There are 487 PEOs in the U.S. according to NAPEO, the National Association of PEOs. When a business owner or leadership team embarks on a search for a PEO, these essential questions can help narrow their options.
- Are you accredited by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC) and certified by the IRS as a CPEO? [Less than 3% of all PEOs in the country have earned both IRS and ESAC accreditation. ESAC is like the FDIC for banks; clients of ESAC-accredited PEOs each receive a bond to protect them for up to $16 million in payroll and employee benefits.]
- What services do you provide, and which services are outsourced to other providers? Can we pick and choose which services we want?
- What differentiates you from other PEOs?
- What is your average client size, and what is your experience with our industry, size, types of employees, and locations?
- Can you provide PEO services in all the states where we do business?
- Does your technology platform allow for integrated recruitment, hiring, background checks, and onboarding, standard and customized reporting, documentation storage, and performance evaluations, legally required training, and professional development?
- How much will it cost me for PEO services and how do you charge your fees?
- Will you assign a specific representative(s) to work with our company for any and all questions or do you have specialists for different services? Whom do we call if we have a question/issue?
- What is your commitment to customer service?
- Can you provide examples where you assisted companies with claims, or saved them money on legal fees because of compliance, training, discrimination, harassment, ADA, return-to-work, wage and hour misclassifications, policy violations, or employee complaints or issues?
Excerpted from: Why Partnering with a PEO is a Smart Growth Strategy for Small Businesses by Alex Pisani, General Counsel, Engage PEO |