About 55% of brands around the world offer remote work opportunities.
Remote hiring provides the unique advantage of expanding into new territories. You’ll have access to worldwide talent without setting up physical offices. You’ll also get instant access to a greater pool of talent.
If you’re looking to adopt remote working strategies, you should consider hiring a PEO. PEOs have fine-tuned recruitment methods, which can fast-track the hiring process. Instead of hiring employees who don’t perform well or leave, you’ll only be working with quality candidates.
How exactly can a PEO help with hiring remote employees? Read on to find out.
What Is a PEO?
What exactly is a PEO? PEO is an acronym that stands for Professional Employer Organization. It’s a specialized service you can use to expand globally.
A PEO allows you to employ overseas without setting up an expensive legal entity. How exactly does it work? International employees will get to use the PEO as their employer of record.
The PEO would then function as the legal employer of your new employee. You’ll be able to turn international freelancers and consultants into effective teams of employees.
Streamlined Processes for Remote Hiring
Having a PEO means you’ll be able to leverage their expertise to create the best onboarding process possible. Your PEO will work directly with new hires to help acquaint them with their new rules and your corporate culture.
A robust onboarding process means that employees know what’s expected of them in the company. The more clear roles are, the better employee retention will be. Alternatively, a weak onboarding process can cause high employee turnover.
Luckily, the PEO can assist remote employees every step of the way. During the onboarding, PEOs help with filing paperwork, answering new hire questions, and beyond. Not only will your employees be happy, but it’ll be easier for you to guarantee legal compliance.
Paying Wages Overseas
As a business owner, you already have enough on your plate. The last thing you need to do is spend hours studying the different foreign payroll requirements for remote hires.
Thankfully, an experienced PEO will be able to make paying wages to oversea employees an easy task. You won’t have to worry about whether or not you’re complying with legal requirements for the different countries where your employees work.
Are you hiring US-based employees? During the remote hiring process, your PEO will handle workers’ compensation, federal withholding tax, payroll requirements, etc.
Many business owners choose to have a global PEO employee and pay their workforce as their own. Since the PEO understands all compliance requirements and diversity obligations, your employees will get precisely what they need. The PEO can even assist with creating salary structures and regulating the benefits that you offer.
Free Up Your Internal HR Team
A PEO isn’t going to replace your internal HR team. Instead, they’re going to free up their time so that your HR department can focus on strategic initiatives. For instance, instead of worrying about onboarding remote hires, your HR department will get to focus on building a unique company culture that retains top talent.
Unlike an HR team, where you’ll pay its annual salary, your PEO will use a unique pricing structure. Typically PEOs use a fixed monthly fee per employee. However, there are situations where PEOs will use a percentage of the payroll plus applicable taxes, employer practice liability insurance, and workers’ compensation.
Keep in mind that both the fixed monthly fee and the percentage payment plan come with setup charges and administrative fees. Make sure you fully understand the contract before working with the PEO.
Get the Best Employee Practices Liability Insurance
In addition to helping out with human resources, some PEOs even offer employment practices liability insurance. Employment practices liability insurance or EPLI provides business clients with coverages for claims brought against them by employees.
If an employee decides to sue an employer for some wrongful employment act, EPLI can help protect the business. Examples of wrongful employment acts include harassment, discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, and other workplace grievances.
When you’re getting EPLI Insurance offered through your PEO, request a copy of the policy as soon as possible. Take your time and evaluate the key terms to assess whether the policy will sufficiently cover all of your needs.
The best PEOs will have insurance policies that go beyond generic coverages. If you wind up canceling your partnership with the PEO, your EPLI insurance will likely cancel.
Legal Compliance for Drug Testing Programs
Are you familiar with all of the different types of drug tests available to employers? If your new hires have to undergo drug testing after a conditional offer of employment, a PEO can help make things easier. The PEO can decide what type of testing would be best for the filled position.
Even if you don’t live in a state where you’re legally required to drug test employees, it can still be a good idea to implement an effective program. Having a strong drug testing program can help create a safer work environment that’s also more productive.
Unfortunately, many employers make mistakes when they try to implement a new program. A lack of clearly defined rules or legal compliance can cause problems. Other issues include non-comprehensive drug screenings and poor test choices.
Thankfully, you’ll be able to leverage your PEOs expertise to find out the best way to implement a new program. You won’t have to worry about accidentally evading any laws since your PEO will be an expert at legal compliance.
Implement a Smooth Onboarding Process
It’s clear that you’ll save time and money on remote hiring when you hire a PEO. You’ll also get access to a greater pool of talent to create an unstoppable workforce.
At Bradford Jacobs, it’s our vision to create a world of opportunities without any limitations. We’re committed to helping business owners expand globally with the world’s top talent.
Are you ready to change the way you’re organization does business? We’d be happy to help you explore your options. Reach out to us today by email or phone to get started.
