PEO: Who is in control?
Many business owners look at a PEO with a critical eye and one great question: who is in control of my business? When employing a PEO, both they and the business owner will share some responsibilities, and have some responsibilities that they keep separate. Of course, the owner will manage the day to day actions of the employees, while the employee leasing company will control some specific responsibilities and assume specific liabilities. The business continues to handle the day-to-day activities of the employees, such as hiring, firing, scheduling, training, delegating, setting rates of pay, etc. The final answer is that the business owner runs the business, while the Professional Employer Organization assists with employee based administrative areas.
PEO control: an example
For example, say you have an employee with a payroll complaint. Instead of taking up your time, the employee would contact the payroll department at the employee leasing agency and handle it from there. As long as you reported the hours and rate correctly to the PEO, you will not be bothered with the complaint. The company will not interfere in your day to day operations; they will not tell you who to hire and who to fire and they will not create schedules for you, they are there to manage your employee related laws, paperwork, complaints and compliances and to make your life a little bit easier.
To sum up this section, the bottom line is that the owner keeps control of the business. A PEO is a resource, not a boss, looking to help your business work well.
