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  • What would you say if a prospective employer offered you perks like free catered meals, free fitness classes, tuition reimbursement, unlimited vacation days, and– for the expectant parents out there– four months of paid parental leave? 

    You might be tempted to rip the contract out of his or her hand and sign it on the spot—right?

    Well, we didn’t make those up. Practical benefits like these are real, and some are being implemented at companies that constantly rank at the top of employee satisfaction lists.

    So what does this mean for you as an employer? 

    In order to attract and retain the best employees, you should offer competitive compensation, medical benefits, and 401K options that are consistent with your industry and location. Prospective employees will take these more practical benefits into consideration.  

    We know most companies won’t be able to afford perks like the big tech giants in California, but here are four ways you could make life a little easier and more enjoyable for your employees. 

    Four Affordable Perks for your Small Business to Attract & Maintain the Best Employees

    1. Flexible work schedules

    More and more, work and life seem to be connected outside of the working environment. Establish guidelines that allow employees to work from home or in the evening if they have something to go to, like a parent teacher conference. 

    Or, consider flexible work hours. If getting to work earlier and leaving earlier makes sense for the family schedule, commuting, or other reasons and doesn’t conflict with business operations, then maybe this is something for you to consider. 

    Showing flexibility and empathy for employees by allowing flexible schedule will help build a stronger bond, making your company more attractive as a potential employer. It also helps promote a healthy work-life balance, and help make employees’ lives a little easier knowing they have this flexibility. Who wouldn’t want to work for a company that is trying to make life a little easier? 

    2. Pet-Friendly Workspace

    This one is not for everyone. But if it fits with your company, try allowing pets on specific days (maybe once a month, or once a year to start) to make employees feel more comfortable. Take Your Dog to Work Day is a national event and they talk about building codes, liability issues, and employees’ allergies or phobias to consider before adopting this perk. 

    There are many other articles about how to make a workplace pet friendly and tips on creating a dog-friendly workplace.

    Boss need convincing? Share these three benefits of pets in the workplace from PetMD: 

    Pets in the workspace:

    1. Help reduce stress
    2. Encourage longer work hours
    3. Increase camaraderie

    3. Free snacks

    While most companies won’t be able to cater every meal like some of the big tech giants, providing coffee & tea, healthy snacks to share, and maybe breakfast every once in a while will help boost morale and keep your employees focused. 

    4. Lunch-time yoga & Running groups 

    Investing in employee preventative health efforts could help lower healthcare premiums down the road. Depending on your workspace, you could look into hiring in a lunch-time yoga instructor, or massage therapist to help reduce employee stress levels. Or, for the more active employee, look into hosting a running group, training for a charity race, or getting your company involved in a sports league. These activities get people active and also encourage team building outside the workplace. 
     
    Practical benefits like these can help give you the edge when a prospective employee compares job offers in a similar market, and they show you care about the well-being of your employees. 
     
    What other affordable perks would attract new employees? Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

  • There are a lot of factors that go into determining what your business’s workers’ compensation rates will be. But the simple truth is this: the more claims your employees file, the higher your rate will be.

    Fortunately, there are two strategies you can follow that will limit the amount of time and money you spend dealing with workers’ compensation claims.

    Loss Prevention Strategies

    They say that prevention is the best medicine. That holds true for workers’ compensation management, too!  Here’s a quick list of actions that you can take to reduce the risk of workplace injuries, and, therefore, claims:

    Provide safety training programs

    • Create employee safety manuals
    • Clearly establish workplace safety guidelines
    • Undergo regular workplace inspections
    • Implement drug-free and drug–testing programs
    • Implement  injury reporting procedures

    Cost Containment Strategies

    In the State of Ohio, if a company has a better safety record than the average company of  their industry,  the company may qualify for what’s called a group rating program.

    In essence, all this does is gives a group of companies with good safety records the opportunity to qualify for workers’ compensation rate discounts. In some cases, companies can qualify for discounts of 50% with the group rating program.

