PEO Insider

A few years ago, Questco served primarily blue-collar businesses operating largely in the state of Texas. Fast forward to today and Questco has service centers in six states, internal employees in 26, and worksite employees (WSEs) in all 50 states. The company’s client base has expanded too; Questco now serves clients across a diverse base of industries, with an emphasis on fast-growing, sophisticated businesses.

Voters in Indiana’s 9^th Congressional district elected Congresswoman Erin Houchin to serve in the United States House of Representatives in November 2022. In doing so, Rep. Houchin became the first woman elected to Congress from her district. She also holds the distinction of being the only person elected to Congress who has worked for a PEO.

Rep. Houchin spoke to PEO Insider about her decision to seek public office, her experience working for a PEO, and the policies she champions.

Each of our new board members recently spoke with PEO Insider ® to share more about themselves and why they wanted to serve.

Arizona-based Vensure Employer Services emerged as a major presence in the PEO industry in just the last few years. Industry insiders know the company for its aggressive pursuit of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals with other PEOs, but few know the story behind the company and the man who leads it: Alex Campos.

Alex is a serial entrepreneur and trained computer programmer who has started and sold several businesses in the technology space. He’s an experienced and successful business leader who runs a company that processes nearly $20 billion in payroll annually. Yet, Alex’s journey to the C-suite may best be described simply as the pursuit of the American Dream.

Among the biggest landmines for PEOs is the misclassification of co-employees. This has become increasingly pressing as the Biden administration focuses heavily on the misclassification of exempt employees, as well as the misclassification of independent contractors. This article discusses common pitfalls of classification, best practices to minimize PEO liability when misclassification occurs, and how to navigate issues when they arise.

PEOs are in the business of offering robust human resources services to their customers and off-loading the responsibilities involved to a team of professionals who know how to manage employee information safely. Customers need help to make sure they keep sensitive information safe and secure. To address the legal obligations companies have when handling employee information, PEOs evaluate the information they handle and the legal obligations regarding data security imposed for handling such information, making sure they introduce cybersecurity measures early and reinforce them often.

NAPEO’s Regulatory Database (RDB) is at the very core of the NAPEO value proposition and is positioned to become even more so with the increased prevalence of remote work. Since the pandemic accelerated the disruption of traditional office life, NAPEO has begun receiving panicked questions from regional PEOs facing a common, recurring issue: a client employer has a remote-work employee in a state where the PEO is not licensed. If your PEO faces a similar issue, your first stop should likely be the RDB, followed closely by a frank conversation with your compliance advisor.

Prior to our workplace upheaval in 2020, work life had been a pretty predictable formula for many businesses. We did things the way we always had—the way society had taught us to look at work because there was simply no outside pressure to force us to change our perspective. As much negativity as is associated with the pandemic, I would suggest that it has had a positive, clarifying effect on the business mindset by challenging false assumptions about work productivity. My favorite business book, “businessThink” by Dave Marcum and Steve Smith, says “A solution is worthless unless and until it creates business value,” and I think we had allowed our focus to be locked in on business norms instead of business value. 

Buying another PEO is an expensive and time-consuming proposition. It can also be disruptive to both the buyer and the seller, and to their employees and clients. It’s imperative that both sides do their due diligence, make sure there is a fit beyond the economics of the deal, and that the post transaction integration is completed with minimal hiccups.

Nothing says “Autumn” like falling leaves, pumpkin spice, and the October PEO Marketing Push! 

This is the time when the industry bands together in an all-hands-on-deck marketing effort to raise the profile of our industry and move the needle on industry awareness and visibility. 

It’s our belief that if we all commit to marketing for the month, we will make a difference and we will grow the industry. The idea is for everyone to do somethingthis month. If you want to do a few somethings, all the better. 

In some respects, these are the best of times and the worst of times, as the economy transitions from total shutdown to hyperdrive in a matter of months. The dramatic closings from COVID threatened the economy not just here in the U.S., but essentially threw all traditional economic measures to their farthest historical extreme globally. Government, in an unprecedented way, stepped in to bring relief to what it perceived as a shuttered economy by introducing two extreme measures in the form of fiscal stimulus (government spending into the trillions of dollars) and monetary stimulus (0 percent interest rates). 

One of the things we have learned from this pandemic is how fast things can change. While many people want to return to normal overnight, we can’t be sure that society knows what post-COVID normal will look like. 

Many trends in our economy and society were accelerated during the pandemic; while COVID didn’t start e-commerce, it made everyone (including your great aunt) a lot more comfortable getting everything delivered to their doors, video chatting with the doctor, and partaking in virtual birthday parties. 

