Human resources (HR) outsourcing is the delegation of specific HR functions and activities to an external provider. The best HR outsourcing services for small business owners provide several benefits, such as better HR processes, improved compliance, and cost savings from not having to directly hire an HR manager.
For this guide, I reviewed seven companies that offer HR services to small business owners looking to outsource HR administration. Then, I narrowed the list down to my top five recommendations.
- Justworks: Best overall HR outsourcing service
- Deel: Best for growing companies with plans to go global
- Bambee: Best for new businesses
- Rippling: Best for flexibility
- ADP: Best for service option variety
Since Our Last Update: TriNet didn’t make the list for this update because of the new rubric I used to assess human resources outsourcing services and changes to its pricing schedule. While you need to call TriNet to get a quote for its professional employer organization (PEO) solution, the fees for its all-in-one TriNet HR Platform and HR Plus outsourcing services add-ons are published on its website. Unfortunately, these pricing details are no longer listed—which pulled TriNet’s overall score down.
However, if you’re looking for a customizable co-employment service that helps manage your day-to-day HR, payroll, and benefits, consider TriNet PEO. It can create a custom plan based on your business and industry needs. To learn more, visit TriNet or read our TriNet review.
The Fit Small Business editorial process follows strict standards to ensure that our best answers are founded on the basis of accuracy, clarity, authority, objectivity, and accessibility.
With over five years of experience evaluating HR systems and services, I am deeply familiar with the HR software and outsourcing needs of business owners. I also have 10 years of expertise in handling HR processes and using HR systems.
To evaluate the best HR consulting services for small business owners, I compared seven providers across 49 data points, prioritizing functionality, ease of use, and value for money. See my full methodology below.
Top HR Outsourcing Services Compared
Expert Score (out of 5) | Starter Monthly Pricing | Standout Features | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | 3.82 | $59 per employee |
|
 | 3.62 | $89 per employee |
|
 | 3.54 | $99 per month |
|
 | 3.52 | Call for a quote |
|
 | Call for a quote | Highly experienced PEO |
|
*An Employer of Record (EOR) is an HR service that allows you to hire and pay workers in countries outside of the US. To learn more about what it can do for your company, check out our EOR guide. | |||
Justworks: Best Overall HR Outsourcing Service
Pros
- Enterprise-level benefits from major insurance companies + 401(k); includes access to wellness perks
- IRS- and ESAC-certified PEO services
- User-friendly interface
- Offers add-on modules for EOR, international contractor payments, and time tracking
- Has a standalone payroll plan
Cons
- HR outsourcing services don’t include managing performance reviews
- PEO plans have preset payout schedules for hourly and non-exempt salaried employees (set every other Friday)
- Access to medical, dental, and vision insurance + COBRA administration reserved only for PEO Plus plan
Overview
Who should use it:
Justworks is excellent for small companies looking for a reasonably priced PEO to outsource HR administrative tasks. In addition to full-service payroll, benefits management, and compliance support, it provides access to wellness perks (like fitness memberships) and enterprise-level benefits plans (such as medical, vision, and dental insurance) at affordable rates.
Why I like it:
What I like most about Justworks is its transparent pricing. While other PEOs and HR outsourcing companies require you to call them for a quote, you can easily find pricing information on Justworks’s website—making it easy to manage and create payroll budgets. It provides unlimited payroll, which means off-cycle payruns come at no extra cost. This is unlike ADP, which charges you for every pay run.
I appreciate its affordability, reliable benefits and payroll outsourcing services, easy-to-access customer support team, and user-friendly HR platform. Justworks, which also made my list of the best payroll services for small businesses, even ensures that you are covered and in compliance with workers’ compensation, ACA filings, and state unemployment insurance.
These features contributed to Justworks’s overall score of 3.82 out of 5. While it offers HR advisory services and keeps you up-to-date with labor law changes, Justworks scored the lowest in general HR outsourcing services. For example, it doesn’t assist with HR audits as Bambee does. It also doesn’t offer hiring services like ADP—unless, you get Justworks EOR, although this service covers global recruiting and payroll As of this writing, Justworks EOR is available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. .
