Labor Management Systems: Don’t Miss A Good Opportunity

Today, small, medium and large-sized businesses alike understand the benefits of modern business applications for improving productivity. Some of these businesses start using their systems immediately, looking for a return on their investment as soon as possible. Others end up delaying implementation due to unforeseen circumstances or because they don’t have enough staff.

This kind of delay is no fault of these companies, but it gums up the works nonetheless. Join us today, as look at labor management systems and where they fit in your business.

Labor Management Systems

In a series of business surveys, more than 60% of small and medium businesses used some sort of labor management system. Very few, however, managed their entire HR scope with this same software.

Which is a real shame, to speak frankly, considering some of the following immediate benefits you can gain from using these productivity solutions across your company:

Leverage Data and HR Analyses

Rapidly gain a single view of your workforce in order to make better business decisions. HR analytics solutions help small and medium-sized businesses with data-driven insights across the board, simplifying your workforce and preventing business success.

Reduce Business Complexity

Modern data collectors collate and report information in real time via payroll, providing user-friendly tools that allow employees to work efficiently and grow alongside the business.

Labor management systems simplify an otherwise extremely complicated process, reducing stress and clarifying your staff’s roles in the day-to-day operation. Employee information is fully integrated into a central system, and administrator workflows can be output to develop better data-driven HR strategies.

Ultimately, if you invest time in your technology, you will realize a return on investment (ROI) from start to finish.

Discover the benefits of labor management systems for your business with expert installations from Vision HR.

Improve Your Employee Handbook. Improve Your Office HR.

An employee handbook is an essential part of any successful business operation. You might think that it’s obvious your employees will know how to behave or understand when they’ve misbehaved, the truth is you need something on paper to prove you made this clear to everyone.

You need an employee handbook and, moreover, you need a good one. Luckily, we know a thing or two about that.

An Official Code of Conduct

Code of business conduct in your office should be a high priority when you consider ethics and compliance. This is a roadmap of how you should act and talk while participating in your company’s culture.

Some basic information you might want to incorporate into your Code of Conduct may include:

• Code of Ethics
• Dress Regulations and Grooming Standards
• Workplace Safety
• Attendance Requirements

Explain these thoroughly to your employees, making it clear that these rules benefit everyone. Set expectations and establish results for when your employees do not meet expectations.

Communication Policy

Clear communication policies have always been important, but they are more pertinent now than ever in the current tech environment.

Do you provide employees with laptops, mobile phones, and other devices? How do you monitor how they use these devices? How often do employees use company equipment to surf the Internet, make personal phone calls, store photos, save text friends, or post them on social media?

Communications policies should specify expectations for proper use of devices and operations on such devices. Employees must understand that they act as the company’s representatives when using company equipment. For example, say that you can get fired if you send harassing texts on the company equipment.

Make sure everyone understands that other company policies such as anti-discrimination, anti-discrimination and ethics policies apply to all forms of communication and to all devices.

Non-Discrimination Policy

This is a required entry in any employee handbook. Let employees know that your organization will not endorse discrimination or harassment in any way.

State and federal laws created by the civil rights movement of the 1960s protect workers from discrimination based on factors that are not directly related to the quality of their work. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Age
• Race
• Religion
• Pregnancy
• Disabilities

Discrimination is not always clear or objective. Even a good manager can slip and mistakenly discriminate against employees. Only one employee (or potential employee) needs to write a review to topple your online reputation.

Are you a business owner looking for HR services to keep your business operating in-line with best practices? Visit Vision HR to discover our expert employee handbook work, and invest in a better workspace today!

Section 125 Plans and Their Place In Your Business

When it comes to workplace satisfaction, more employees than not would choose a good set of employee benefits over a pay raise. . Everybody wants to feel invested in, and implementing a plan that takes care of their physical and financial needs, outside of salaries, shows your commitment to their wellbeing.

Providing a competitive set of benefits is a great way to attract and retain your talent. For a small business, this often takes the form of a good, solid Section 125 plan. Employees have the opportunity to choose from different benefits depending on their unique needs, creating something that actively improves their lives.

Join us today, for a closer look at Section 125 plan, how these work, and the relevant benefits.

