It All Comes Down to the Worksite
Every PEO’s goal is to help client companies succeed. The PEO’s infrastructure, strategy, and technology are designed to help it meet this goal. All of the PEO’s people work towards this goal. PEOs develop policies, procedures, and workflows to provide HR services, benefits, payroll, regulatory compliance, and much more to the client, all geared towards allowing the people at the company to do what they do best. In doing so, PEOs bear risk and liability.
As industry insiders are well aware, recent years have seen the traditional PEO business model expand into a more comprehensive suite of outsourcing services.
When Charles Dickens famously penned these words, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” he might have been speaking of the PEO industry today.
As all of us know, the PEO industry is an extremely challenging business. The biggest determinant of that dynamic lies in the underlying economics of the industry: small margins and intensive service needs.
In last month’s column, I wrote about the National Conference of State Legislatures Annual Legislative Summit, where I attended the 2013 Health Summit.
When examining the current U.S. tax code, two things are clear: It is unnecessarily complex, and it is unfair.
Well, another NAPEO Annual Conference and Marketplace is in the rearview mirror and what a conference it was! We had a record turnout, and it was great to see so many familiar and fresh faces both. In our special conference section this month, starting on page 42, you’ll be reminded of what you experienced, if you attended—and if you didn’t, you’ll see what you missed.
Q. Are telecommuting employees subject to Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) requirements? What about workers’ compensation rules and regulations? A. OSHA has stated that it will not examine the home offices of telecommuting workers (CPL 02-00-125—CPL 2-0.125—Home-Based Worksites).
Mark C. Perlberg, President & CEO, Oasis Outsourcing, West Palm Beach, Florida Education: University of Rochester (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa); Boston College Law School (magna cum laude, Order of the Coif)
When I wrote this note, it was almost exactly one week from when I was to assume the mantle of NAPEO chairperson for the 2014 year.
No product or service is sold, no job is created, and no opportunity arises until someone—somewhere—takes a risk. Taking a calculated risk to pursue a business idea—even if it exists only in one’s head or on a crumpled cocktail napkin—has long been the bedrock of our free enterprise system.
Monitoring and aggressively managing leaves of absence can be the most effective approach for PEOs to control potential abuse, as one company recently learned when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit validated their handling of a very thorny Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) issue.
Even though the federal government is in the middle of a shutdown, the House Small Business Committee continued to work this week.