PEO Insider® published my article, “Key Data Privacy and Security Issues for PEOs,” in its May 2010 issue. That article discussed data security best practices such as risk assessments, vendor management protocols, and developing incident response plans, all of which were important then and continue to be critically important today. Since then, there have been many data privacy and cybersecurity developments and trends that are important to consider to continually inform a PEO’s policies, procedures, and practices. 

Employees and others around the country are filing legal claims related to COVID. It is a feeding frenzy. Insurance markets are stressed and PEO risk managers have full plates managing and mitigating claims. The future is uncertain; however, we have sufficient data to paint a decent picture of where we are today and attempt some predictions. 

2020 will forever be remembered as the year that defined a decade of progressive and innovative employer benefits strategies. This pandemic is one of the most significant global threats to financial stability that many will see in their lifetimes. In Mercer’s COVID Employer Response Survey, 85 percent of respondents estimated that the pandemic would have a moderate to high impact on overall financial performance for 2020. What 2021 holds is still not clear. The COVID pandemic greatly accelerated forces that were already pressuring employers to reinvent their health and benefits programs. 

Before starting Pacific HR, I was a systems analyst for a large defense contractor. In college, I studied computer science and added a minor in business administration. I was convinced that a successful career as a systems analyst was my calling. It didn’t take long to learn that programming was not my passion. Before long, I knew I needed to make a change—little did I know how big that change was going to be. 

With the continued threat of COVID and the introduction of the Biden administration into the White House, employers will face a new series of hurdles concerning workplace safety and labor relations in 2021. 

The early hours of COVID-19 were extremely challenging: the uncertainty was terrifying, the rhetoric was schizophrenic, and the legislation was half-baked. But our industry faced those challenges with banners raised and swords drawn. The good news is that, over the past few weeks, we are seeing fewer COVID-19-specific questions and more of the business-as-usual existential crises. Let’s take stock of what we accomplished, what we are currently facing, and what we are likely to face going forward.

It’s October and that can mean only one thing: It’s time for the October PEO Marketing Push! (Silly you if you thought I was going to say pumpkins, fall leaves, or Halloween). It’s the industry-wide, all-hands-on-deck marketing effort to raise the profile of our industry and move the needle on industry awareness and visibility. 

Crises are, by nature, horrible events. Oftentimes, they also bring out the best in people and companies. Living in Northwest Florida (aka Hurricane Alley), emergency preparedness is simply a way of life for most people here. While it is a very nice place to live, people understand that living on or near the water is truly a gamble in that their belongings may one day be destroyed by a storm. Past tragedies of hurricanes and the BP oil spill have well prepared LandrumHR for various crises going forward, including the recent COVID-19 crisis.

The workforce is returning to the workplace. Public health questions loom large, generally speaking. For PEOs and their clients, there are major legal risk management issues. Employees will file workers’ compensation claims based on COVID-19 diagnoses. In some jurisdictions, COVID-19 is presumed to be a work-related illness. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will scrutinize return-to-work safety due diligence and will issue citations. Employees may use such safety violations to pursue enhanced workers’ compensation penalties. Creative plaintiffs’ lawyers will search for loopholes to file civil lawsuits against employers for inadequate safety measures. It will be a feeding frenzy.

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in mid-March, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., reacted by passing two significant pieces of legislation that have profound impact on PEOs. As PEOs continue working with clients to ensure compliance with the new leave requirements and help clients understand the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), it’s worth taking a step back to look at the changes to federal law these two significant bills made.  

• The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) temporarily expands paid sick, family, and medical leave requirements for the employees of small businesses. 
• The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act authorizes $350 billion worth of emergency loans to small businesses. 

There is no easy approach to selling a business and no two transactions are ever the same. Buyer appetites, legal frameworks, industry cycles, and macroeconomic conditions are in constant flux, making the idea of selling a daunting one. The silver lining: Successful transactions happen all the time, provided sellers take the necessary steps to prepare early and prepare well. Preparing involves mental preparation as well as a functional preparedness. The functional preparedness is a form of seller due diligence, asking yourself the tough questions that a buyer might ask, and then being prepared to support your answers. Let’s explore the process.

Enjoy the impact of the economic tailwinds of the current U.S. economy. However, as a warning, do not become complacent in good times. The fissures of structural, process, and management weaknesses can be invisible and hidden during times of prosperity, but can rear their ugly heads during more turbulent times and economic downturns.