Anatomy Of The Section 125 Plan

A Section 125 plan allows employees to choose between any combination of qualifying benefits and specific cash amounts. Employee benefits are doled out as pre-tax deductions which can be deducted from their contribution before you withhold taxes. This allows you to reduce their taxable income, paying less in federal income FICA (Social Security and Medicare) taxes.

Which Deductions Are Featured?

Following the Section 125 guidelines, employers can add a series of benefits to their plan. These benefits aren’t all included under one of these plans, so you’ll want to choose these from IRS’s Publication 15-B.

You won’t be able to include any combination of benefits that defer your employees’ pay, for the most part, but you can include certain 401(k) and life insurance plans. These are typically maintained by educational institutions.

The qualifying benefits are on the table when assembling your Section 125 plan:

• Health and accident benefits, and health savings accounts (HSAs)
• Assistance with dependent care and adoptions
• Group-term life policies

Benefits you won’t be able to include in your Section 125 plan include the following:

• Archer MSAs
• De minimis (minimal) benefits
• Working condition benefits
• Educational assistance and tuition reduction
• Business premise lodging and moving expense reimbursements
• Employee discounts, athletic facilities, and company cell phones
• Retirement planning
• Meals and transportation benefits

Simple Section 125 Plans

For many small businesses, the attraction of a Section 125 plan can be somewhat dampened by the idea that using one might be complicated. The good news is, there are ways to create simple employee plans.

To start, you’ll want to make sure you actually qualify for this brand of benefits package. Employing a specific average of employees in the years before signing up for these packages will make you either or not so much. Employ 100 or fewer employees on average during this time, or show how you expect to employ this number in the coming year, and congratulations: you’re eligible!

Similarly, when employees work at least 1,000 hours in the preceding year, they are eligible for this kind of policy. This means that an employer will typically exclude employees who do not meet these criteria while providing benefits to ones who do.

You can choose to provide contributions of at least 2% of your employees’ compensation for the year, or 6% for this same period or twice their salary reduction contributions, whichever is less.

Are you looking into Section 125 plans for use in your business? Why not let a professional handle it for you? Check out these and other custom group plans and services from Vision HR today, and find a better way to give back to your employees.

Time Keeping Software Benefits

Time keeping software and devices help businesses monitor when their employees arrive, leave, or begin and end projects. They’re an important part of the modern business, offering a huge array of benefits.

And you might think you don’t want to run some miserable labor camp where you’re monitoring everyone. Well, the thing is these applications can be entirely helpful if you handle them properly, without micromanagement.

Join us, then, as we take a look at five benefits to integrating time-recording systems into your business, today!

Keep Employees On The Straight and Narrow

It’s a difficult position when you’re the owner of a business and your staffers stop meeting their deadlines. Nothing will make you question your approach quicker than half your staff members arriving late every day. Or working extra hours unannounced to rack up overtime.

And your employees aren’t necessarily slacking off by missing these deadlines. They may just be missing a sense of urgency or direction around deadlines. You need a sense of ownership for everyone, breaking the work process in your office up into a series of achievable deadlines.

Enter timekeeping software. Employees enter their time in and out of the office, when they arrive, take breaks, or leave at the end of the day. Everything is kept on record, tabulated and easy to read. You’ll be able to see where they best perform, share information with them, and use this data to make important daily business decisions.

Speaking of which…

Improve Your Quotes Process

There are few things more frustrating as a business owner than having your quotes called into question. These are the lifeblood of any operation, and being able to rely on consistent payment for the work you do can be a life and death issue.

Generate more accurate quotes with line-by-line accounting for all of your employees’ time spent, every day. This kind of transparency means a lot to clients, and will be more than a little useful to you too. You can base future decisions on your return for work done, gauge employee performance, and itemize your workflow for much better results.

Manage Contractors With Accurate Time-Recording

Of course, not all of your employees are going to be full time. In the case of freelancers and contractors, there’s even more need to keep up with. You’ve got workloads to monitor and hours to account for in order to make up for your ROI, overall.

When your contractors use the same timekeeping software as your full time employees, you cut out a lot of extra work, essentially making them a virtual part of your office. An accurate record of everyone’s hours means you’ll be paying for work that’s actually being done, for a measurable number of hours. This allows you to keep track of contractor performance so you can allocate more or work, intelligently.