- Payroll: $50 per month base fee + $8 per employee, per month
- PEO Basic: $59 per employee, per month
- PEO Plus: $109 per employee, per month
Add-on
- Justworks Time Tracking: $8 per employee, per month*
- International Contractor Payments: $39 per paid contractor, per month*
- Employer of Record (EOR): $599 per employee, per month**
- Justworks Payroll + Health Insurance: $8 per benefits-eligible employee, per month***
*Available in Payroll, Basic, and Plus plans
**Available in Basic and Plus plans only
***Available in Payroll plan only
- Low-cost PEO: Justworks’ affordable PEO plans are just one of the things that I appreciate about this provider. Its starter tier is less expensive than Bambee’s—$59 vs. $99 monthly—and it has features that Bambee doesn’t offer, such as employee benefits and vendor payments. Plus, Justworks PEO is IRS- and ESAC-certified, which is considered a gold standard in the PEO industry.
- Customer support: In addition to dedicated support and HR advisory services, Justworks provides 24/7 customer service to its clients. Its team of HR experts can help you set up benefits plans, run payroll, and update your company information in its system. Justworks also offers multiple ways to contact its support team—via phone, email, chat, Slack, and SMS.
- Contractor and vendor payments: While Justworks can handle payments for hourly and salaried employees with ease, it also supports payouts for vendors and contractors. Apart from unlimited and automated pay runs, its payroll solution seamlessly syncs with its time tracking tool, provided you get the Justworks time tracking add-on, so you can easily capture the actual number of hours that your employees worked in a payroll period.
You can input payment details one vendor at a time, but Justworks also supports bulk payment data uploads via CSV files. (Source: Justworks)
Deel: Best for Growing Companies with Plans to Go Global
Pros
- Offers EOR, global and US payroll, and US PEO services
- Assigns a dedicated onboarding manager to new clients
- Free access to its global HR information system, Deel HR
Cons
- Some of Deel’s PEO services, such as state tax registration, are through its partner provider, VensureHR
- On-demand payroll and off-cycle payments cost extra for PEO clients
- Can get pricey, depending on the number of modules you get
Overview
Who should use it:
Deel’s US and global human resources outsourcing services make it a good option for companies with plans to grow a global workforce. You can start with its US Payroll or PEO service to help you manage US workers and then transition to its global payroll or EOR solution once you’re ready to pay and hire international employees. Best of all, its EOR service is available in more than 150 countries—higher than Rippling’s and Justworks’s EOR coverage (140-plus and 12 countries, respectively).
Why I like it:
Unlike the other providers on my list of the best HR outsourcing services for small business owners, Deel specializes in global payroll and recruiting. With it, you won’t need to set up local entities in the countries you’re expanding to just to recruit and pay workers legally—Deel will handle hiring, onboarding, pay processing, and local compliance for you.
Rippling and Justworks also have EOR services, but Deel released its EOR product a few years before both providers—making it slightly more experienced in handling the complexities of paying global employees. Similar to Rippling, Deel allows you to deploy computer units and manage company software access through its IT tools.
What’s great about Deel is that it also has a PEO product to meet the HR outsourcing needs of US companies. It handles day-to-day HR tasks for you, such as new hire onboarding, paid time off (PTO) tracking, benefits administration, payroll, and compliance management. It can even help prepare separation and severance agreements if you need to offboard workers.
In my evaluation, Deel scored an overall rating of 3.62 out of 5 because of its wide range of HR tools and services, scalable global platform, and transparent pricing. However, unlike Rippling, you can’t easily switch from its PEO product to its US payroll tool. Deel also lacks the decades of PEO expertise that ADP offers with its ADP TotalSource product.
- Deel HR: Free; includes tools for managing staff information, documents, onboarding, time-off, and expense claims
- Deel US PEO: Starts at $89 per employee, per month
- Deel US Payroll: Starts at $19 per employee, per month
- Deel EOR: Starts at $599 per employee, per month
- Deel Contractor: Starts at $49 per worker, per month; includes tools to manage and pay global contract workers
- Deel Payroll: Starts at $29 per employee, per month; includes tools to pay international employees
Add ons
- Deel Engage: Starts at $20 per employee, per month; includes tools and HR Slack plugins to help with career pathing, performance and learning management, and staff surveys
- Deel IT: Starts at $99 per employee, per month; includes device and app management features
- Deel Immigration: Call for quote; includes immigration and visa assistance in over 40 countries
- On-demand payments and off-cycle payouts: $29 per employee; for PEO clients only
- HR support: You can get support from over 200 local HR, payroll, and legal experts in more than 150 countries. In addition to providing expert advice, they constantly review and update HR documents, such as employment agreements, to ensure you remain compliant with local labor laws. Deel also alerts you of changes to employment- and payroll-related regulations that may impact your business.