    If you’re not taking advantage of these strategies, the time to start is now. And if you’re not sure where to begin, give us a call at 330-659-0100 today.

  • You’re looking to hire a new candidate or thinking about promoting an employee from within your company.

    But before you take a step further you want to run a background check. What are the legal requirements and information you need to be aware of as an employer before you start this process? We do our best to give you an overview on the process below.

    Information requested for a background check depends on the employer and the job involved. For some jobs, a state or federal law requires the employer to conduct a background check. Working with children, the elderly, or people with disabilities are examples of jobs that require a criminal background check. 

    What information is included in a background check? 

    Many of the sources for a background check are public records created by government agencies. However, the detail of a background check can vary from a simple verification of an applicant’s Social Security number to a detailed account of the potential employee’s history and acquaintances. 

    Some information that may be included in a background check are

    • Driving records
    • Vehicle registration
    • Credit records
    • Criminal records
    • Social Security number
    • Education records
    • Court records
    • Bankruptcy
    • Character references
    • Neighbor interviews
    • Medical records
    • Property ownership
    • Military records
    • State licensing records
    • Drug test records
    • Past employers
    • Personal references
    • Incarceration records
    • Sex offender lists 

    What information cannot be included in a background check?

    According to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which sets national standards for employment screening, the following information cannot be reported*

    After 7 years: 

    • Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest, from date of entry
    • Paid tax liens 
    • Accounts placed for collection 
    • Any other negative information (except criminal convictions) 

    After 10 years:

    • Bankruptcies
    *However, the above reporting restrictions do not apply to jobs with an annual salary of $75,000 or more a year (FCRA §605(b)(3)).
     

    What effect has social media had on background checks?

    Have you “Googled” yourself lately? If you haven’t, give it a try. Type your name in quotation marks in a couple of the major search engines and see what comes up.

    In this information rich age, it’s more and more likely that employers will conduct this same search prior to bringing on a new hire. Some employers will even search social networking sites, like Facebook, for the profiles of applicants. This means an employee’s online reputation can be a factor in swaying the hiring decision– whether people are aware of it or not. 

    So, we encourage everyone (employees and employers) to be aware of what they are putting out on the internet. Imagine your future employer, future employee, best friend or boss viewing the content- what would they think?  

    What must employers do to be in compliance before requesting a background check? 

    Before you get a background check you must:

    • Tell the applicant or employee
    • Get written permission from the applicant or employee
    • Certify compliance to the company from which you are getting the applicant or employee’s information. 
     
    For more detailed information before using a background check (also known as a “consumer report”), review this helpful information from the Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Employers Need to Know.
     
    As you can see, it isn’t as simple as just “running a background check”. The process can be more complex and confusing than many employers realize. 
     
    If you outsource your human resources functions to GMS, we can easily manage the background check process (and many other services) for you. Then you can spend more time running your business instead of sorting through legal documents about background checks. Contact us if this sounds like a good plan. 
     
    Happy recruiting!
     

  • Ahhhh—feel the ocean breeze blowing through your hair, your toes digging into the sand, and the cool drink in your hand. Your computer is nowhere in sight. That’s right, you’re on vacation!

    As an employee, taking time off is important. It keeps you focused, gives you a break and lets you spend some quality time with your family or friends. As a company, administering a paid time off (PTO) policy is also important, and much less relaxing than taking the time off. 

    With traditional PTO and sick time plans, your company is trying define and limit the liability of paying an employee for time they didn’t work. Sounds simple. 

    But how do you keep track of it all? Without a streamlined system it can be easy to miscalculate PTO for your employees. Miscalculations mean lost money for your company. According to a 2010 survey by Kronos conducted with Mercer, poorly planned absences cost U.S. organizations over 8% of their payroll each year.

