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Listing Date	Article Link	Article Review / Excerpt	Reader Comments
1/17/2012	Administrative Concepts Sells PEO Operation Source: StaffMarket	Administrative Concepts (ACC) a long time PEO in Florida has sold its operation to Progressive Employer Management Company (PEMCO) a Professional Employer Organization located in Sarasota Florida. January 15, 2012 Administrative Concepts (ACC) a long time PEO in Florida has sold its operation to Progressive Employer Management Company (PEMCO) a Professional Employer Organization located in Sarasota Florida. ACC was founded in 1995 by George Bushong and his wife Sarah Peel. Mr. Bushong has had a long time involvement with the employee leasing industry and was part of the original group that created Staff Leasing in Bradenton, Florida in the early 1980s. Mr. Bushong helped maneuver his company, ACC, through the tumultuous period of workers’ compensation insurance in 2001 by starting his own workers' compensation carrier, Southern Eagle Insurance. Creating the insurance company allowed ACC to offer their employee leasing clients workers' compensation insurance when many traditional work comp carriers would not write policies to any employee leasing companies. The strategy helped ACC grow during a time period when many other employee leasing companies were being forced to close their doors. The effectiveness of that strategy came to an abrupt end when Southern Eagle Insurance Company was forced in to receivership by the Florida Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Atwater on December 16, 2011. Any former clients of ACC who have outstanding workers' compensation claims prior to the merger with PEMCO should review information located at the Florida Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation about how Southern Eagle Insurance claims will be paid. With the entry of the liquidation order, the Florida Workers' Compensation Insurance Guaranty Association (FWCIGA) was activated to help pay claims for workers' compensation policies.	Post the first comment about: Administrative Concepts Sells PEO Operation
1/6/2012	Employee Leasing Solutions Sold Source: StaffMarket	One of the founders of the employee leasing industry, William Mullis has sold his company, Employee Leasing Solutions to a new employee leasing company named Workforce Business Services. January 6, 2012. One of the founders of the employee leasing industry, William Mullis has sold his company, Employee Leasing Solutions to a new employee leasing company named Workforce Business Services. According to information on the ELS website, Robert Kelly a long time business partner and executive at ELS has purchased the interest of Mr. Mullis. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.	Post the first comment about: Employee Leasing Solutions Sold
12/8/2011	Eight US States Increase Minimum Wage Rates for 2012 Source: StaffMarket	Eight US States have new minimum wage rates for 2012. Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have new minimum wage rates effective January 1, 2012.	Post the first comment about: Eight US States Increase Minimum Wage Rates for 2012
12/5/2011	Chiropractors Explore Alternate Staffing Arrangements Source: Chiropractic Economics	Article discusses the challenges faced by medical organizations when staffing to meet their business needs. Contract labor, staffing companies and Professional Employer Organizations offer options that come with differing employer responsibilities. Today, many professional practices and businesses need help managing increasingly complex employee-related matters such as health benefits, workers’ compensation claims, payroll, payroll tax compliance, and unemployment insurance claims. They often contract with a professional employer organization (PEO) to assume those responsibilities and provide human resources management. This allows the business owner to concentrate on the operational and revenue-producing side of his or her operations.	Post the first comment about: Chiropractors Explore Alternate Staffing Arrangements
11/21/2011	Senate Bill seeks to clarify tax treatment for PEOs Source: StaffMarket	US Senator Chuck Grassley introduces senate bill SB 1908 that seeks to clarify tax treatment for Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs). November 18, 2011 US Senators Chuck Grassley and Bill Nelson have co-sponsored legislation that would amend the IRS tax code to clarify the tax treatment for companies operating as professional employer organizations. The PEO industry has long sought clarification from congress on the tax implications for PEOs. This clarification has important ramifications for PEOs and their clients.	Post the first comment about: Senate Bill seeks to clarify tax treatment for PEOs
