Running a small business is never easy. Depending on the size of your company, you could be responsible for everything from sales to operations. Keeping track of everything can be a major headache, and possibly even lead to lower productivity.
One area you need to always keep tabs on is your employees. Yes, you need to be concerned with their work effort. However, you also need to continually be on top of what goes into employing them — things like paperwork, labor laws and the like.
For some small businesses, it makes sense to have a human resources professional on staff to do this for you. Like many things in today’s business world, you have many options. You can hire a full-time or part-time staff member.
You can use a consultant. Many companies specialize in certain areas like payroll. Some businesses decide to go with an external firm that can handle everything for you.
If you are thinking about delegating some or all of your HR duties, here’s four critical areas you’ll need to think about when making a decision.
1- Hiring and firing
You’ll probably want to make the final decision when you hire a new employee. However, if you don’t for time, an HR staffer can easily handle the recruitment process and even screen the best candidates for you. If you are scaling up soon, it’s important to think about who is going to help you manage your new candidates.
The same goes for firing employees. If you have an employee that is not performing up to your company’s standards, an HR professional will help you go about the process of letting the employee go correctly.
2 – Employment law
What happens if you fire an employee incorrectly? You could have to defend your business in a lawsuit. Employee law is complicated. An HR professional can help you with compliance when it comes to state and federal laws that cover many workplace issues.
3 – Benefits
Have you had to search for health insurance policies? It can take time. A great HR professional knows this area and can do all this for you so you can spend time growing your business.
An HR professional will also have a good understanding of what’s going on with hiring in your area or industry. While health insurance is important, employees also seek companies which offer fringe benefits like commuter benefits. An HR professional can help you understand why commuter benefits might be right for your business.
With commuter benefits, your employees save up to 40 percent on commuting costs because they set aside tax-free wages to pay for commuting. Your company gets to save up to 7.65 percent on payroll costs, with little paperwork or time required to manage the program.
4 – Risk Management
Do you know how much an unemployment claim will cost you? How sure are you about your workers’ compensation plan in case someone gets injured on the job? With a qualified HR professional, you won’t have to worry as much because they can handle these and other issues related to your risk management.
An HR staff member will manage your documents, review your records and work on lowering costs associated with these areas. If you find yourself struggling with your hiring or wish you had the time to figure out a better benefits package to offer employees, it’s probably time to think about delegating the HR work to someone else.
Even before you do that, you can start saving on payroll tax by implementing a commuter benefits plan at your company right now. Contact Edenred Commuter Benefits Solutions for more information.
If you want to learn more about commuter benefits, download the 101 Guide below:
