Could Employee Leasing Help Address the Labor Shortage for Your Contracting Business?

The construction industry labor shortage is well-known, and it’s not going away anytime soon. If you can’t keep or even find good employees, the quickest answer may be to rent them from a qualified organization. Here’s how it works, and what you need to know to be sure you hire someone who will get the job done.

What Is a Professional Employer Organization?

When you hire an employee, you have to go through the entire process on your own. The work to find, train and maintain workers includes:

• human resources
• payroll
• benefits
• workers’ compensation

If the time comes when you need to hire a few people to do administrative work for you, you might consider contracting with a professional employer organization (PEO). With a company like this, you pay for the services, and they provide the staff. You are not their employer, but the people work with you. This kind of arrangement can be ideal when you have permanent staffing needs, but few resources or little time to manage them.

How Can a Contracting Business Work With a PEO?

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you have no say in the way that the employees do their jobs. When you open a contract with a PEO, they will talk to you about your staffing needs. With your information, they can select people who can meet your expectations. You will interact with the workers on a regular basis and be able to monitor the services they perform for you. In exchange for your payment, you don’t have to worry about a lot of the administrative tasks you would need to do to keep your employees paid and protected.

What’s the Difference Between a PEO and a Staffing Agency?

You should keep in mind that a PEO and a staffing agency are not the same thing. You might use both from time to time. A staffing agency provides temporary employment to workers who will go wherever they are assigned, assuming they meet the qualifications. You work with a PEO to hire employees who will remain with you long-term. For example, you might talk to a PEO about getting a staff to manage your sales leads and follow up on payments. If you become exceptionally busy and need an extra person for a few weeks, you may also choose to work with a staffing agency to meet that temporary shortfall.

How Do I Select a PEO?

There are many PEOs to choose from, and they will have different benefits and disadvantages. You should confirm that you have found a solid, reliable business before you sign a contract and send in a payment. Remember to read all the fine print and make sure you understand it. As you research organizations, look into the following topics:

• if they can consistently meet your staffing needs
• how long they have been in business
• proof of permission to operate in California
• past history and references
• whether they are current on payroll taxes and insurance premiums
• how soon in advance you must cancel your contract

Take an opportunity to talk to the company, so you can get a feel for their experience working with clients like you. With these aspects in line, you should be able to choose a PEO that will help you take good care of your business operations.

Finding good employees is hard. That’s why many people in the construction industry decide to go with a PEO to take care of the time-consuming process for them. Visit CSLS today to start building your contracting business from the ground up.