Prioritize Strategic Projects

Something many people don’t consider when it comes to time tracking applications is that they actually allow you collate data that can be used in areas outside of employee management. Case in point, when you know how much time is being spent in office, working on this project or that, you can make calls on which goals are reached more consistently. You can adjust based on staff behavior, or when suppliers and stuff congestion are likely to coincide naturally.

Use this data to focus your strategies, and you’ll have a real edge within your workplace, based entirely on real-life data.

Compare Performance Metrics Over Time

The strongest tool you’ll ever have in business is the gift of hindsight. Now, you might be able to look back in a general sense and compare how you’re doing now to how you did when you started. But what if you could accurately measure your performance today against the days of yore.

See your improvements, measure your performance, and gauge the level of output coming out of your office from year to year. With this kind of data recording, you’ve got what you need to outdo yourself, year after year.

Time Keeping Software: A Better Way To Do Business

For complete time keeping and labor management solutions you can count on, check out Vision HR’s range of data collection hardware and timekeeping software. Because, without a solid grasp on your business processes, the most you can ever hope for is average.

Workers Compensation Insurance Quotes: What To Look For

Accidents happen, or so they say. It doesn’t matter where you are, we all have to accept that sometimes the unexpected just happens.

For the most part, we all sort of make our peace with this fact. But the workplace presents a special problem, in the form of workers’ compensation. These are plans designed to help staffers “make up” for lost income and expenses after work-related injuries or sicknesses.

Join us today, as we bring you our roundup of workers compensation insurance quotes factors, the benefits of these plans, and the dangers should you choose not to use them.

Workers’ Comp: Some Background

Workers’ compensation, as a concept, might seem relatively new in the business world. The truth, however, is that laws governing the compensation of employees can be traced back as far as 100 years. Before that, employees injured on the job would have to sue employers for negligence. This is an unpleasant process, to say the least, even before the money or time wasted on the process.

Special compensation laws helped to set this right, establishing what is now known as a “no-fault system”. Employees no longer have to take their former employers to court, at all. They are instead entitled to compensation as a fait accompli and do not have to prove the employer actually caused the injury in order to file for compensation.

And don’t be fooled into believing this is necessarily a loss for employers. Paying workers’ compensation insurance protects employers against lawsuits in the event where someone injures themselves on the job by mistake. While it may feel like you’re paying out, constantly, this safeguards employers against damage payouts.

Who Needs Coverage

Put simply, if you have employees you’ll need workers’ compensation coverage. Independent contractors don’t require workers’ comp coverage, as they are associated with their own businesses, first and foremost.

If you are self-employed as a sole proprietor or part of a partnership, or a member of a limited liability company, you’re not required to buy workers compensation unless you have employees who aren’t owners. Mostly, the same applies to officers in “closely held” corporations.

Casual labor and specific types of domestic workers are exempt from workers’ compensation, as well as farm laborers. Your state may also exclude employers with fewer than a certain number of staffers underneath them.

Depending on the state you’re in, you may be able to obtain an exemption from workers’ comp requirements. In certain states, sole proprietors, partners, LLC members, and corporate officers are able to file a waiver with the state workers’ comp agency. File correctly, and you may be exempt from your state’s specific requirements.

Workers Compensation Insurance Quotes: Cost Factors?

Workers compensation insurance quotes will differ from state to state, depending on various factors:

• • The nature of your state’s workers’ comp benefits
  • The employer’s payroll size
  • Which industry you work in
  • The number of claims your employees have previously filed

Employers can expect to pay more when insuring employees in hazardous occupations than somewhere relatively safe, like an office or call center. This can mean the difference between a $500 to $600 plan to insure your marketing team in their cubicles, versus ten times that to insure the construction team building your house.

The Risks Of Not Investing In Workers’ Compensation

As mentioned earlier, the chief risk of not having workers’ compensation insurance is that it opens you up for a lawsuit in the event someone injures themselves “on your watch”. Paying for your defense out of your own pocket will almost always work out to more than you’d pay just investing in workers’ compensation.

Interested in the benefits of better workers’ compensation insurance quotes in your business? We don’t blame you – a full compensation package is not only a good idea but also a legal requirement in a lot of instances. Visit Vision HR today for workers compensation insurance quotes to cover your employees in the event of an accident.