- Multiple payment options: Deel’s payroll outsourcing services allow you to pay global workers in over 120 currencies. It supports 15 payment options, such as via PayPal, Payoneer, Wise, Coinbase, direct deposits for US payroll, and a Deel contractor card for international contract workers.
- Free HR resources: Deel’s HR consulting services for small business owners include a wide range of free HR resources, such as international hiring guides, global salary insights, and various HR templates. It also has a global benefits tool to help you identify the best benefits package and an employee cost calculator that estimates potential labor costs for hiring an international worker.
Deel has over 50 HR templates and more than 70 HR guides you can download for free. (Source: Deel)
Bambee: Best for New Businesses
Pros
- Has a reasonably priced starter plan
- Offers a dedicated HR manager
- Conducts annual and comprehensive HR audits
Cons
- Starter tier only comes with email and chat support
- Charges setup fees for higher plans
- Guided payroll solution is a paid add-on
Overview
Who should use it:
If you’re a new employer or plan to start a business, Bambee offers the best HR outsourcing services to help you set up HR processes without hiring HR staff. It assigns a dedicated HR manager who can identify your HR gaps and build the core policies needed so you can compliantly recruit employees and train new staff.
Why I like it:
Bambee can help you navigate the intricacies of handling HR and managing employees, from onboarding to conflict resolutions and terminations. I like that its starter plan is geared toward businesses that have yet to hire workers. It gives you access to an outsourced HR manager who can help you get started, at a lower monthly fee (only $99) than hiring and paying an in-house HR manager.
You also get a cloud-based platform to help you track HR documents, staff performance, and training certifications. Its Employee Voices tool even provides workers with an online space to share their concerns, express appreciation, and raise workplace issues either anonymously or publicly. Take note, however, that it isn’t a confidential third-party hotline.
In my evaluation, I gave Bambee an overall score of 3.54 out of 5 mainly for its compliance support and reasonably-priced subscription tiers. However, while Bambee can help you pay employees, this service is a paid add-on. It also doesn’t help you manage benefits plans and find employees to hire like ADP. And if you have plans to grow globally, I recommend Deel, Rippling, and Justworks as all three have EOR services for recruiting and paying international workers.
- No Employees Yet: $99 per month; zero setup fees
- 1-4 employees: $299 monthly + a $500 setup fee
- 5-19 employees: $399 monthly + a $500 setup fee
- 20-49 employees: $499 monthly + a $1,500 setup fee
- 50-70 employees: $1,299 monthly + a $2,000 setup fee
- 71 and more employees: Call for a quote
Add on
- Guided payroll: Call for a quote
- Dedicated HR manager: Bambee’s dedicated HR manager provides expert guidance as you set up your HR policies and procedures. Your dedicated HR manager provides full remote support and coaching if you need assistance navigating a sensitive employee issue or if you want clarity on labor regulations. Bambee’s online system allows you to easily connect with your HR manager to raise requests (such as policy reviews) via chat or email. You also get phone support—provided you subscribe to its higher tiers.
- HR Autopilot and compliance support: Bambee’s HR autopilot solution helps ensure that your HR policies are up-to-date, signed by your employees, and reaffirmed twice a year. Plus, your workers’ attendance at mandatory training (such as workplace safety and sexual harassment sessions) will be tracked, and you’ll even be notified of your team’s progress.
- HR audits: Bambee conducts audits to help you identify HR gaps and formulate action plans to address the gaps. Its system even has an HR Compliance Score tool, providing an estimate of your HR’s general health (either excellent, good, or poor) based on the audit.
Bambee’s HR compliance rating provides you with an idea of where your business risk stands. (Source: Bambee)
Rippling: Best for Flexibility
Pros
- Modular HR, payroll, and IT solutions connect seamlessly with each other
- Users can easily switch its PEO solution on and off
- Integrates with over 500 third-party software
- Offers global payroll and EOR services
Cons
- Pricing isn’t fully transparent
- You can’t purchase other modules without buying the core Rippling Platform first
- Gets pricey as you add features
- Lacks phone support
Overview
Who should use it:
Rippling’s PEO is unique among other HR outsourcing companies for small business owners. If you’re looking for a flexible solution, Rippling allows you to turn its PEO off if you no longer require HR outsourcing help and then easily switch to using its HR platform. With other PEOs, you have to contact the support team for assistance.
Why I like it:
Rippling impressed me with its customizable workflows, extensive software integration options, and wide range of product offerings. It also ranks high on my list of the best HRIS for small businesses because of its all-in-one HR, expense management, and IT platform designed to streamline processes—from onboarding new hires to issuing company computers and paying workers.