11/16/2011	NAPEO Names New President and CEO - Pat Cleary Source: StaffMarket	The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) names new President and CEO. After nearly a year of searching for a new president and CEO for NAPEO (the national association of professional employer organizations) Pat Cleary has been named to the position. Former NAPEO president and CEO Milan Yager separated with the organization in late 2010 after serving in that role for 15 years. Joe Cole served as the interim CEO while the search for Yager’s replacement was completed.	Post the first comment about: NAPEO Names New President and CEO - Pat Cleary
11/9/2011	Pennsylvania Senate moves on PEO legislation Source: StaffMarket	The Pennsylvania senate has scheduled SB 1069 that regulates Professional Employer Organization activities in the state. The PA senate has scheduled SB 1069 that addresses the operating rules for Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) doing business in Pennsylvania. The PA house has already passed a similar bill, HB 1055. Details include a requirement for PEOs in the state to provide audited financial statements to the state and to meet a working capital or bonding requirement. Read the bill here:	Post the first comment about: Pennsylvania Senate moves on PEO legislation
9/28/2011	Health Care Reform for Small Employers - Calculating Full Time Workers Source: Employers Association of New Jersey	Health care reform set to take effect in 2014 requires employers with 50 or more full time workers to provide health insurance premiums for their employees or face penalties. But determining how to calculate the 50 employees threshold can be tricky for companies that have a season workforce of have a large number of part time employees. This article explains. The issue is complicated because hourly workers are included in the arithmetic employers must use to determine whether or not they have 50 "full-time equivalent" workers. The law defines a full-timer as an employee who works at least 30 hours a week, or 130 hours per month. But for hourly workers, the employer totals all the hours they work in a month, and then divides by 120 to arrive at the number of full-time equivalents, who are then added to the full-time work force.	Post the first comment about: Health Care Reform for Small Employers - Calculating Full Time Workers
9/28/2011	Georgia Employers Must Hire Lawyers to Answer Garnishments Source: Fisher and Phillips LLP	Georgia companies that handle their own payroll and HR now must hire legal counsel to answer garnishments. This could be another good reason for companies to outsource payroll and HR administration to a PEO. Many Georgia companies have been accustomed to having their internal payroll and HR staff answer and implement garnishment actions. It now appears that the Georgia supreme court has ruled that these companies and their staff are engaged in the unlicensed practice of law. The Georgia Committee on the Unauthorized Practice of Law opined that although citizens have a constitutional right to self representation, businesses are required to be represented by a licensed attorney in legal proceedings, including garnishment actions.	Post the first comment about: Georgia Employers Must Hire Lawyers to Answer Garnishments
9/26/2011	Obama "Jobs" Bill - Businesses Could Be Sued For Bias Against Unemployed Source: StaffMarket	President Barack Obama's latest "jobs" bill provides a provision that allows business owners to be sued for not hiring someone because they are unemployed. President Barack Obama’s latest "jobs" bill provides a provision that allows business owners to be sued for not hiring someone because they are unemployed. The bill makes it "an unlawful employment practice" if a business with 15 or more employees refused to hire a person because of the individual’s status as unemployed. Job applicants who are not hired could sue for damages. Under the proposal the unemployed would be entitled to the same protections as if an employer discriminated against the applicant on the basis of a person's sex, race, religion or national origin. Lawsuits for employment discrimination increase during a sluggish economy. In the fiscal year 2010, job bias charges filed with the employment commission increased 20 percent from 2007 and reached a record of nearly 100,000.	Latest Comment: - 10/5/2011 Jobs bill Read All 1 Comments about: Obama "Jobs" Bill - Businesses Could Be Sued For Bias Against Unemployed
