PEO in Alabama [2024]

A professional employer organization (PEO) can help small to mid-sized businesses streamline and automate many of their HR functions, including payroll services, benefits administration, compliance and risk management, and workers’ compensation insurance. A PEO can help business owners reduce their administrative HR demands—while also providing employees with access to better, more affordable benefits. It’s a win-win.

Whether your business is based in Birmingham, Montgomery, Madison, or anywhere else in Alabama, there are many PEO services to choose from. And considering Alabama ranks near the bottom of US states for worker protections, wages, and rights, using a PEO to provide your employees with access to better benefits—with cost savings—could help make your business more competitive and attractive to top talent.

Before choosing a PEO, careful evaluation of your options is in order—and that’s where this article comes in. From automatic state tax registration to remote laptop management and more, Rippling PEO makes hiring and onboarding employees a breeze—in Alabama and across the US.

Benefits of using a PEO in Alabama

Using an Alabama PEO can help you reduce the administrative burden of your HR work, access better employee benefits at a lower cost, mitigate your compliance risks, and more.

Offload administrative HR work

A PEO acts as a co-employer for your business’s workforce. Under a co-employment relationship, you and the PEO share employer responsibilities. You become the worksite employer, deciding who to hire and let go, how much to pay your workers, and your company’s overall strategy and business operations (including marketing, sales, customer support, and research and development); the PEO becomes the administrative employer, responsible for employment-related human resources work like payroll, benefits administration, HR compliance, and more.

PEOs bring their experience and expertise to the table, combined with technology and established processes that make them better equipped to streamline HR management. And since they take all those administrative, manual processes off your plate, you get time back to focus on more important strategic work—the work that drives business outcomes for your organization.

Better employee benefits, at a lower price

A PEO doesn’t just work with your company—the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) says that nearly 1,000 different PEOs across the US co-employ 4.5 million workers at 200,000 businesses. And because each PEO “employs” so many people, they have the bargaining power to negotiate with health insurance and other benefits providers to help you access lower-cost plans for your employees.

Because of these economies of scale, PEOs are typically able to offer access to robust benefits plans, including healthcare, life and disability insurance, worksite benefits, mental health support, retirement plans, commuter benefits, dependent care, and more—often more comprehensive plans than small businesses could offer on their own. And when you can offer your employees access to these top benefits packages at affordable prices, it makes your workplace attractive and competitive, helping you recruit and retain top talent.

Under the Affordable Care Act, businesses with 50 or more full-time employees must provide health insurance benefits that meet federal standards. While Alabama doesn’t have any of its own laws requiring employers to provide healthcare coverage or other employee benefits, a PEO can still help employers in the state comply with federal regulations by providing access to high-quality, affordable healthcare plans.

Worry-free compliance with Alabama laws

A PEO won’t just help you comply with federal labor and employment laws like the ACA. It will also help you comply with state-level and local Alabama laws, which can be complex and are constantly changing—making it tough for small business owners to keep up.

Take the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Law, for example. It requires all Alabama businesses with five or more employees to provide them with workers’ compensation insurance (with a few exceptions, like if the employees are domestic workers, casual employees, or farm laborers). 

Failing to comply and offer the right coverage can result in stiff fines and penalties. But a PEO like Rippling will automatically flag violations and provide access to pay-as-you-go workers’ compensation insurance based on where your employees are located—so you always stay compliant.

PEOs can offer legal and compliance support for much more than just workers’ compensation coverage. They can also help you stay compliant with:

• Payroll regulations, from classifying employees and contractors correctly to issuing and filing tax forms; reporting, collecting, and depositing payroll taxes with the right tax authorities on time; and complying with other wage laws like overtime requirements
• Benefits laws, like the Affordable Care Act (ACA), COBRA, FSA, HSA, and any other benefits-related regulations that apply to your business
• Labor laws, like displaying state-required labor posters, following Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) laws, and more

Violating any of these laws can be costly—the IRS estimates that 40% of small businesses pay payroll penalties each year. Avoid compliance headaches with support from a PEO.

Dedicated support team

Small businesses and startups aren’t typically HR experts—and they don’t always have the resources to hire an expert HR team internally. That’s where a PEO comes in. PEOs are HR experts; when you join one, you gain access to their experience and expertise.

Your PEO becomes your partner, helping you save time and money by offering guidance on anything HR-related. That means they can help you with administering benefits, creating an employee handbook, training your management team, reviewing your safety practices, or any other task your HR team needs a hand with.

What to consider when evaluating a PEO service in Alabama

There are many PEO companies to choose from in Alabama. When considering a PEO, it’s important to choose the right one for your business needs. Here are some criteria you can use to evaluate PEOs and find the best fit for your organization:

