6 HR FUNCTIONS THAT EMPLOYERS DO BADLY (& HOW ANTHROS HELPS)
A lesson most new business owners learn is how unprepared they are to handle the administrative and compliance burdens of hiring, paying and managing employees. In fact, what we find is that new and first-time employers often don’t have a full picture of what these obligations are.
Paying employees and securing benefits may be top of mind, but there are a host of lesser-known administrative tasks that are just as important. Employers must coordinate with dozens of state, local, and federal agencies, plus insurance partners and vendors, while staying up to date with frequently changing laws, regulations, and reporting requirements. For small businesses without the resources to hire an HR team, these tasks eat into time that leaders should be spending on core business functions.
In this blog, we wanted to highlight a few of the functions Anthros manages for clients that don’t get a lot of attention but are absolutely crucial in helping them navigate the burdens and risks of being an employer.
Employer Function: New Hire Compliance & Reporting
How Anthros Helps: When businesses hire a new employee, they’re required to submit information about that new hire to the appropriate agency in their state. Not only does Anthros complete this new hire reporting for our clients, we also provide clients with comprehensive new hire paperwork, which can be completed on paper or electronically, to collect the information needed for payroll and reporting.
We use this employee information to fulfill other annual reporting obligations on behalf of our clients as well, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s annual EEO-1 report, which calls for employers to submit certain demographic data by race/ethnicity, sex, and job category.
Employer Function: Unemployment Claims Administration
How Anthros Helps: Responding to and navigating unemployment claims can be extremely time consuming. As soon as clients tell us they’ve received an unemployment claims notice, our team goes into action. We provide employment and wage information to the state and handle all subsequent communication.
Employers who don’t have experience managing claims often see their unemployment rates increase over time. With our knowledge and expertise, Anthros can proactively manage the claims resolution process for our clients. We identify cases where the claim should be protested and gather and send supporting documentation. If needed, we help clients prepare for unemployment claims hearings and serve as their guide from start to finish.
Employer Function: Training Managers in HR Administration
How Anthros Helps: Managers are on the frontlines of implementing and enforcing employee policies and responding to conduct and performance issues. They need to understand attendance, leave, and code of conduct policies in order to apply them uniformly and consistently across the organization and support fair employment practices.
To make company policies effective, managers also need to be versed in HR documentation. The Anthros team offers documentation training and provides guidance to managers in identifying when corrective action is needed and best practices for delivering corrective action plans. This training helps managers address and solve employee problems when they arise, preventing them from becoming larger issues that drain resources and affect the rest of the team.
Employer Function: Employee Handbooks
How Anthros Helps: An employee handbook is the foundation of human resources administration and a company’s most important vehicle for employee communication. It sets expectations, shares company policies and procedures, defines employees’ rights, and outlines an employer’s obligations under the law. An employee handbook is also the single most important tool employers have to protect themselves from employee claims and litigation.
Creating an employee handbook can be an enormous task for small businesses that don’t have staff who possess a broad knowledge of federal and state labor laws and HR best practices. Anthros works closely with clients to create employee handbooks that include policies necessary for state and federal compliance, as well as custom policies that fit clients’ specific business needs.
Employer Function: 401(k) & Retirement Planning
How Anthros Helps: Financial security is a huge source of stress for most of our employees. Companies that offer retirement plans give their employees a tool to plan for their futures while demonstrating that they care about their employees’ long-term wellbeing and want to invest in their success.
Unfortunately, offering a 401k is often cost-prohibitive for small businesses that can’t afford the legal and set-up costs. Anthros clients have the opportunity to participate in our 401(k), which we also administer on their behalf at no extra cost. Our plan includes traditional and Roth options, low annual fees, and no employer setup cost. Whether or not the client makes a contribution, the Anthros 401(k) gives employees an important tool for saving and achieving retirement goals.
In addition to our 401(k), Anthros offers many other employee benefits, such as an employee assistance program, telemedicine, supplemental insurance benefits, and travel discount programs, that help clients support recruiting and retention.
Employer Function: Workers’ Compensation Administration & OSHA Compliance
How Anthros Helps: Anthros secures workers’ compensation coverage for clients, navigates the annual policy renewals process, and manages the claims process. Through our long-term partnership with A-rated carriers, Anthros can secure affordable, quality workers’ compensation coverage for our clients.
Our team’s proactive claims management process and expertise in fighting fraudulent claims helps keep workers’ compensations costs down over time. Clients also receive the benefit of paying their premium over the course of the year along with payroll, rather than paying the entire premium upfront as they must do with their own policy.
Our step-by-step workers’ compensation guide and training for our clients ensures worksite managers know exactly what to do in the event of an accident. We also file and manage claims directly with the carrier, guide clients and employees through the accident investigation report, and help coordinate medical care and return-to-work programs. In addition, we ensure clients remain in compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by providing them with annual OSHA 300 logs, the yearly required summary of injuries and illnesses.
In closing, employers struggling to stay on top of administrative and compliance functions may want to consider outsourcing these tasks. Since the regulatory landscape for employers is constantly evolving, employers that don’t have full-time compliance or HR staff are taking on unnecessary risk. Turning over these employer obligations to a team that is knowledgeable and experienced delivers peace of mind and often leads to savings on HR administration costs. Having a skilled team at your side also provides the support you need in times of change and growth.