You can choose the modules or features you want or sign up for its international payroll and EOR services if you need help with global hiring and pay processing. If you simply want to outsource day-to-day HR tasks, its US PEO solution helps manage your HR processes while ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local labor regulations.
These functionalities contributed to Rippling’s overall rating of 3.52 out of 5. Similar to ADP TotalSource, Deel, and Justworks, you are granted access to Fortune 500-level benefits plans like medical, dental, and vision insurance. Commuter benefits are also included, as are EPLI coverage and ACA/COBRA administration. However, it lacks the dedicated HR consultant that Bambee offers—Rippling only provides HR advisory services.
Rippling doesn’t publish its pricing information on its website. You have to call its sales team to discuss your business requirements. Rippling works with you to create a custom plan with the features and services you want.
However, you must purchase its core Rippling Platform before selecting the HR, payroll, benefits, expense management, IT, and HR outsourcing services you need. It contains all the essential functionalities for automating workforce operations, storing employee staff, customizing workflows, generating reports, and managing user permissions.
- Flexible PEO: You can easily turn Rippling PEO off if you no longer need its PEO services and then start using its HR platform. This is unlike ADP TotalSource, Deel, and Justworks, which don’t have a flexible PEO option.
- Administrative services offering (ASO): Rippling’s ASO is similar to its PEO solution but without the co-employment relationship. It also doesn’t provide access to employee benefits packages but works with your existing providers to help manage benefits and insurance claims. So, if you only need help managing and streamlining HR administrative processes, then an ASO arrangement may be right for you.
- Custom workflows: Rippling’s PEO services include access to its intuitive online platform, which comes with workflow automation tools to streamline a wide range of processes. You can create your own or use one of the templates on Rippling’s online library of workflows.
- Compliance tools: Rippling automatically manages your tax accounts and filings, including other compliance requirements like new hire state reporting. It alerts you of local, regional, and national infractions, and provides recommendations on how to address these issues. You can even use its workflow automations to ensure that your employees comply with federal, state, and local requirements. For example, you can create a workflow that prevents new employees from clocking in if they have yet to complete the mandatory workplace safety training.
Rippling’s compliance dashboard shows the number of issues that are considered “low” to “very high” priority items, so you know which ones to tackle first. (Source: Rippling)
ADP: Best for Service Option Variety
Pros
- PEO service is IRS- and ESAC-certified
- 60 years of payroll and HR outsourcing experience
- Offers multiple HR outsourcing services, such as recruiting outsourcing, managed payroll services, and a managed human capital management (HCM) solution
Cons
- Pricing isn’t transparent
- Customer service isn’t always easy to contact
Overview
Who should use it:
ADP’s product portfolio includes a wide range of HR solutions and services designed to meet the various HR needs of small to large businesses. You can choose from several outsourcing solutions, such as hiring services, its ADP TotalSource PEO solution, and its ADP HCM Managed Services designed to help enterprises manage end-to-end HR processes.
Why I like it:
ADP’s PEO, ADP TotalSource, offers over 60 years of HR expertise and experience—more than the other PEOs on my list. If you just started a new company or have plans to expand operations, you can take advantage of the strategic HR guidance provided by ADP’s team of dedicated specialists. They will ensure you remain compliant with labor laws and regulations as you grow your business and workforce. Aside from expert HR support, you are also granted access to an online HR platform for tracking employee information, benefits, payroll, and more.
If you require hiring support, ADP offers recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) services to help you attract and hire qualified employees. If you’ve grown into a large business, you can sign up for its ADP HCM Managed Services, where ADP will handle HR admin tasks and optimize processes so you can spend more time tackling strategic projects to grow your company.
In my evaluation, ADP earned an overall rating of 3.52 out of 5 because of its feature-rich HR platform, solid HR support, and extensive portfolio of HR services. However, its HR software isn’t as comprehensive as Rippling, which includes IT tools to manage software access and company computers. While it offers global payroll solutions, it lacks the EOR service that Rippling, Justworks, and Deel offer.
Similar to Rippling, ADP doesn’t list its pricing information on its website. You have to call its sales team for a quote.
- Highly-experienced PEO: Rippling may have a flexible PEO but it doesn’t compare to the decades of HR and payroll expertise that ADP offers through its ADP TotalSource solution. It’s considered one of the most well-established PEOs in the industry. Similar to Justworks, its PEO service is also IRS- and ESAC-certified.