9/23/2011	Employer / Contractor Misclassification IRS Offers Companies Penalty Relief Source: StaffMarket	The IRS has created a new program that offers companies a reduced penalty for incorrectly treating workers as 1099 independent contractors rather than employees. On September 21, 2011 the IRS announced a new program designed to reduce penalties for companies who have historically classified workers and independent contractors (ICs) rather than employees. Dubbed the “Voluntary Classification Settlement Program” (VECP) the program offers companies relief from penalties and some back payroll taxes that could be assessed if the company was audited by the Department of Labor and found to be incorrectly classifying workers as ICs when the company should have been treating the workers as employees. Under the new IRS initiative, called the Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program, firms will owe 10% of employment taxes liability for reclassified workers in the most recent tax year, with no interest or penalties due. In addition, the company must have consistently treated workers in the past as non-employees and filed 1099s for all ICs for the previous three years. Under the new provisions, companies who come in from the cold and enter the program will not be subject to employee classification employment audit for prior years.	Post the first comment about: Employer / Contractor Misclassification IRS Offers Companies Penalty Relief
8/31/2011	Florida Workers Comp Rates on the Rise Source: St. Augustine Record	NCCI has submitted a proposal to Florida State regulators to increase workers’ compensation insurance rates by 8.9 percent. After changes were made to the system in 2003 that capped claim amounts and set limits on attorney fees in 2003, rates in Florida dropped until 2011 when rates were increased overall 7.8 percent. From the 2003 peak, work comp rates in Florida have dropped nearly 65 percent.	Post the first comment about: Florida Workers Comp Rates on the Rise
8/31/2011	Is a PEO Right For Your Company? Source: US Chamber of Commerce	This article, authored by the new CEO of NAPEO, provides a brief introduction to the benefits for companies of hiring a Professional Employer Organization or PEO. Article Comments from StaffMarket: This article is a great starting point for business owners and managers to use when starting to investigate the viability of using a PEO for their company. Companies with up to 500 employees often find that the overhead associated with hiring a dedicated internal staff to perform the long list of employer related duties is not cost effective compared to outsourcing to a PEO. Every PEO has economies of scale and expert staff ready to handle issues related to: HR administration and risk management, insurance plan management, workers compensation claims administration, unemployment administration, payroll, etc. The reality is the most small businesses who do things “in-house” do it poorly at a higher cost than using a PEO. For business considering hiring a PEO, the things to consider is a bit more expansive than listed here. StaffMarket.com has a PEO and Employee Leasing buyers guide that may be helpful. In addition, understanding each PEO's pricing can be a challenge, so having an independent advisor or CPA review each PEO proposal is also a good idea. As with any business arrangement, having a clear understanding of what services and fees are included and not included makes for a good long term relationship. After advising thousands of clients on how to target and evaluate PEO and employee leasing solutions for their company, we concur that the hiring a PEO can be the best decision many businesses can make. Finding the right PEO makes the difference.	Post the first comment about: Is a PEO Right For Your Company?
8/31/2011	Perils of Plan Enrollment Miscommunication Source: Idaho Business Review	An excavating company in Idaho pays $150K for messing up health insurance enrollment and payroll premium deductions for an employee. While most of the story here is focused on payroll errors, the real story is that the company’s HR department did not understand the terms of the own health insurance plan enrollment. As a consequence, and new employee who completed the enrollment paperwork did not get on the plan in time and then had subsequent medical bills. The court here rules that the company (not the insurance company) was liable for all the medical bills and attorney fees and court costs. Ouch. Of course is the company had hired a PEO to handle their HR functions, the error probably would have been avoided, and in any case, the PEO would be held financially responsible… not the client company. Shifting risk is an important value of the hiring a PEO.	Post the first comment about: Perils of Plan Enrollment Miscommunication
