News
Benefits of Outsourcing Payroll
More Beans for the Bean Counters that Outsource! The catalyst for outsourcing payroll, tax or HR services is usually cost containment. Reduction of cost without sacrifice of quality is paramount. Therefore, when considering outsourcing, vendor choice is critical. After finding a vendor that meets basic payroll production, consider identifying vendors that might have additional payroll or HR products. Info-Tech Research Group recently conducted a study that found many companies actually outsource to gain access to the specialized skill set that the outsourcing company provides. Rather than depend on employees who have expertise in a different field, companies choose [...]
Stay Competitive – Plan For Payroll Increases
According to the business consulting firm Mercer, 98 percent of the 1500 employers included on a recent survey plan to increase employee pay in 2013. Salary increases are expected to be up by 2.9 percent, an increase from 2011 and 2010. CNN Money reports that pay raises will not, however, be uniform across the board. Workers designated as top performers are expected to get larger compensation increases than average workers. Some top workers can expect increases as high as 4.5 percent while average workers, approximately 54 percent of the workforce, can expect to see a more modest 2.4 percent increase [...]
Employee Vacation Time Can Add Value to a Company’s Business
It's the peak of the vacation season. And while many employees are taking time off their jobs to rest, relax and recharge, that time away is adding value to their employer's business. According to the Austin (Texas) Business Journal, one dollar's investment in employer-sponsored vacation benefits yields a $3 return in improved productivity and morale. And, in his book "Go Away: Just for the Health of It," Dr. Mel Byrns says that for every dollar that companies get back in vacation time not taken, they lose as much as $7 in costs related to employee burnout. More than 30 percent of [...]
Workers’ Comp Alert!
Worker's Comp Alert!A new North Carolina law allows lawmakers to potentially incarcerate employers for failure to provide workers' compensation! State lawmakers' have approved HB 237 which requires the state Industrial Commission to capture all information from the North Carolina Rate Bureau, which records insurance information on employers. The Industrial Commission insures that employers have coverage and resolves workers' claims. The new bill allows non-compliant employers to be pursued and may even allow penalties for non-compliance to include incarceration. The bill has been passed after recent criticism over lax efforts by the state to insure employers provide insurance, medical care and [...]
A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name
A few years back Suzie Crage of Stanley Labs' Human Resources Department was working with a large corporate provider to handle Stanley's outsourced payroll management. The company was supposed to be great at what they did; they had a great reputation and had promised Crage the moon. And Stanley was paying top dollar for the services. Then one afternoon Crage got a batch of bad paychecks. "There's nothing worse than a mistake in a paycheck. You don't want an employee with an incorrect check," says Crage. In payroll "accuracy is number one." Crage was familiar with DirectPay Payroll and she [...]
Back to the Basics With Expert Outsourcing
Business owners may view performing day-to-day operations as simply a headache. The truth is that the time required to manage business operations may actually damage the viability of the business. Business management sometimes becomes an overwhelming task that can strangle the original vision of a company by consuming the time, energy and talent of the management and staff. Focus on the basics should be the mission of all companies and employees. A focus on day-to-day business management sometimes pulls talented professionals away from not only targeting foundational abilities, but from building on them and staying current within their field. Leaders [...]