- Compliance and HR support: ADP HR experts have over 60 years of experience and can advise you on compliances in everything—from hiring to terminating employees. It can help you avoid potential legal issues, as it constantly tracks regulatory changes. It even provides legal assistance if an employee sues your company, provided you followed ADP’s recommended processes.
- On-demand payments: Deel and ADP are the only providers on my list with this feature, which enables your employees to access their earned wages in advance. This is great for workers who need money during personal emergencies. However, unlike ADP, Deel collects an add-on fee for this service—$29 per employee, as of this writing.
- RPO solution: In addition to helping you attract, find, and recruit employees, ADP will assist in creating a strategic recruiting plan to improve talent acquisition processes and the quality of hires. If you have in-house recruiters, ADP can help your team gain technical knowledge through training programs to boost their hiring capabilities.
ADP RPO includes access to AIRS, which has over 30 online workshops and learning sessions for hiring managers and recruiters. (Source: ADP)
How to Choose the Best HR Outsourcing Service
Finding the best outsourced HR services for small business owners can be challenging. There are many factors to consider, and service providers offer different HR outsourcing solutions. You should evaluate each provider based on the following criteria:
Key features: Look for the essential HR functionalities that your business needs. A good HR outsourcing service should include most, if not all, of the following features:
- Payroll processing
- Benefits administration
- HR management
- Legal compliance
- Policies and procedures
- Applicant tracking
- Performance management
- Reference and background screening
- Counseling services
Pricing: You need to weigh your budget against the features you most need from the service. How much you end up paying will depend on whether it is a flat fee for all functionalities or if you have to pay additional for each selected feature. Providers also follow different pricing matrices—from charging monthly per-employee fees to collecting a straight monthly price or billing per-hourly rates.
User feedback: One of the best ways to know if a software or service is right for you is to see what other people are saying about it. I recommend checking popular review sites like G2 or Capterra.
Ease of use: A user-friendly HR outsourcing system not only enhances user satisfaction but also positively impacts productivity. When a software is easy to use, you and your employees can quickly learn how to perform tasks and complete them efficiently. Furthermore, an intuitive interface reduces the time required for training new users, allowing you to onboard employees more seamlessly.
Type of HR outsourcing service: There are various types of HR services, and partnering with the right provider will make managing compliance and day-to-day HR administrative processes easy for you. Here are four common HR consulting services for small business owners.
- Individual HR consultant: An independent HR consultant is best for those wanting the benefit of working side-by-side with an expert at your location who helps you identify HR needs as your business grows. Pricing can vary from $50 per hour to write job descriptions to as much as $500 per hour to manage an HR strategy session.
- HR consulting company: I recommend outsourcing to a professional HR consulting firm if individual tasks or projects are your primary need. Some of these projects can be helping you create a health insurance benefits program, update your employee handbook, set up policies, or conduct training on avoiding workplace discrimination. Note that most HR consulting companies offer custom-priced plans—you have to call the provider to discuss your requirements and request a quote.
- PEO: A PEO actually hires your employees and leases them back to you for a fee. While you manage day-to-day work activities and supervision, the PEO manages HR tasks like payroll and benefits administration. PEOs are priced in various ways. Some providers, such as Justworks, have starter monthly fees priced as low as $59 per employee. Others cost between 2% and 6% of employee annual salaries.
- HR service provider: An HR service provider is a step up from using software alone to ensure your company is compliant with all labor laws, especially if you’re in a regulated industry (such as banking, healthcare, or manufacturing) that requires licensing, safety, and certifications. An HR service provider is not a co-employer like a PEO, but it provides the benefits of an HR expert at your fingertips. Pricing for HR services runs a bit higher than software alone—between $10 and $75 per month, plus an extra $2 to $15 per month per employee.
Alternatives to HR Outsourcing Services
Best For | Starter Pricing | |
|---|---|---|
 | Finding an inexpensive HR consultant or freelancer to fill the role | 5.5% transaction fee + the cost of the project and a flat $3 fee for jobs under $100 |
 | Finding a top-rated consultant or contractor from a reputable site | 5% transaction fee + the cost of the project and a $14.99 fee for new contracts |
 | Companies looking for a small business payroll platform with essential HR and benefits tools | $40 base monthly fee + $6 per employee monthly |
Methodology: How I Evaluated the Best HR Outsourcing Services
Evaluation Criteria
To evaluate the best HR outsourcing services, a collaborative assessment was made using a new rubric containing several criteria that looked at the service providers’ outsourcing features, software functionalities, pricing, ease of use, and customer support options. Irene Casucian, one of Fit Small Business’s expert research analysts, provided objective scoring for each HR outsourcing service. From there, I added my expert rating to each criterion, where I considered the effectiveness of that area or feature.