Payroll Control In Four Steps

A business is a complicated machine. Everybody wants theirs to run as smoothly as possible, but in order to do that, there are dozens of processes, services, and departments to improve for best results. After all, a chain is only as good as its weakest link, and making a better chain comes down strengthening or removing those links.

Which brings us, neatly, to today’s topic: payroll processing systems and how you can improve on yours. Because, if you’re looking for ways to create a better workplace, everybody enjoys getting paid on time.

Looking to make 2019 a better year for your payroll control and HR processes? Consider out our four steps to improving the way you do things, and get ready to streamline your operation.

Be Less Involved

The first step in streamlining any process is taking out a step or two. Human resource solutions do their best work when they consolidate and simplify our office processes. Take some time out in 2019 to invest in professional payroll services and take yourself out of the equation.

Expand

Growth is a natural part of every business. As you expand, whether that be across states or just into a larger office, you’ll need to know how to expand your payroll process as well. Make sure you have the backing and understanding of your payroll process you need to scale it along with your business.

Learn

The best way to improve your payroll process is to learn. Work and keep yourself open to new information, and you’ll add to your expertise. There’s a lot to soak in in the world of HR, from the specific payroll tax laws of each state to new regulations on a state level.

Another facet of this is in learning what you don’t know, or what you’re not up to learning how to do. There are processes where you’ll likely be better off reaching out an expert for, with third-party payroll solutions freeing up precious resources within your office.

Get Out Of A Bad Payroll Relationship

If you’re not working with an effective payroll system, you owe it to yourself to make a change. Use reviews, research, and an initial interview to find a payroll service provider you trust. If you can change services and the outcome is a better payroll process, you should do it.

Payroll processing is a central pillar in any business worth its employees’ time. If you’re not putting through salary payments on time or reliably, you’re not doing right by your employees and you’re not doing your longevity any favors, either.

Payroll Control At Vision HR

For payroll processing from one of the leading names in the industry, visit Vision HR today and discover the payroll control services you’ve been looking for.

Five HR Resolutions For The New Year

It’s 2019, and as cliche as it might sound to fomenting some big list of resolutions for the year ahead, there are some areas where we could all use a little help. That gym contract. Those investments. And, of course, your human resources and how to get the most out of your work environment.

Join us, today, as we bring you our pick of five great HR resolutions for 2019, and get ready to get the most out of (and give the most back to) your staff this year.

Develop A Better Understanding Of Your Workforce

In the modern workforce, diversity is no longer something to just keep in mind. It’s the absolute rule, and an HR department without a good idea of who its staffers are and what their needs are is dead in the water.

In 2019, push forward from simple demographics, and use analytics to understand your workforce better. What benefits are they using, and what could you offer to make their lives better (and give them a better reason to stay loyal in the long run).

It’s no secret that a better understanding of your workforce has a direct impact on your bottom line. In 2019, develop your staffing insights so you know what you can offer and how to make it cost efficient for a better overall fit for your unique needs.

Integrate Data Into More Of Your Decisions

Knowledge is power, and there’s no better source than good, old-fashioned data. With information on the various arms of your business, you can bring about more effective changes based on an accurate understanding of how much it’s costing you.

Don’t just pick a benefits package due to pressure and don’t not choose one because you’re afraid to commit. Use data insights to make better calls on your benefits strategy, and you’ll find advantages you probably never even considered.

Develop A Full-Picture Of The Year Ahead

As in any other area of business, you can’t just jump into your HR process without a solid idea of what you’re planning, moving forward. Start with a simple outline of the important dates, both for your business and your workers, and make a point of diarising them.

Do some comparison shopping, as well, by spending some time catching up on trends in human resources so you can adapt to unexpected changes or come up with pioneering new solutions. Just a few minutes of your time can give you insights to set you up all the way through 2019.

Improve Your Employee Management

Entropy is dangerous for one very specific reason: most of the time, you don’t even notice it happening. Ask yourself one question: how long has it been since the last time you changed up your performance review process? Because, if you never have, there’s a good chance the process has been improved on and without any significant changes, you could be going yourself a disservice.

It’s important to move toward consistent and more regular conversations with your employees, so you have a bead on their goals, development, and efficacy.

Continue To Smooth Out Your Payroll Processes

The payroll process is central to any successful office, and you need to have a solid grasp on it if you’re going to maintain a happy staff contingent. Many businesses make the mistake of assuming their employees will forgive small slips in their monthly payment. The truth is, for most people, the buck stops at their paycheck, making it one of the most important processes in your office.

