Benefits of Outsourcing Your HR Services

Outsourced HR for childcare is one of the smartest moves a growing center owner can make. Payroll, hiring, benefits, and compliance each take real time and expertise. Handling all of it yourself pulls you away from the work that actually grows your business. In this article, we walk through the HR functions your childcare company can outsource and the biggest benefits of doing so. Read on to find out more.

HR Services Your Childcare Business Can Outsource

Think you need to hire a full-time HR professional for your growing childcare company? Consider outsourcing instead. Outsourced HR for childcare gives you access to seasoned pros who can cover a wide range of essential functions without a full-time salary on your books.

Payroll Administration

Payroll processing can feel like a full-time job on its own. Outsourcing payroll adds real value to your business by covering tasks like these:

• Setting up payroll and onboarding new hires into the system
• Filing payroll taxes in line with IRS Publication 15
• Streamlining and processing your payroll cycle
• Tracking paid time off, sick days, and vacation
• Reporting payroll and new hires to the appropriate agencies
• Keeping your payroll systems compliant with changing laws

A professional accounting service is also a reliable option for outsourcing payroll administration.

Employee Recruitment

Creating a pipeline of standout applicants is tough. Many childcare owners could use expert help turning applicants into top-performing teachers. Outsource tasks like these to a professional service:

• Support with job postings and job descriptions
• Access to online applicant tracking systems
• Background checks, substance testing, and medical testing
• Filtering candidates by resumes, certifications, or other criteria
• Onboarding new hires into your center

Employee Relations Management

Recruiting is only half the work. The other half is maintaining an ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship with your team. Outsourced HR for childcare can help with that too. A strong HR partner oversees employee training — including workplace safety training and harassment prevention training. They also manage performance reviews, foster diversity and inclusion, and help you build policies that stick. As a result, turnover often drops.

Benefits Procurement and Management

An HR partner can also unlock high-quality, affordable benefits for your employees. Professional employer organizations (PEOs) use their scale to negotiate better rates than you can get on your own. Typical offerings include:

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Short and long-term disability insurance
• Life insurance
• 401(k) plans and administration
• Employee assistance programs
• Open enrollment support
• COBRA and unemployment claims administration

HR Compliance

U.S. labor laws change constantly, and state rules differ from one another. Outsourcing HR keeps your childcare company compliant at every level. A strong partner covers wages, hours, leave policies, process management, and mandatory training. The U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division updates these rules often, so having experts watching the field matters.

Benefits of Outsourced HR for Childcare Businesses

Now that you know what you can outsource, here are the biggest reasons childcare owners make the move.

Save Time and Effort

HR is a job in itself. That does not mean you need to do it yourself or hire a full-timer to handle it. Outsourcing frees you up to focus on what you love most about your childcare company and actually grow the business. For many owners, that alone is worth the investment.

Save Money

More businesses are outsourcing to control costs, and childcare is no exception. As SHRM notes, outsourcing often delivers expert-level support at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. You can also pair outsourced HR with outsourced accounting and a fractional CFO for a complete back-office stack. Instead of paying full-time salaries plus benefits for multiple in-house roles, you get the expertise you need on the terms you want. The bottom line? Outsourcing is usually better for the bottom line.

Get Peace of Mind

When experts handle your HR, you can rest easy knowing it is being done right. As a busy childcare owner, you have bigger things to worry about than whether your leave policy matches the latest federal update. Leave compliance to the pros and focus on the classroom. For a broader look at where outsourcing fits into a small business plan, SCORE has a solid primer worth reading.

Build a Stronger Employee Experience

Outsourced HR for childcare also lifts the employee experience. A good partner standardizes onboarding, keeps your employee handbook current, and gives your team a clear place to ask questions. Meanwhile, your directors stay focused on families and curriculum instead of paperwork.

How Honest Buck and Mineral HR Can Help

The team at Honest Buck Accounting knows how essential professional accounting and HR services are to your Early Childhood Education business. That is why we recently partnered with Mineral HR, an industry-leading HR and compliance platform.

With Mineral HR, you can search a live database of state labor laws, call an HR specialist for advice, organize trainings for your employees, and keep your policies current. Paired with our accounting and CFO services, it gives childcare owners a complete back-office solution. Schedule a call with the Honest Buck Accounting team to learn more.