7/19/2011	Staff Leasing Signed by Texas Governor Source: Insurance Journal	Texas has implemented measures that require Professional Employer Organizations to provide workers' compensation loss runs for their PEO clients when requested. Several PEOs in Texas have joined forces with independent insurance agents to promote the new rules. While most PEOs would ultimately provide the information, some would not. HB 625 "simply corrects that situation and makes it clear that if you are outside or inside a PEO, if you’re an employer, you have access to that loss information," VanDelinder said. He added that PEO professional organizations were in favor of standardizing the requirements and were instrumental in drafting some of the language in the bill.	Post the first comment about: Staff Leasing Signed by Texas Governor
7/13/2011	House Bill 2466 Moves Forward for PEOs Source: US House of Representatives	Known as the Small Busienss Efficiency Act, House Bill 2466 has been introduced in congress. Enactment of the bill will solidify the Professional Employer Organization business service model with regards to legalities for successor and predecessor employer status with the IRS for calculating employee wage bases for tax calculations for FICA and FUTA. Wage bases for state unemployment tax standings are expected to follow the national legislation standard. In addition the legislation established a certification program to be established by the Secretary of the Treasury. This certification for PEOs will be a requirement for PEOs who intend to claim the advantages of the legislation.	Latest Comment: - 7/15/2011 HB 2466 :: PEO Service Model f Read All 1 Comments about: House Bill 2466 Moves Forward for PEOs
7/11/2011	Michigan Delays PEO Licensing Requirement Source: StaffMarket	Michigan delays PEO licensing requirements until September 2012 Legislation has been enacted in Michigan that delays the implementation of the PEO licensing requirement until September 1, 2012. Given the December 2010 enactment of the initial PEO law, the December 31, 2011, licensing deadline, and the reconfiguration of the key regulatory agency, it was determined that delaying the licensing requirement would give the state and NAPEO time necessary to ensure effective implementation. The licensing requirement was contained in Senate Bill 1037 of 2010 (Public Act 370), which provides increased operational certainty for PEOs operating in Michigan. The new PEO statutory provisions include significant portions of the NAPEO model act. It provides a statutory framework for reasonable regulatory standards by clarifying the PEO relationship and protecting PEOs from undue liabilities. It is anticipated to become effective on September 1, 2012.	Post the first comment about: Michigan Delays PEO Licensing Requirement
6/1/2011	Nevada moves to clarify working capital requirements for PEOs and employee leasing companies. Source: State of Nevada	PEOs must demonstrate adequate working capital for all days of the year. PEOs in operation less than a year must present financial statements reviewed by a CPA.	Post the first comment about: Nevada moves to clarify working capital requirements for PEOs and employee leasing companies.
5/17/2011	Streamlining HR: Use a PEO Source: Wall Street Journal	A brief introduction to the advantages to business owners of hiring a PEO. This article offers a starting point for evaluating PEO solutions; however other significant factors are involved with targeting the best PEO for a particular company. Workers’ compensation insurance is a significant expense for many companies in manufacturing and construction. Each PEO has certain risk for work comp they can or cannot accept. For white collar companies this is not such a concern. Also, many states require PEO licensing. HR services vary widely in the PEO industry. Some PEO clients have high demands for HR services like employee recruitment and unemployment claims management where others… not so much. Finally access to health insurance plans is a major driver for many PEO clients and each PEO has access to different carriers, plans and pricing. The PEO industry (over 700 PEOS) is a diverse lot of companies and all of these factors and more should be considered when evaluating PEO options.	Latest Comment: - 6/10/2011 WSJ could have used some bette Read All 2 Comments about: Streamlining HR: Use a PEO