The good news for you is that improvements to your payroll process can also save you time, in the long run. If you can find a way to improve your process in 2019, you can dedicate more time to improving your business in other ways. Bringing in professional payroll services is a great way to achieve this goal.

Pay Attention To These 2019 Trends In Human Resources

Ultimately, whether you’re watching trends in human resources or observing the real impact of diversity on your workplace, you’ve got to make yourself open to learning new things. Discover the benefits of professional HR services in your workplace, with Vision HR, Central Florida’s leading human resources experts.

Business Insurance Types (And Their Benefits)

In the world of business, there’s a lot that depends on the size, nature, and style of your office. Regardless of what you do, however, you’re going to need the right coverage to cover yourself in an emergency.

Your business is important to you. Learn more about keeping yourself covered with today’s article on the benefits (and types) of business insurance.

General Liability

General liability coverage protects businesses from a variety of claims, making it a serious asset in an accident. Onsite injuries and negligence claims can spring up suddenly, and you’ll need coverage not to go out of pocket.

Pay for property damage and medical expenses, cover libel, or handle the legal costs of a faulty product. We live in a litigious age. There’s always a chance of an unexpected lawsuit. While you might not be prepared for it, general liability coverage can help with the fallout, whatever happens.

Workers’ Compensation

When it comes to business insurance, workers’ comp is actually a legal requirement in nearly every American state, and with good reason. For the uninitiated, this is insurance intended to cover medical costs and lost wages for employees who injure themselves or become sick on the job. This brand of insurance covers your business in the event of an onsite injury or illness, something which you can’t guarantee against but can be extremely costly, out-of-pocket.

Workers’ comp laws differ from state to state, meaning you’ll want to work with a professional to make sure you’re getting a package that covers you adequately.

Property Insurance

Property management is central to the operation of most businesses, as we go through the motions of renting, upkeeping, and safeguarding our offices and workplaces. These are places with a lot of utility to us, and suddenly losing access to yours can curtail your business operations in a big way. This is why it’s important to carry professional commercial property insurance.

Make sure you’re covered when you need to replace stolen equipment or make repairs. And if you don’t think this is a real concern, you’re probably not treating it with the seriousness it deserves.

Property insurance typically comes in two types:

• all-risk policies, which cover a wide variety of potential issues
• named-peril coverage, which protects businesses against specific high-risk problems

Professional Liability

Otherwise known as “Errors and Omissions Insurance,” professional liability cover protects businesses against negligence lawsuits claiming negligence. A lack of professional services, improper work, or major omissions.

This style of insurance is significant for service-based business. Mistakes happen, and clients tend to hold mistakes against us. Professional liability coverage helps us mitigate the negative impacts of production errors and misfires, and can prove invaluable in a pinch.

Business Insurance Types

Ultimately, insurance policies are an investment in the safety of your business. You might argue that these problems aren’t likely, but you’re buying these policies to protect yourself in that one in a million situation. And is that a chance you want to take when it comes to the longevity of your business?

Visit Vision HR today, and learn more about our business insurance types and packages available in the Daytona Beach area and beyond! With these and so many other great packages available, you’re sure to find one that fits your unique business needs.

Payroll in Daytona Beach – Software Or Service?

The payroll process is pretty central to the operation of any business. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, you’ve got to process salaries reliably every month.

Of course, there are many ways to skin a cat. Businesses streamlining their payroll process may choose to use software and training to handle it onsite. Others may take the operation offsite, handing it over to a professional service provider.

Learn about the pros and cons of payroll in Daytona Beach, today, with Vision HR.

Payroll Software

Companies looking to handle their payroll operations in-house will sometimes opt for a payroll software package. This internalizing can be beneficial in a few different ways, from speeding along certain processes that you may have to wait for otherwise to having data on hand.

You’ll have access to your system in order to make changes more quickly. Managers can use the software in the ways they best see fit and cut down on their turnaround time for modifications.

Businesses don’t have to worry about third parties handling their private information. They provide quick access to data when it’s needed, even via mobile devices in many cases.

Of course, it’s not all sunshine and roses when it comes to integrated platforms.