• Your business needs. First, think about what you need from a PEO. Some of the most common PEO offerings include:
• Payroll processing
• Tax filing and compliance
• Benefits administration
• Recruiting and onboarding
• Safety compliance and risk management
• Time and attendance tracking
• Regulatory compliance
• HR outsourcing
• Your budget. Different PEO providers may have different pricing structures. Some may charge per-employee per-month fees, while others charge a percentage of each payroll run. When considering your budget and evaluating pricing, keep in mind that you’ll need to budget for the PEO’s future cost as you hire new employees.
• Experience and reputation. Consider whether the PEO has worked with other businesses in Alabama. Are those businesses in similar industries? You can also check review sites like G2 and Capterra to read about other clients’ experiences with the PEO.
• Benefits. Consider the range, quality, and cost of benefits plans you can access through the PEO and whether they align with what your employees want and need.
• Benefits renewal rates. Is the PEO transparent about cost increases after the first year? Some PEOs hike up renewal rates, resulting in unexpected costs for their clients. See if the PEO you’re considering publishes its rate changes so you can compare year-over-year costs and predict what future increases may look like.
• Integrations. Consider how the PEO will integrate with your existing systems, tools, and technology.
• Does the PEO specialize in certain industries? Consider whether you work in a niche industry that would benefit from a PEO with experience in that field.
• Does the PEO specialize in certain legal or compliance issues? Your business may need to meet specific federal or state regulations or address other legal issues. If so, you might benefit from finding a PEO with specialized expertise.
• Your exit strategy. While PEOs offer many benefits, you might not stay in your partnership with one forever. If you ever choose to move your HR processes in-house or go with another solution, consider how difficult it is to leave the PEO. Many PEOs require you to painfully rip out all their systems and start over from square one, which can be an expensive, time-consuming hassle.

Why Rippling PEO is the right choice for your Alabama business

Rippling PEO is the first PEO to bring together HR, IT, and Finance in one platform. That means all your manual and busy work becomes simple and streamlined, whether it’s onboarding new employees or managing IT remotely. While most PEOs run on software built in the 1980s, Rippling is a modern, fast, and easy-to-use solution.

Rippling takes care of all your critical compliance work—like setting up state and local tax accounts and automatically flagging minimum wage and overtime violations. Plus, your team gets access to Fortune 500-quality benefits at affordable costs.

With Rippling, you get:

• HR, IT, and Finance in one platform
• Powerful and customizable reporting on any employee data
• Tools for managing remote teams, including state and local tax registration, paperless onboarding, and app and device management
• Access to superior benefits plans, plus below-average, predictable renewal rates
• Automatic flagging for federal, state, and local compliance infractions, along with recommended plans to fix each one
• Automated risk management processes, 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

And unlike other PEOs, if you ever decide to bring HR in-house, it’s easy to switch to and from Rippling PEO. Instead of a painful rip-and-replace process, Rippling allows you to switch off the PEO and move seamlessly to our all-in-one workforce management platform. Your HR, payroll, and employee data remain in your account, your integrations stay intact, and all your employees can keep using Rippling with the same logins as before.

FAQs about PEOs in Alabama

What is a PEO, and how does it work?

A PEO partners with small to mid-size companies to provide HR services like payroll, benefits administration, HR management, and compliance assistance. They usually offer a co-employment model, where the PEO legally employs the company’s workers under their federal tax identification number (EIN).

How does a PEO arrangement affect control over my employees?

Under a co-employment model with a PEO, you retain full control over the day-to-day operations and management of all your employees, like deciding who to hire and fire and how much to pay them. The PEO handles HR functions and employment-related HR work.

What is a Certified PEO?

A Certified PEO (CPEO) is a PEO that meets specific IRS criteria related to its background, expertise, finances, and reporting. Getting certified is a completely voluntary process and doesn’t mean the PEO is endorsed by the IRS—it just means the PEO has passed a series of assessments. In the past, CPEO status meant a PEO could provide extra tax benefits to businesses. Today, those benefits are largely obsolete.

What size company can benefit from a PEO?

PEOs can serve businesses of any size and typically have clients ranging from small businesses to large corporations. However, small to mid-sized businesses typically stand to benefit the most from partnering with a PEO due to the potential admin cost savings and access to better-quality benefits at lower costs.

How does a PEO charge for its services?

Different PEOs use different pricing models, but two common ways they charge for their services are per-employee per-month fees or a percentage of each payroll run.

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

Once you decide to partner with a PEO and choose the provider you want to work with, they’ll often start by collecting necessary information about your employees, including payroll data, employment records, and benefits information. Then, they’ll set up their systems to handle your HR, payroll, and benefits administration, including integrating your technology with theirs, if necessary. They may conduct training sessions, onboard your employees, explain their processes and benefits, teach you how to use their technology and systems, and offer continuous support.

The implementation process varies from a few weeks to several months, depending on the size and complexity of your business’s needs.

Are PEOs regulated?

Yes. PEOs are subject to both federal and state regulations. Many also choose to seek accreditation from industry organizations for additional credibility.

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

Yes. In 2006, Alabama passed the Alabama Professional Employer Organization Registration Act. This state law requires all PEO service providers operating in Alabama to register with the Alabama Department of Labor. PEOs must renew their registration each year. Any PEO that fails to register is liable for civil penalties of $100 per day until they complete their registration. Some PEOs can operate in the State of Alabama with limited registration if they meet certain requirements, like being registered in another state with similar requirements to Alabama’s.

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

With most PEOs, terminating the relationship means removing all the PEO’s systems, which can be painful, inefficient, and disruptive to your business. Then, you have to start from scratch, replacing them with new systems for payroll processing, benefits administration, and anything else the PEO did for you.

With Rippling PEO, moving off the PEO is as easy as switching it off. You can then move to our all-in-one workforce management solution, where all your systems, data, and integrations stay intact.

In what states is Rippling PEO available?

Rippling PEO is available in all 50 US states.