5/16/2011	Outsourcing Payroll and Insurance with a PEO Source: Journal of Light Construction	Article discusses the advantages builders and contractors can gain by hiring a PEO. Most PEOs offer a menu of employee benefit packages - including medical and dental insurance and retirement plans - that can be customized to meet the needs of client companies. "We have 6 employees, but because we offer health insurance and a 401(k), we seem like a much larger company," says John Price. "It makes it easier to attract good people, because no one else in town provides those things." Price has found that his company's PEO provided employee benefit package is cheaper than it would have been if he'd purchased it directly, partly because PEOs - which may have tens of thousands of employees - can benefit from economies of scale not available to small businesses.	Post the first comment about: Outsourcing Payroll and Insurance with a PEO
5/10/2011	LRA Global HR, a PEO affiliated with Staffing Concepts International (SCI) has acquired the assets of Innovation HR Source: StaffMarket	LRA Global HR, a PEO affiliated with Staffing Concepts International (SCI) has acquired the assets of May 6, 2011 A press release recently announced that Innovation HR has sold its clients to LRA Global HR. LRA Global HR director of operations Anurag Dandiya noted in the release that the newly acquired clients will be serviced from the Orlando Florida office of LRA Global HR. Innovation of Vero Beach Florida has operated as a PEO in Florida and was formerly associated with another PEO in Vero Beach known as At Your Service or The AYS Group. AYS was originally established in 1996 and was owned and managed by Deborah Segal. AYS changed their name to Innovation HR, Inc in 2007.	Post the first comment about: LRA Global HR, a PEO affiliated with Staffing Concepts International (SCI) has acquired the assets of Innovation HR
5/5/2011	Advice For New Employers Source: The Journal Record	Article discusses what new business owners needs to consider when they start hiring employees. Having even one employee means you have to start complying with government regulations. And more laws will apply to you if you keep hiring. Yu’ll need to pay employment taxes and file tax forms with the government. You’ll need to have each employee complete I-9 forms, which document that your staffers are authorized to work in the U.S. If you have 15 or more workers, you’ll need to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.	Post the first comment about: Advice For New Employers
4/27/2011	Advantec Acquired by Oasis Outsourcing Source: StaffMarket	Professional Employer Organization- Advantec HR Acquired by Oasis Outsourcing. April 2011 According to several PEO industry sources, the assets of Tampa, Florida based Advantec HR have been acquired by Boca Raton, Florida based, Oasis Outsourcing. Both companies are privately held. No details of the transaction have been released.	Post the first comment about: Advantec Acquired by Oasis Outsourcing
3/8/2011	Astra HR Acquired by Xcel HR Source: StaffMarket	In February 2011 Astra HR a PEO based in Maryland was acquired by Massachusetts based Xcel HR. Xcel HR continued its growth through acquisition in 2011 with the acquisition of Astra HR, a PEO based in Maryland. The acquisition propels Xcel HR PEO services to over 9000 worksite employees and increases the coverage of Xcel HR throughout the Northeastern United States. In addition, the Xcel HR ASO division serves another 8000 employees. Press releases from Xcel HR indicated that they cover 47 states in the US although their traditional strengths remain DC, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Indiana, Alabama and New York. Xcel HR is privately held and terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.	Post the first comment about: Astra HR Acquired by Xcel HR
3/7/2011	State of Nevada works to clarify fully insurance health plans of PEOs Source: State of Nevada	Nevada assembly bill AB74 will clarify rules for PEOs acting as sponsors for fully insured health plans. See section 128 starting on page 92 of linked document.	Post the first comment about: State of Nevada works to clarify fully insurance health plans of PEOs
3/7/2011	South Carolina introduces legislation that clarifies incentives for PEO clients. Source: State of South Carolina	Under SC H3675 clients of PEOs will still be eligible for economic incentives meant for direct employers. For purposes of determining an incentive or business preference program based on employment, a covered employee is considered an employee solely of the client, not the licensee. Notwithstanding that the professional employer organization is the W-2 reporting employer, the client is entitled to the benefit of or continue to qualify for an incentive, business preference program, or other benefit arising from the employment of covered employees.	Post the first comment about: South Carolina introduces legislation that clarifies incentives for PEO clients.