The Cons

Firstly, there’s a reason most people choose to use software or a payroll service, and that’s because they want more time to spend on business instead of payroll. The learning curve on a piece of payroll software means you’ll spend quite a bit of time training yourself and your staff members to use it.

There’s also the question of human error. See, when you bring in something to do it in-house, all of the responsibility for that service suddenly becomes yours.  Internal users may end up missing out on certain services and requirements may end up missing specific inputs or requirements. A big bonus to bringing in a service provider, in this case, is that they take on the responsibility for these issues. And, it should go without saying, they also know how best to respond when worse comes to worst.

Using Payroll Services

When companies decide on a more hands-off payroll process, they bring in third-party agencies, like those on offer from Vision HR. These companies take over all aspects of payroll processing, making sure your workforce finances are kept in order.

It’s an easy service to use, with all of the processes that would take you hours every month to do on your own happening “behind the scenes”, now. The details are available for follow-ups, but the process is largely automated, freeing up managers to focus on their operation.

Professional services also mean that you’ll have real assistance on hand, whenever you need it. While user help files may be sophisticated, none of them can give you the targeted, unique help you’re likely to need. When using a service, you get more assistance faster than with a software package.

The Question Of Cost

When it comes to payroll processing, one of the biggest concerns many have is their budget. Whether you buy software or hire an agency to carry the workload, there’s a certain amount you’ll need to invest.

Companies may choose to use subscription models for affordable access to payroll software. Others may try for something similar with an agency, where a bundle package is used.

In an industry where payroll services will always come with certain budgetary requirements, however, the question really comes down to what you get for your money. And when it comes to personable services you can enjoy whenever you need them, nothing beats a payroll service.

And there’s always the option of hiring an outside name to design your payroll software setup.

Payroll in Daytona Beach

For expert payroll in Daytona Beach, visit Vision HR today and find out more about how we can help streamline your pay process.

Easy Access to Employee Payroll Data For Your Ormond Beach Company

When it comes to running a successful business, there are a few investments you just have to make for best results. You’ll need an office, and in that office, you’re going to need some stationary. If you have to make phone calls, you’re going to need phones, and if you’re going to make deliveries, you’re going to need a car.

And, when it comes to your Ormond Beach payroll department, this is equally true. It’s a living part of your business, with a lot of benefits to you and your staff members. But what is payroll data, what does it show you, and what are the benefits of having access to it?

Join Vision HR today, for a closer look.

What Is Your Payroll?

A company’s payroll is a complete list of its employees, the amount of money you’re paying them, and withheld taxes. In terms of accounting, this is essential because pay and taxes affect our net income, and also because businesses are subject to laws and regulations.

From the point of view of HR, the payroll process not only helps employees maintain their lives, it’s actually central to it. After all, any disruption of someone’s regularly planned income can mean missed deadlines, deferred bills, and other delays. It’s a sensitive issue to them, which makes it important to you because employee morale requires timely and accurate payments.

Employees should be paid correctly each month, with proper withholdings and deductions made within tax regulations. Let’s learn a little more about why.

Why Is It Important?

Ormond Beach Payroll: A Complex Issue

As companies grow, their payroll processes become more complex. Managing your records and staying within tax regulation standards is a heady process, and one that you can easily lose track of.

Businesses need access to meaningful payroll data that accurately reflects the situation with their payroll. This will keep them on the straight and narrow with their employees as well as influencing business decisions.

This data also helps to ensure your pay processes don’t turn around and bite you later on, as they help you stay within regulations. Payroll data is central to the successful operation of any company.

Paychecks Are (Obviously) Important

In the makeup of any company, payroll is by far the biggest expense. How big? How about 68% of your total overhead? More than twice as big an expense as employee benefits, payroll affects your relationship with your staffers and with the law.

40% of workers report that they depend on their regular income. These employees confirmed they would find it difficult to meet their own financial obligations with a delay of as little as even one week. Not only that but millions of file for billions in civil penalties every year over pay disputes.

Ormond Beach Payroll With Vision HR

Vision HR’s services offer businesses the data they need to be able to maintain and expand on their payroll processes. Whether integrating with existing HR offices or providing this service as a complete package, our solutions streamline the way you do business.

For expert payroll services and insightful access to your Ormond Beach payroll data, visit Ormond Beach’s foremost payroll services provider, Vision HR, today!