Why a Professional Employer Organization is the Only Way to Manage Your Section 125 Plans

Posted May 15, 2014 by Layne Davlin
Atlanta Section 125 Plans

Secure the highest returns with help from a Professional Employer Organization.

If you’re thinking of bringing a new addition to your benefits program, consider getting the help of a Professional Employer Organization, or PEO. These firms make outsourcing to qualified talent easy. If there’s one thing you want when dealing with Section 125 plans and the like it’s an expert. While widely misunderstood, these plans are beneficial enough to make a real difference, if you’re setting them up right.

PEOs Source Highly-Skilled Workers

Use a PEO to find experienced staff to help you set up your Section 125 account. They plans go by many names. You might have heard them called mini-flex, flexible benefit or cafeteria plans. They’re also regularly called Section 125s. Straight out of the gate, they can be confusing, even to HR professionals who haven’t worked with them before.

These programs are flexible, meaning they take customization at the time they’re established. It isn’t simply a matter of how much your employee opts to pay in. Adding to the confusion are specific rules put into effect by state governments, like Massachusetts.

You Need Experts to Maximize Your Savings

Instead of delegating your dollars between one or two separate plans, a Section 125 allows you to customize one savings plan that provides for all of your needs. Enrollees customize their own plans by choosing between qualified benefit programs. These include life insurance, health insurance, flexible spending accounts and similar products.

It helps to have an expert available to explain particular aspects of programs. For instance, a Section 125 plan allows for medical reimbursement for a wider range of services you might not immediately associate with healthcare. You may be surprised you qualify for reimbursement for tuition for a special school for kids with learning disabilities or lead paint removal. Lease a knowledgeable benefits pro to get the most bang for your bucks.

Preserve the Privacy of Your Workers With Outside Help

Benefit selection and management has been at the heart of more than one bout of office politics. Sensitive information gets leaked. The wrong people wind up with someone else’s information. Feuds and rumormongering disrupt your workplace.

An employee leased through a Professional Employer Organization can be trusted to finalize enrollments and maintain accounts without spreading gossip. Also, your employees may simply feel more comfortable discussing their benefits with someone from outside the company.

How Your Business Benefits From Section 125 Programs

Typically, people think of benefit programs from the employee’s point of view, but Section 125 plans are very attractive to businesses for an important reason. When maximized, they can save you a significant amount of money. Every dollar spent is money excluded from taxable income, meaning both employee and business spends less on FICA dollars.

It takes a skilled hand to get the most from a cafeteria plan. Not only do you encourage participation by farming this work out to a separate company, but you can get affordable help from an expert. Max out your benefits, make your workers happy and enjoy big savings when you work with a PEO employee on your Section 125 plan.

Get all the latest and most reliable information on Professional Employer Organization by subscribing to our free newsletter here.