2/28/2011	Administaff to change company name to Insperity Source: StaffMarket	Prospective clients confusion with staffing services prompts Administaff to change company name to Insperity. According to an article in the Houston Business Journal, Administaff will change its name to Insperity. In addition the company will modify it’s logo and change it’s tag line from “Small business is good for America. Administaff is good for small business.® to “inspiring business performance” During a conference call with investors and analysts, Paul Savardi, CEO explained that many prospective businesses clients assumed that the company was involved with temporary staffing rather than operating as a Professional Employer Organization (PEO). According to Savardi, this confusion makes it difficult for Administaff sales staff to get an appointment with prospect clients. In a similar move in 2001, Staff Leasing Inc., a PEO in Florida, changed its name to Gevity HR. A year later Gevity HR dropped the “HR” and became Gevity. Similar rational drove the change to indentify the company’s services as distinct from the “staffing” industry. Gevity was taken private is now a part of Trinet Inc.. Staff Leasing and Administaff both went public in 1997.	Post the first comment about: Administaff to change company name to Insperity
2/25/2011	State of New Hampshire affirms rules for PEOs with large employer health plans Source: State of New Hampshire	The bill affirms the ability of employee leasing company to sponsor health insurance plans and defines time periods for PEOs to report initial and terminating clients to the NH Department of Labor.	Post the first comment about: State of New Hampshire affirms rules for PEOs with large employer health plans
2/22/2011	Venture Capital Firms Encourage HR Outsourcing to PEOs Source: StaffMarket	Hiring a PEO demonstrates to Venture Capital firms that a start up company is serious about maintaining company focus. So your fledgling company is ready to grow. You have a great product, strong sales growth and a business plan to dominate your market. The only thing you need now is funding to make it happen. So you may be considering venture capital to fund your expansion. If you have made the decision to consider funding from a VC firm, and you want their investment, then you must understand the criteria they will use to make their decision about whether to invest in your company. Volumes have been written about this subject of getting noticed by VC firms and how to get funding, but there is one aspect you may not have considered: Demonstrating your focus.	Post the first comment about: Venture Capital Firms Encourage HR Outsourcing to PEOs
1/27/2011	State of New York issues new wage and hour rules for employers in the hospitality industry Source: State of New York	The new law sets minimum wage rates and the maximum tip credit. Among other provisions, the law forbids employers from appropriating any tips.	Post the first comment about: State of New York issues new wage and hour rules for employers in the hospitality industry
1/27/2011	ADP Reports Improved PEO Financial Results Source: Nothing But Buzz	ADP reported that revenue from their PEO services division increased 15% and also reported improved client retention. PEO service revenues increased 15%, all organic to $358.2 million from $298.5 million in the last year quarter primarily due to the higher benefits pass through revenues. Professional Employer Organization (PEO) revenues include the impact of payroll wages and payroll taxes. Client revenue retention was higher by 50 basis points from the expected growth of 50 basis points while pays per control increased 2% from the expected growth of 1%.	Post the first comment about: ADP Reports Improved PEO Financial Results
1/26/2011	When Should Entrepreneurs consider using a Professional Employer Organization - PEO? Source: StaffMarket	Entrepreneurs and start up companies are hiring PEOs to handle employee administration. How to know if your start up company should hire employees or create contractor (1099) relationships. If the answer to this question is no, then you have no need to consider hiring a PEO. You can close this webpage because the rest of the article does not apply to you. However if your company will have employees, you have a whole set of responsibilities that your company needs to address. Starting and growing a successful company is tough. The internet is full of advice and people trying to make a buck by selling you their magic formula for business success. I do not need to list examples… you probably know most of them. Of course every start up needs to have a target market researched and be able to identify the business opportunity and bring product or services that are economically feasible to those target customers. If you are one of the few, lucky and smart, your business will get to the stage where it has a viable product with paying customers.	Post the first comment about: When Should Entrepreneurs consider using a Professional Employer Organization - PEO?
1/14/2011	Is it time to Outsource Human Resources? Source: Entrepreneur Magazine	Article discusses the types and sizes of companies that can best benefit from hiring a PEO. Of course finding the right PEO for your company is of paramount importance. StaffMarket.com offers the most efficient way for companies to target the best PEO for their needs and obtain competitive pricing from multiple PEOs.	Post the first comment about: Is it time to Outsource Human Resources?