    GMS PEO services can help effectively manage PTO for your compnay company. Go ahead, take a vacation! “Walking in sugary white sand on #AmericasBestBeaches” by Visit St.Pete/Clearwater is licensed under CC BY 2.0

    What can your business do to effectively manage PTO?

    Maybe you’ve seen that some companies offer unlimited vacation days, or an “open” vacation policy. This may be an option for some companies, but it requires a high level of trust and accountability between employees and managers, and would still require planning for coverage of the absent employee. It also brings into question state requirements about reimbursement for unused PTO if an employee were to leave a company. This clearly isn’t a solution for everyone. 

    A better option is to look to a professional employer organization (PEO) to outsource human resource (HR) functions, including management of PTO. 

    Online HR Portal Available 24/7 

    If you’re nervous that outsourcing HR functions like PTO means you have less control over your business, you’re not alone. In reality, though, the opposite is true. GMS actually gives you stronger control. 

    How? We store all the information that you and your employees need so you can have a centralized place to measure, track and review critical HR information 24 hours a day, including, but not limited to:

    • Time off requests
    • Performance reviews
    • Job descriptions
    • Employee handbooks
    • Company communication
    Talk with GMS to learn more. Once we’ve had the chance to talk, we’re pretty sure the only question you’ll have is what you can do with time you used to spend keeping track of your employees’ PTO.
     
    We suggest taking a vacation—you deserve it.

    Photo Credit: ““Walking in sugary white sand on #AmericasBestBeaches” by Visit St.Pete/Clearwater is licensed under CC BY 2.0

  • What would you say if a prospective employer offered you perks like free catered meals, free fitness classes, tuition reimbursement, unlimited vacation days, and– for the expectant parents out there– four months of paid parental leave? 

    You might be tempted to rip the contract out of his or her hand and sign it on the spot—right?

    Well, we didn’t make those up. Practical benefits like these are real, and some are being implemented at companies that constantly rank at the top of employee satisfaction lists.

     

    Pet friendly workplaces have lower stress, encouage longer hours, and build office camraderie. Photo of dog in office. “Office dog” by seanhagen is licensed under CC BY 2.0

    So what does this mean for you as an employer? 

    In order to attract and retain the best employees, you should offer competitive compensation, medical benefits, and 401K options that are consistent with your industry and location. Prospective employees will take these more practical benefits into consideration.  

    We know most companies won’t be able to afford perks like the big tech giants in California, but here are four ways you could make life a little easier and more enjoyable for your employees. 

    Four Affordable Perks for your Small Business to Attract & Maintain the Best Employees

    1. Flexible work schedules

    More and more, work and life seem to be connected outside of the working environment. Establish guidelines that allow employees to work from home or in the evening if they have something to go to, like a parent teacher conference. 

    Or, consider flexible work hours. If getting to work earlier and leaving earlier makes sense for the family schedule, commuting, or other reasons and doesn’t conflict with business operations, then maybe this is something for you to consider. 

    Showing flexibility and empathy for employees by allowing flexible schedule will help build a stronger bond, making your company more attractive as a potential employer. It also helps promote a healthy work-life balance, and help make employees’ lives a little easier knowing they have this flexibility. Who wouldn’t want to work for a company that is trying to make life a little easier? 

    2. Pet-Friendly Workspace

    This one is not for everyone. But if it fits with your company, try allowing pets on specific days (maybe once a month, or once a year to start) to make employees feel more comfortable. Take Your Dog to Work Day is a national event and they talk about building codes, liability issues, and employees’ allergies or phobias to consider before adopting this perk. 

    There are many other articles about how to make a workplace pet friendly and tips on creating a dog-friendly workplace.

    Boss need convincing? Share these three benefits of pets in the workplace from PetMD: 

    Pets in the workspace:

    1. Help reduce stress
    2. Encourage longer work hours
    3. Increase camaraderie

    3. Free snacks

    While most companies won’t be able to cater every meal like some of the big tech giants, providing coffee & tea, healthy snacks to share, and maybe breakfast every once in a while will help boost morale and keep your employees focused. 