Together, we evaluated seven solutions. These are:
- Bambee
- Justworks
- Rippling
- TriNet
- ADP
- Deel
- Paychex
Then, I compared each solution, and while I wasn’t able to test all of these, I looked for key features to help streamline HR and payroll processes. I also checked user reviews for feedback about each provider’s HR services and the system’s overall ease of use and functionality. Of the seven solutions on our list, I narrowed it down to the five best HR outsourcing companies.
To view the full evaluation criteria, click through the tabs in the box below.
20% of Overall Score
10% of Overall Score
We looked at the support options available, such as the support hours and if customer representatives can be reached via phone, email, or chat. We also checked if the providers assign dedicated HR advisors to their clients and the types of help resources offered, such as how-to guides and a community forum.
5% of Overall Score
In this criterion, we considered the platform’s data security features, permission controls, mobile app functionality, software integrations, and general ease of use.
20% of Overall Score
We looked for the types of HR services it offers (such as PEO, EOR, and ASO) and if it assists in creating employee handbooks, managing training and performance reviews, handling government claims and IRS audits, and conducting investigations for employee disciplinary actions and terminations.
15% of Overall Score
In this criterion, we checked if its payroll services cover all 50 states and if it handles tax payments and filings. We also looked for other pay processing features, such as unlimited pay runs and multiple payment options.
15% of Overall Score
Apart from looking at the variety of benefits plans that it offers, we checked if the provider assists in workers’ compensation insurance management, COBRA and ACA administration, and unemployment insurance claims.
10% of Overall Score
In this criterion, we checked if it helps find, track, and onboard employees. We also considered the compliance services that it offers, such as background checks and new hire state reporting.
5% of Overall Score
We looked for key features, such as online document storage, self-service portals, communication tools, and workflows to streamline onboarding and offboarding processes. We also checked if there are pre-built reports available and if the reports can be customized.
Meet the Experts
The following HR and research experts contributed to this article:
 | Robie Ann Ferrer is an HR expert writer at Fit Small Business, focusing on small business HR and payroll software content. She has 10 years of experience in human resources and over five years of experience evaluating HR systems and services. Her expertise and extensive research skills allow her to provide reliable insights that help business owners efficiently manage employees and HR processes and determine the best HR outsourcing services for their companies. |
 | Irene Casucian is a research analyst for Fit Small Business. With sufficient experience as an HR writer, she has developed a profound understanding of various business needs that inform her research and analysis of HR platforms. Irene specializes in HR software evaluation and draws on her experience as a research assistant to provide in-depth assessments. Irene conducts objective research by gathering data to evaluate HR software performance across various HR functions, such as payroll, ATS, and onboarding, using carefully defined criteria to assess each platform’s effectiveness. |
 | Jessica Dennis is the HR lead writer at TechnologyAdvice and Fit Small Business. She has a B.A. in English Literature from the University of Michigan and over six years of experience in onboarding, payroll, benefits, compliance, and workforce management as an HR generalist. Of those six years, Jessica worked for four years at PEO, providing her intimate knowledge of how HR outsourcing services can strengthen small business administration and employee management. |
HR Outsourcing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Outsourcing HR makes more sense for startups and small businesses as they may not have the resources to hire a full HR team to manage HR operations. This allows employers to delegate specific tasks (such as creating HR policies, processing payroll, and managing benefits plans) to a consultant or HR service provider. These providers will also ensure you stay up-to-date with labor regulations and help you avoid compliance risks.
Because an HR outsourcing firm can be a person, a vendor, or a group of consultants, you need to do your due diligence and have a contract to clarify terms and expectations. A few areas to consider when looking to outsource HR functions include the level of expected HR expertise, the availability of transparent pricing, and an agreement on who owns the materials created, as well as maintaining confidentiality.
Even if you have a small business, you need to set up an HR department so employees can have someone to turn to if they have questions about payroll and other employment-related topics. It doesn’t have to be a big team. Depending on your HR needs and the size of your workforce, you can make do with one employee who can efficiently handle payroll and manage benefits. However, if you recruit often or have plans to expand, then you will need another employee who can hire, onboard, and train new workers.