a business opportunity.

BY STEVEN A. PLETCHER, ESQ.

February 2020

NOT YOUR MAMA’S MEWA

Last year, many PEOs began receiving inquiries from state insurance commissioners about whether they were operating multiple-employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) in their states. This article will provide a high-level overview of the history of MEWAs and the potential implications for PEOs being categorized as such.

BY NICHOLAS KAPIOTIS, ESQ. AND SETH T. PERRETTA, ESQ.

February 2020

PEO INDEX: RECOVERING FROM RECENT LAG

The PEO Employment Index continues to show recovery from its recent lag. Once again, the very strong labor market has record low unemployment, rising wages, and a widening skills gap across almost all sectors.

BY JOHN J. SLAVIC

February 2020

REGULATORY UPDATES, STATS, NEWS FROM MEMBERS

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule to update the regulations interpreting joint-employer status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The final rule provides a four-factor balancing test for determining FLSA joint-employer status in situations in which an employee performs work for one employer that simultaneously benefits another entity or individual.

BY

February 2020

SUCCESS STORY: HOW TO SOAR AS A NICHE PEO

Over the past few years the PEO industry has seen tremendous growth amid rising levels of awareness. Businesses across the country are warming to the idea of using a PEO and are ready to reap the benefits. For New York City-based Little Bird HR, those businesses are schools. Charter, private, and pre-K schools, along with some other non-profit mission-driven organizations, make up its client list.

BY CHRIS CHANEY

February 2020

WHAT IS ON YOUR RADAR IN 2020?

Other than the usual topics, some things on my radar outside of our organization are the effects of increasing private equity investment in the space and the prospect of additional software, insurance, and other service providers entering the PEO market

BY

February 2020
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