    4. Lunch-time yoga & Running groups

     
    Investing in employee preventative health efforts could help lower healthcare premiums down the road. Depending on your workspace, you could look into hiring in a lunch-time yoga instructor, or massage therapist to help reduce employee stress levels. Or, for the more active employee, look into hosting a running group, training for a charity race, or getting your company involved in a sports league. These activities get people active and also encourage team building outside the workplace. 
     
    Practical benefits like these can help give you the edge when a prospective employee compares job offers in a similar market, and they show you care about the well-being of your employees. 
     
    What other affordable perks would attract new employees? Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

    Photo Credit: “Office Dog” by seanhagen is licensed under CC BY 2.0

  • There are a lot of factors that go into determining what your business’s workers’ compensation rates will be. But the simple truth is this: the more claims your employees file, the higher your rate will be.

    Fortunately, there are two strategies you can follow that will limit the amount of time and money you spend dealing with workers’ compensation claims.

     Protect yourself from worker’s compensation issues with Group Management Services.

    Loss Prevention Strategies

    They say that prevention is the best medicine. That holds true for workers’ compensation management, too!  Here’s a quick list of actions that you can take to reduce the risk of workplace injuries, and, therefore, claims:

    Provide safety training programs

    • Create employee safety manuals
    • Clearly establish workplace safety guidelines
    • Undergo regular workplace inspections
    • Implement drug-free and drug–testing programs
    • Implement  injury reporting procedures

    Cost Containment Strategies

    In the State of Ohio, if a company has a better safety record than the average company of  their industry,  the company may qualify for what’s called a group rating program.

    In essence, all this does is gives a group of companies with good safety records the opportunity to qualify for workers’ compensation rate discounts. In some cases, companies can qualify for discounts of 50% with the group rating program.

    If you’re not taking advantage of these strategies, the time to start is now. And if you’re not sure where to begin, give us a call at 330-659-0100 today.

  • Imagine you’re the CEO of a company with 49 employees. You’re currently covered through a fully insured health plan, but are considering switching to a self-insured group plan due to the potential premium increases resulting from the Affordable Care Act.  

    All of the companies you know with self-funded plans are larger companies (250+employees), so you aren’t sure if this is the right solution for you. You’re also concerned that since you would pay self-insurance claims directly, your company could be liable for a major claim if an employee has a serious health issue. 

    What do you think – what would you do in this situation? Before you make a decision, consider the following key points. 

    What happens when you have a major claim on a self-insured policy?

    The answer depends on the stop-loss insurance coverage.

    How Stop-Loss Protects you From Major Unforeseen Claims 

    • Stop-loss insurance protects you from higher-than expected claim totals. If your group’s claim amount exceeds the self-funded limit, the stop-loss insurance provider will  pays the difference.

    How Third Party Administrators (TPAs) Can Help

    • Reduce administrative tasks – TPAs administer the health plan by processing the claims, issuing ID cards,  and dealing with customer questions
    • Offer stop-loss with self-funded plans

    Benefits of TPA Self-Funded Health Plans with GMS 

    Creative, custom-tailored solutions for your employees 

    • Only pay for what you need – pay a specific amount into a claims fund each month
    • Stop-loss insurance included – you won’t have unexpected expenses in the event of a major claim 
    • One bill – streamline billing makes payments easy
    Ok, so go back to the beginning and imagine you are that business owner again. 
     
    Would you feel more comfortable making a decision with this information on TPAs and self-funded plans? Hopefully you’ll see that this option is not just for large companies—that this could be a time and money saving option for your company, too. 
     
    If you’re interested in learning more about how GMS can help save your real company time and money with TPA services, let us know. We’re always here!

  • According to the Association for Talent Development’s 2014 State of the Industry Report, organizations spend an average of $1,208 per employee on training and development. For companies with fewer than 500 workers, that number is even higher, coming in at $1,888 per employee.