1/13/2011	AES Human Resources in Pensacola sends clients to Simple HR in Destin Source: StaffMarket	AES Human Resources in Pensacola, Florida ceases operations and sends clients to Simple HR in Destin, Florida. AES Human Resources Solutions in Pensacola, Florida has announced plans to cease operations as of January 31, 2011. In a letter to AES clients, AES President and owner Donald Moore noted that the “BP oil spill put an enormous strain on our operations” and that their claim for damages to BP had been denied. AES was also known as Allstates Employer Services.	Post the first comment about: AES Human Resources in Pensacola sends clients to Simple HR in Destin
1/12/2011	Florida Governor Rick Scott mandates E-Verify system use for all state agencies. Source: State of Florida	Florida's new governor Rick Scott has signed Executive Order 11-02 that requires all Florida state agencies to use the E-Verify system to ensure that hires are authorized to work in the USA. Also included was a provision that all future state contracts contain a provision requiring all state contractors to use the E-Verify sytems as well.	Post the first comment about: Florida Governor Rick Scott mandates E-Verify system use for all state agencies.
1/12/2011	Illinois State Senate Changes Work Comp Reporting Rules for PEOs Source: State of Illinois	The state of Illinois has proposed an amendment to senate bill SB1066 that requires PEOs to provide all clients with an insurance coverage document that specifies its rights and obligations under the PEOs master policy and includes the date of the start and termination of the policy coverage. For purposes of this subsection, "Professional Employer Organization" or "PEO" means an entity or group of entities that provides the services of its workers to its client or clients through an arrangement for a fee pursuant to an agreement, written or otherwise. "Professional Employer 11 Organization" or "PEO" also includes an employee leasing company or other similarly administered arrangement. Any workers' compensation insurance policy issued to a PEO shall at a minimum provide the following information to the Commission or any entity designated by the Commission regarding each policy issued to the PEO: (1) Each client company of the PEO listed as additional named insured. (2) Information schedules attached to the master identify each individual company's name, FEIN, and job location. (3) A certificate of insurance coverage document issued to each client company specifying its rights and obligations under the master policy that clearly establishes both the identity and status of the client, as well as the dates of inception and termination of coverage, if applicable.	Post the first comment about: Illinois State Senate Changes Work Comp Reporting Rules for PEOs
1/12/2011	Colordao Business Roundtable Discusses Business Issues and Solutions Source: North Colorado Business Report	Employer Solutions Group director outlines Health Insurance and Human Resources issues facing small businesses in 2011. Jessica Hergenberger explains the impacts of Health Care reform, helath care plan grandfathering and new enforcement efforts by the Department of Labor and OSHA. HERGENRETER: So the first thing that I think a lot of employers are really struggling with right now is whether to grandfather or not to grandfather. If you had a health plan in place before March 23, 2010, that became your plan; and if you didn't want to make any changes to it and you wanted to keep it, then all of a sudden, you could call it a grandfathered plan. But to keep this grandfathered plan, you couldn't make any significant changes to it. So why would someone stay grandfathered? The biggest effect working right now is on small to midsized employers who have a benefit plan that gives greater benefit to highly compensated employees - we call them management carve-outs. For example, the top five executives, they want to pay a hundred percent of their premiums and their family's premiums, but for the rest of the employees, they only pay 50 percent or maybe they don't offer it at all. During grandfathering, you can't make significant changes in your plan in terms of benefits, pensions. If you do, and you don't offer it to all your employees, you're going to pay a $100 tax per employee per day. I don't think it's inhibiting people from hiring, but I think it's freaking them out from offering health care. In conversations, it's been so bad for the last couple of years anyway because of rate increases that they're saying, 'I don't know where to go with this one.' It's very directed for the consumer, to the employee. There's some information for small businesses, but there's not a comprehensive solution say, 'OK, I've got 25 employees. This is what my plan is doing. What do I have to do this year? What do I have to do the next year?' It's hard to get somebody to bring you through the whole life cycle. Everybody has their fingers in it. Health and Human Services. IRS has a piece of regulation. And the