PEO in Kansas [2024]

Outsourcing HR can help you focus on company strategy and growth as a business owner in Kansas—whether you’re hiring in Kansas City, Wichita, Overland Park, or anywhere else in the Sunflower State. 

With a professional employer organization (PEO), small to mid-sized businesses can streamline and automate many HR functions, including payroll, benefits administration, compliance management, and workers' compensation insurance. By partnering with a PEO, you can provide your employees better access to higher-quality benefits.

Kansas-based employers can especially benefit from employing a PEO. With changing state employment laws, like workers' comp requirements and leave of absence regulations, a PEO can ensure your business is always up to date with the latest rules. 

Carefully evaluate your choices before settling on a PEO service. This article will walk you through the benefits of using a PEO, which features to consider, and how to choose one that’s right for your business. With features like automatic state tax registration and remote device management, Rippling PEO simplifies hiring and onboarding employees in Kansas and beyond.

Benefits of using a PEO in Kansas

Using a Kansas PEO service can reduce HR admin work, provide cost-effective employee benefits, and offer valuable support and expertise in risk management. Here are a few of the main benefits. 

Offload administrative HR work

The number one benefit of partnering with a PEO is the ability to delegate administrative HR tasks. A PEO co-employs your workforce, meaning you and the PEO divide employer responsibilities. 

In a co-employment relationship, you’ll still have complete control over hiring and firing employees, determining the amount you pay them, and making decisions about your company's overall strategy and business operations—such as research and development, marketing, sales, and customer support. You'll be known as the "worksite employer."

Meanwhile, the PEO will handle all employment-related tasks for your workers under their federal tax identification number (EIN), including payroll, benefits administration, HR compliance, and more. This role is known as the "administrative employer."

PEOs typically use a mix of technology, expertise, and established processes to simplify HR management and free up your company’s HR team to focus on more important, strategic tasks.

Better employee benefits, at a lower price

As PEOs co-employ many people from various companies, they can negotiate with insurance providers to help you access more affordable benefits. The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) reports that over 500 PEOs across the US co-employ 4.5 million workers at 200,000 businesses. 

Using these economies of scale, PEOs can also help you provide your employees with access to more robust benefits options, often including health insurance, life and disability insurance, mental health support, retirement plans, commuter benefits, and more. This is especially beneficial for small businesses, who might struggle to afford such comprehensive employee benefits packages on their own.

Kansas doesn’t require most employers to provide benefits except for specific leaves, like jury duty and domestic violence leave. However, the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires all businesses with at least 50 full-time employees to offer health insurance benefits. To help businesses comply with this requirement, a Kansas PEO can help your business access high-quality, affordable healthcare plans—plus other benefits, should you choose to offer them.

Worry-free compliance with Kansas laws

A PEO can help Kansas employers navigate complex federal, state-level, and local laws. While the state follows many federal guidelines, there are still specific state regulations surrounding employee recordkeeping, overtime requirements, and workers' compensation laws.

Under the Kansas Workers’ Compensation Act, nonexempt employers are required to provide workers’ compensation coverage to eligible employees—and unlike in other states, where you can purchase coverage from private providers, coverage in Kansas has to be administered by the Kansas Department of Labor. A PEO like Rippling can automatically flag workers’ compensation violations depending on your employees’ locations—an especially helpful feature if you employ a remote workforce with employees in different jurisdictions with varying legal requirements to stay on top of.

PEOs offer legal and compliance support for much more than that, though. They can also help with:

• Payroll regulations, such as correctly classifying employees and contractors, issuing and filing tax forms, reporting and paying payroll taxes on time, and complying with wage laws (like minimum wage and overtime requirements)
• Benefits laws, including Kansas state leave laws and federal benefits laws such as ACA, COBRA, FSA, HSA, and other related regulations
• Labor laws, such as following Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws and displaying state-mandated labor posters

By using a PEO service, you can benefit from compliance support, which is crucial in avoiding expensive fines and penalties for violating labor laws. The IRS estimates that 40% of small businesses pay payroll penalties every year. 

Dedicated support team

PEO companies are experts in handling HR tasks. Not only do they help you with HR outsourcing, but you can also benefit from their tried-and-true expertise. This can particularly help small businesses and startups lacking similar in-house resources. Your PEO can help you save time and money, provide management training, create a compliant employee handbook, and set safety practices, among other HR challenges.

What to consider when evaluating a PEO service in Kansas

Not all PEO providers offer the same services. When evaluating Kansas PEOs, consider these factors to find the right fit for your business:

• Your business needs. What does your business need from a PEO? Some standard PEO features include:
• Payroll processing
• Tax filing and compliance
• Benefits administration
• Recruiting and onboarding support
• Safety compliance
• Time and attendance tracking
• Regulatory compliance and risk management
• HR management and consulting 
• Your budget. PEOs usually charge either per-employee per-month fees or a percentage of each payroll run. If you plan on growing your business in the future, it's important to review their pricing structures to ensure that you can afford the PEO as your headcount increases.
• Experience and reputation. When managing your employees' HR data, it’s essential to thoroughly research the reputations of PEO providers. Have they worked in Kansas before? What kind of referrals have your colleagues given? Also, check online resources such as G2 and Capterra to read reviews from past and current clients.
• Benefits. Make sure the PEO's benefits align with employees' wants and needs while considering quality, range, and cost.
• Benefits renewal rates. How transparent are the PEOs about the cost of their benefits plans after the first year? Many PEOs increase their renewal rates unexpectedly, leaving businesses with additional costs or the trouble of looking for a new PEO in just one year. Choose a PEO that clearly communicates how its rates may change over time so you can anticipate any potential price increases.
• Integrations. Confirm how the PEO integrates with your existing systems, tools, and technology and whether it best fits your processes. 
• Does the PEO specialize in certain industries? If your business operates in a specialized industry, selecting a PEO with prior experience can help you prevent compliance issues down the line.
• Does the PEO specialize in certain legal or compliance issues? If your business needs to comply with federal or state regulations or address legal issues, consider partnering with a PEO with specialized experience.
• Your exit strategy. At some point, you might decide to stop working with the PEO, either because you want to manage your HR processes internally or because you want to try a different solution. However, leaving a PEO can be challenging, as it often requires you to remove all their systems and start again from scratch. To avoid any difficulties when leaving, it's a good idea to ask how they handle offboarding before choosing a PEO.

Why Rippling PEO is the right choice for your Kansas business

Rippling PEO is the first PEO to combine HR, IT, and Finance functionalities to simplify and streamline your busy work. Rippling runs on fast and easy-to-use modern software, unlike other PEOs that rely on decades-old software—allowing you to manage IT remotely and onboard employees in just 90 seconds!

We take care of critical compliance tasks, such as setting up state and local tax accounts and automatically flagging minimum wage and overtime violations—all while providing your team with access to high-quality benefits at affordable costs.

With Rippling, you get:

• All-in-one platform for HR, IT, and Finance
• Tools for efficiently managing remote teams, including tax registration, paperless onboarding, and device management
• Access to excellent benefits plans, plus below-average, transparent renewal rates
• Powerful and customizable reporting on any employee data and metrics
• Automatic flagging for federal, state, and local compliance infractions, along with recommended plans to fix each one
• Automated processes for risk management, including ACA and COBRA administration, anti-harassment training, and sending digital labor law posters to your employees
• Access to hundreds of HR resources, guides, and templates

If you ever decide to transition from Rippling PEO to our all-in-one workforce management platform, moving on and off is easy. Unlike other PEOs, your HR, payroll, and employee data will remain stored in your account, and your integrations with other systems will remain intact. Plus, your employees can continue using the same login credentials, so there are no interruptions or compliance gaps.

FAQs about PEOs in Kansas

What is a PEO, and how does it work?

A professional employer organization (PEO) is a service provider businesses can use to outsource their employee management and human resources. PEOs provide HR administration, payroll processing, benefits administration, risk management, and workers' compensation. Using a co-employment model, they typically become the legal employer of a company’s workforce for tax reasons. 

How does a PEO arrangement affect control over my employees?

Businesses control day-to-day operations, hiring, and company strategy, while the PEO manages HR compliance, risk management, tax filings, and employment-related onboarding.

What is a Certified PEO?

A Certified PEO (CPEO) is a PEO that has completed certification criteria offered by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). PEO providers can voluntarily choose to get certified by satisfying IRS criteria related to their expertise, background, finances, and reporting. Obtaining a CPEO status doesn’t represent an endorsement by the IRS. Since the laws have changed, the primary benefits of PEO certification are no longer applicable.

What size company can benefit from a PEO?

PEOs can benefit companies of all sizes, but they’re most helpful for small to medium-sized businesses. By outsourcing manual HR tasks, PEOs can enable small business owners to save on administrative costs while allowing their HR teams to focus on more strategic work. PEOs can also offer access to high-quality employee benefits plans, like health insurance, that the business may not have been able to access or afford on its own.

How does a PEO charge for its services?

When using PEOs, companies can expect to pay a flat fee or a percentage of the total payroll. The cost of services will vary based on the company's size, HR needs, and the services requested.

What is the implementation process, and how long does it take to go live?

After finalizing the contract with your new PEO, they will securely collect your employee data, including payroll, employment, and benefits information. They’ll also assess your current technology and processes to determine how they can integrate their systems to manage your human resources, payroll, and benefits administration.

After the setup, the PEO may organize sessions to introduce your employees to the new processes and benefits. They’ll also train your team on how to use their systems and offer ongoing support.

The duration of the process can vary from a few weeks to a couple of months, depending on the size and complexity of your business's needs.

Are PEOs regulated?

Yes, PEOs are subject to federal and state regulations. Many choose to be accredited by industry organizations for added credibility with prospective customers. 

Are PEOs in Kansas required to have special certifications or licenses?

PEOs in Kansas must register with the Commissioner of Insurance.

What happens if I want to terminate my relationship with a PEO?

As a business grows, the costs of working with a PEO may become too high, and you may find limitations on what your PEO can offer. However, due to outdated processes, most PEOs make ending the partnership disruptive and inefficient. Once the partnership ends, you must find new systems for your HR administration and keep track of compliance gaps in the process.

Switching from Rippling PEO to our all-in-one workforce management platform is seamless, leaving all your systems, data, and integrations intact.

In what states is Rippling PEO available?

Rippling PEO is available in all 50 US states.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.