The Marketeer - March 1998

Goodbye, Administrative Headache Orlando businesses are bidding adieu to paperwork and administrative hassles, and are happily saying hello to Professional Employment Organizations.

By Jane Schreier Jones

CONTRAVEST, AN ORLANDO COMPANY OF ALMOST 150 employees, does not issue a paycheck, process a benefits claim or fill out a government tax form. They totally focus on their business of real estate development, construction and management. Yet Contravest employees enjoy smooth payroll and a great benefits package.
Contravest uses the Personnel Management System of Administaff, a leading PEO (professional employer organization). The system is a co-employment arrangement whereby a company's existing workers also become Administaff employees. The employees continue to do their jobs while Administaff handles everything from payroll to benefits management.

"Helping small and medium-size businesses succeed is our business," says Mike Gorham, Administaff 's regional manager for the Orlando area. "The amount of paperwork, forms and administrative hassles the average business owner has to deal with in personnel administration has gotten out of hand. We take care of those aspects of running a business, so the furniture store owner can concentrate on selling furniture, the print shop manager can concentrate on running the presses, and so forth."

John Schaffer, chief financial officer of Contravest, readily agrees that life is easier with Administaff. "We talked with Administaff for over a year, and we had every question answered before we made the decision in 1996," Schaffer says. "Now we offer our employees a kind of Fortune 500 benefits package we never were able to afford. Plus, a toll-free phone line provides easy access to claims assistance."

Because Administaff has over 1,900 client companies, with approximately 30,000 work-site employees, their "buying power" for benefits is tremendous. But ending paperwork hassles and gaining great benefits are not the entire Administaff story.

"It's like having a security blanket," Schaffer describes. "We no longer have to be experts on a million different laws, rules and regulations that change every year. Administaffs experts handle that. Plus, if we have a complex personnel-related question, such as a delicate situation with an employee, we talk to our Administaff liaison who handles the situation or ensures that we get the expert advice we need. It's a tremendous resource at our fingertips."

"We're more than just a way to improve productivity and get better benefits," says Administaffs Gorham. "Time and time again, we have shown Orlando-area businesses that we can have a positive and meaningful impact on a company's overall operations."

Is a PEO Right for You?

Administaff takes on administration responsibilities such as :

• Payroll and related accounting
• Manage workers' compensation coverage and claims
• Write and issue policy manuals
• Give advice on termination procedures
• Administer 401 K plans and pension plans
• Keep current on HR laws and regulations
• Perform resume reviews, interviews and pre-employment testing
• Handle government compliance and documentation
• Offer credit union services, write employee agreements
• Give OSHA compliance and other safety advice
  

Reprinted with permission of The Marketeer.