PEOs depend on the data they maintain for their clients and worksite employees to provide their services. It is important to keep that data secure and private. Unfortunately, this data is also extremely valuable to hackers, thieves, and cybercriminals.
This is why NAPEO formed the Cybersecurity Task Force in late 2017. The task force surveyed all member PEOs in-depth, including questions about their preparedness; their internal resources dedicated to cybersecurity; their awareness about the threat, penalties, and exposure; and their response and recovery plans, training, and testing. After analyzing the survey results and conducting research, members of the task force created, “The Pillars of Cybersecurity for PEOs,” to guide NAPEO member companies through several steps to ensure data security, available to members at www.napeo.org/peo-resources/resources-by-topic/regulations-and-compliance.
This feature complements and expands upon this document:
PEOs come in all shapes and sizes, but we are most commonly classified as local, regional, or national. These same classifications of PEOs can also be restated as small, medium, or large. Whichever category your PEO falls into, you have most likely developed talking points that emphasize the benefits of your particular PEO. The talk-track for local PEOs will include such things as: “We provide more personalized service to our clients,” “We are closer to our clients and therefore closer to their businesses,” and, “We are more familiar with the local market and with state laws, which enables us to better help our clients stay compliant.” On the other extreme, national PEOs usually have more sophisticated technology and their sheer mass enables them to offer more variety in their benefits and service models. But, what if you fall somewhere between these two extremes? What if you are a regional PEO?
Is it time for your PEO health plan or retirement plan to be audited? This is something you think would never happen, but you can’t be so sure. It only takes one participant complaint call to put the audit process in motion. In addition, the Department of Labor (DOL) has yearly metrics, just like you do. These metrics serve two purposes. First, they ensure health plans and retirement plans operate as they should, and second, achieving these metrics pays DOL personnel bonuses, makes them eligible for promotion, determines annual budgets, and determines their office performance ranking at the end of the year. You need to be prepared, and to do so you need to know how not to be targeted for an audit, but if you are, how to survive.
America, we have a problem. Despite the formidable obstacles before us, we should not lose heart. This is not the first time our country has been divided by an issue that needs careful consideration. In 2012, Colorado and Washington became the first two states to fully legalize marijuana. Now more states are considering legalization. Currently, 30 states and the District of Columbia have laws legalizing marijuana in some form. The majority of states allow for some level of marijuana use depending on the circumstances. Medical marijuana laws vary from state to state with some states only allowing possession if the person suffers from rare medical conditions.
At the end of January, members of NAPEO’s Federal Government Affairs Committee met in Washington, D.C., to discuss NAPEO’s 2019 federal legislative and regulatory priorities. Nearly 30 individuals, along with several NAPEO staff members and outside experts, spent two days reviewing, analyzing, debating, and evaluating various issues impacting the PEO industry. The committee’s goal was to determine which issues present the greatest risk (or opportunity) to the PEO industry and develop feasible strategies to resolve them in a favorable manner.
As I write this, I have just returned from my semi-annual trip to Stanford University, where I do a case study on an issue I was involved in while at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). A former colleague and good friend teaches the class and he’s kind enough to invite me out each semester to present to the students. The case itself is a classic example of the law of unintended consequences. At the DOL, we were presented with a thorny problem. We brought the parties to agreement and congratulated ourselves on the outcome. At the time, we weren’t much older than the Stanford students.
As promised in this space late last year, NAPEO has begun work on several exciting new marketing and communications initiatives that aim to take our efforts to raise industry visibility and market penetration up a notch. We’re working with D.C.-based PR/communications firm LGND on a wide-ranging project deploying the results of last year’s groundbreaking market research.
The results of NAPEO’s Pulse Survey for 4th Quarter 2018 showed the slowest overall growth reported for the study since 2017: • 75 percent experienced revenue growth in 2018; • 16 percent reported a loss of revenue in 2018; • Client companies saw less growth in Q4; and • Worksite employee (WSE) wages continued a steady climb.
Much of what we do in government affairs can be very high profile and garner much attention. Depending on the issue, you might notice a government affairs alert or other notice that makes you aware of our ongoing activities. But what we do on a daily basis might actually surprise you, as it can be painfully devoid of the thrill and excitement of meeting with policymakers or actually testifying in a state capitol on an issue of importance to the industry.
Q. Is there an update on the EEO-1 due date? A. Yes. The EEO-1 survey for 2018 will open in early March 2019, with the deadline to submit EEO-1 data extended until May 31, 2019. As a reminder, EEO-1 is the annual survey that requires private employers with 100 or more employees and federal government contractors or first-tier subcontractors with 50 or more employees and with certain contracts to file the EEO-1 report. Details about the EEO-1 are posted on the EEO-1 website, which can be found at www.eeoc.gov/employers/eeo1survey/index.cfm.
The NAPEO Federal Government Affairs Committee (FGAC) met on January 29 and 30 in Washington, D.C., to determine the association’s federal legislative and regulatory agenda for 2019. Below is the agenda the committee recommended to the Board of Directors.
In October of 2018, the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, hosted its annual National Minority Business Awards Ceremony in Austin, Texas, during National Minority Business Development Week. During the ceremony, one U.S.-based business was honored with the prestigious Minority Professional Services Firm of the Year Award. This award is the highest level of national recognition that a U.S. minority-owned firm can receive from the Department of Commerce.
You don’t have to be a civil engineer to know that our nation’s infrastructure is falling apart. All you have to do is leave your house. The evidence is everywhere—and affects everyone. Consider the facts: The average American loses 42 hours stuck in traffic each year. Meanwhile, our airports and air traffic control system are so old that we lose $9 billion annually in productivity from flight delays. And it’s not just our airports that are outdated. Our interstate highways were developed in the 1960s, and our inland waterways are operating with 100-year-old locks and dams. The economic toll of our crumbling infrastructure is steep and rising still. By 2025, it will have cost businesses $7 trillion.