11 Administrative HR Tasks You Can Outsource

HR outsourcing is gaining popularity among SMBs (Small and Midsize businesses) across numerous industries. However, many companies still aren't familiar with the variety of administrative tasks an HR outsourcing solution can handle and the benefits such a partnership entails.

One of the most important reasons to outsource HR is to avoid the cost of hiring new in-house team members. With the right HR solution, you can get the job done without onboarding new employees, paying new salaries, or providing another set of employee benefits. 

Which Administrative Tasks Can Be Outsourced? 

Let's take a look at just a few critical administrative tasks you can outsource to an HR partner. 

1. Benefits Administration

An HR partner can design and administer benefits programs, implement self-service HR portals, and provide answers to complex benefits questions. Benefits administration also includes 401(k) plan administration and COBRA management. 

If you choose a comprehensive outsourcing solution, you don't just gain access to benefits administration services, you can take advantage of Fortune 500 benefits at affordable prices. Some HR partners aggregate all their clients' employees into a pool to purchase benefits via and gain economies of scale.    

2. Employee Assistance Programs

Managing employee assistance programs (EAP) requires significant time and effort. 

Since these programs aren't a critical part of HR, many companies don't spend sufficient time supporting them. This can lead to lower employee satisfaction levels and higher turnover. 

Outsourcing EAP implementation and maintenance to an HR partner can save your team time while improving the workplace environment. 

3. Update Employee Handbook 

Creating an employee handbook can be highly beneficial for companies of all sizes. While many businesses understand the importance of designing such a handbook, only some of them pay sufficient attention to updating it.   

The employee handbook should be a living document. It must be reviewed and updated regularly. Updating an employee handbook is important for handling employee management issues and keeping employees up to date with new company policies.  

4. Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Audit 

Even a single FLSA lawsuit could cost a company millions of dollars. That's why conducting internal FLSA audits is vital to your company's integrity. 

You can outsource Wage and Hour audits to the HR outsourcing partner, who will review exempt employee classifications, timekeeping policies, overtime, and regular pay calculations, and contractor classifications. 

5. Employee and Manager Training

Arranging employee training without disrupting the work process can be complicated. An HR outsourcing partner can coordinate the training time for your employees and managers in order not to cause downtime. 

Additionally, an HR service provider can arrange such important training as:

1. Safety training 
2. Sexual harassment training 
3. Discrimination training

This can save time for your HR team while keeping employees up to date with the latest developments in different niches. 

6. Create Job Descriptions

Transparent job descriptions don't just help your employees execute their functions. Listing essential and non-essential functions in the description can protect your company against claims of discrimination. Meanwhile, a clear job description can help you determine which candidates are qualified to perform a job. 

An HR outsourcing partner will create clear job descriptions with essential and non-essential functions listed according to both the company's needs and the law. 

7. Safety Policy/Program

While a safety policy is mandatory in most states, not all companies have sufficient time to design a highly effective program. Meanwhile, a strong safety policy is the foundation of powerful safety performance and compliance. 

An HR outsourcing solution can perform a safety audit and design a safety program for your employees and managers to follow. A robust program will improve performance while reducing the number of workers' comp claims. 

8. Payroll Administration

Payroll is one of the most time-consuming administrative tasks HR experts face. Outsourcing it to an HR partner can save your team a tremendous amount of time while reducing errors and increasing employee satisfaction rates. 

Payroll administration includes wage garnishments, 401(k) deductions, employee loans, customized deductions, and an online payroll portal. 

9. File Payroll Taxes

Business owners calculated how much time is spent on payroll taxes, and 63% were surprised by how long this task was taking. Meanwhile, 82% of business owners admitted that they reviewed calculations manually to ensure accuracy. 

Not all HR outsourcing solutions can help with filing payroll taxes. If you choose a partner that offers this option, you can share liability for filing errors. 

10. Compliance

While being highly important, compliance is often complex and time-consuming. An HR outsourcing partner can handle compliance monitoring, reporting, and disclosures. 

HR experts will keep you up to date with the latest changes in local, state, and federal laws. Their scope of work also includes OSHA compliance. 

11. Return to Work Programs

Helping top talent return to your company after an injury is essential to increasing the company's productivity. Designing return to work programs falls on your HR team's shoulders, diverting their attention from other essential tasks. 

An HR outsourcing partner can help you design and set up a return to work program to contain workers' compensation costs and keep top talent on board. 

Should You Outsource More?  

With HR requirements becoming more strict and complex every year, small HR teams simply can't handle them without working overtime.  Outsourcing isn't just a way to ease the burden on your HR department. It's an opportunity to refine the working environment, attract top talent, stay on top of the latest changes, and improve the company's bottom line.  

Outsourcing administrative HR tasks is a good place to start. However, by working with comprehensive outsourcing partners, you can also explore cost savings on employee benefits like health insurance.