Department of Labor. If you have a full-time person to do the regulations, who do you start talking to first? And we're waiting for interim final regs. Is there anything good in it? There's a small business tax credit. If you have 24 or fewer full-time employees whose average compensation is less than $50,000, you can get a tax credit of 35 percent of the employer's portion of the premium. But it's a degrading tax credit. So for every employee over 10 and every wage over $25,000, the tax credit starts to go away. We have a nonprofit here in Northern Colorado. The average person makes $37,000 a year. They're not high income earners, and they have 27 employees. By the time we did the math, which took us almost two hours, their tax credit was zero. The important part here is - by the time we did the math. We do all their HR and payroll, so we have really good data. How many employers really have that kind of data? They don't. So if you have 10 employees and everybody is making about $27,000 a year, yeah, those aren't people who have health care. We're trying to incent them to get the health-care plans, but even at 35 percent of the tax credit, it's not helping. Because everyone was talking about health-care reform, the HIRE act got passed unnoticed. But essentially, most people benefited from the HIRE act, because if you hire employees that haven't been working for 60 days then you didn't have to pay the employer FICA match this year. And if you retained them for 52 weeks, you got an additional tax credit. That is a tax benefit that employers could really use. The other benefit that we have to talk through is the cafeteria plan. In a cafeteria plan, you have a plan in which you have 100 or fewer employees, you could say, I'm going to give you 400 bucks a month, and you guys go buy your benefits with it. That's really a cool way to do it, and people really get engaged in that, and you see your participation go up. But it used to be, you'd have a whole lot of documentation and things like that, and they passed the cafeteria plan health-care reform. That's a benefit. You know, in 2012, we'll have to report, on their W-2s, employees' cost of health care. The government wants to know what that is. So again, for people who outsource this stuff, it's easier, because hopefully, their provider is tracking these things. For the small employer who is writing payroll in QuickBooks, are they tracking that? I don't know. I think it's going to cost them time, money and energy, and I think the penalties are frustrating, because there's not a lot of recourse in how you do it.	Latest Comment: - 11/23/2011 fasfsad Read All 2 Comments about: Colordao Business Roundtable Discusses Business Issues and Solutions
1/7/2011	State Unemployment Insurance taxes on the rise. Source: StaffMarket	State Unemployment Insurance costs to businesses will be escalating in 2011 and beyond. Business owners need to consider strategies that help contain SUTA costs. PEOs can offer a service that helps business owners contain these costs and make their business more profitable while improving their workforce. As of December 2010, 26 states have Unemployment Insurance funds that are insolvent and are borrowing money from the federal government. Current state borrowing to cover UI payments is over $30 billion. See this website to see if your state UI funds is in trouble: Unemployment Insurance Tracker. As politicians keep extending unemployment benefits the situation continues to get worse. In fact many UI funds have not even paid off loans from the borrowing done in the late 1970s. This means is that UI funds in 2011 and beyond will be forced to raise the SUTA taxes charged to business throughout the USA. Remember that UI costs are paid by businesses. Nearly every company will be forced to pay higher State Unemployment Taxes, even if they have never laid-off anyone. Every company needs to take steps to minimize the coming impact of higher SUTA expenses.	Post the first comment about: State Unemployment Insurance taxes on the rise.
12/20/2010	PEO versus an ASO Which is a better solution for your company: PEO or ASO? Source: StaffMarket	This brief article explains the differences between these outsourcing models, and how they might benefit your company. As a client advocate in the PEO industry, I often get asked the question, “What is the difference between a PEO and an ASO, and what makes sense for my company?” First of all, to understand this, we must take a look at the acronyms. PEO stands for Professional Employer Organization, and ASO stands for Administrative Services Only. Basically, a PEO is a comprehensive vendor that will handle the four core aspects of outsourcing: Human Resources, Benefits Administration, Payroll Administration and Workers Compensation. In a true PEO or “co-employment” arrangement, there is a transfer of liability. Your employees actually move to the FEIN number of the PEO.	Post the first comment about: PEO versus an ASO Which is a better solution for your company: PEO or ASO?