    But time is money. According to that same study, companies are spending an average of 31.5 hours per year training employees. That’s time you aren’t billing to an account or turning prospects into clients.

    Learn how GMS can make human resurce functions like employee training more efficient.

    Training Doesn’t Have To Be Draining

    There are many reasons why companies fail their training process. They have complicated or incomplete training materials. They don’t foster enough participation with trainees. They don’t bring in different trainers to keep things fresh. They don’t set clearly defined expectations for new hires. The list goes on.

    No matter the reason, lack of time is perhaps the most common reason why training programs fail. If you try to do it all alone, you simply don’t have the time you need to build a strong training program.

    Which is exactly how a Professional Employer Organization can help. PEOs tackle the details of employee training, including:

    • Determine training needs based on company and industry needs
    • Develop and execute wide range of HR training via in person training and webinars
    • Track and monitor employee progress through customized training program
    • Recommend training if/when HR issues arise

    This not only improves your onboarding and training processes, it frees up your time to focus on other important business functions.

    Next Steps

    Bringing on new employees or improving your existing staff doesn’t have to be painful, inefficient, and costly. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.

  • Back in January, I wrote a blog post called “Are You a Union Shop? Are You Prepared to Be?” In it, I talked about how an NLRB ruling split 3-2 along party lines was making it easier for unions to unionize a place of employment.

    A PEO like GMS can help your company by creating an employee handbook.

    Well that time has  come. In a recent article posted online, the NFIB talks about how these new rules will “bring about “quickie” union elections in as few as 10 to 14 days. This change in election rules will make it much more difficult for employers to fight a union organizing campaign and far easier for unions to win. It also goes into some suggestions about things that employers can do to put themselves in a better defensive position should this happen to them.  

    Among the four things they listed, No. 3 struck me:

    Don’t be afraid to communicate with employees. Address your business’s labor relations philosophy in new hire orientation and in an employee handbook.

    An employee handbook? Really? Exactly!

    Over the last eight years, I have spoken with business owners in many different industries and varying sizes. Some have employee handbooks and are diligent in keeping them up to date. Some have them, but don’t update as frequently as they need to. Some have thought about it, but never got around to it. Some, incredulously, don’t have one because their attorney advised them years ago to not get one and put anything in writing.

    Well, with the ever-increasing employee-related costs of government compliancy, more and more business owners are starting to see the importance and value of having this very basic Human Resource tool in their company. A handbook is just a first step, albeit, a very good one.  

    If you need help in that area or in other areas related to human resources and/or are concerned with the future of your workforce, give us a call at 888-823-2084 or contact us online.

  • You have to make a lot of decisions when you own a business, and they’re not always easy. The decision to partner with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) to manage your payroll, human resources, risk management strategies, and benefits is a perfect example of this.

    Do your due diligence when selecting a PEO. Contact GMS with any questions you may have to help make your decision.

    What You Should Ask

    At GMS, we encourage you to do your research when it comes to deciding on whether you partner yourself with a PEO and, if you do, which organization you choose. There are some very important questions you should ask every PEO before you make the call, including:

    • Do you offer the range of services that will meet my needs?
    • How are your employee benefits funded?
    • Can you tailor your benefits packages to meet the needs of my employees?
    • Are you a member of NAPEO (National Association of Professional Employer Organizations)?
    • What is your client retention rate?
    • How many companies and employees do you currently represent?
    • What certifications or accreditations do your employees have?
    • Do you have any clients that are similar to my business?

    The answers you receive can let you know more about what that PEO can offer you and your company and make the decision process a lot easier.

    HR Management Through GMS

    At GMS, we strive to make your business simpler, safer, and stronger. Part of that process includes you making an educated decision that will benefit your organization, so contact us today to ask any of the aforementioned questions – or any others you may have in mind – and see if GMS is the PEO for you.