Many small and medium-sized businesses are struggling to deal with the growing burden of employment-related legislation, but help is originating from a growing range of sources, as FSN contributing editor, Lesley Meall discovers.
Keeping on top of the rising tide of employment-related legislation has never been easy, but the current economic climate has made many small and medium-sized organisations acutely aware of just how complex and challenging their responsibilities are. “Over the past 18 to 24 months we have seen a steady increase in the number of clients using the Sage HR Advice service,” reports Matthew Forrest, from the small business division at Sage, where he is head of commercial marketing.
Sage HR Advice is one of a growing number of web-based services designed to provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) with (some or all of) the specialist human resources (HR) advice and support they need, as and when they need it, and Sage is not the only small business software developer to offer access to them. Iris and Pegasus are also dipping their toes into the water (of which more later), and it’s not hard to understand why.
When Pegasus asked the finance directors in its customer base about their HR experiences, many of them saw it as a growing burden. More than half (59 per cent) reported that dealing with HR and payroll issues was taking up more time than it did two years ago, 55 per cent were spending more than 10 per cent of their time dealing with such issues, and one in five was spending more than 25 per cent of the working week on HR. “That’s why we developed Pegasus HR,” says Stuart Anderson, Pegasus operations director.
Sources of support
The legislation that can potentially impact on HR is complex, there is a never-ending stream of it, and staying on the right side of the law can be tricky even for very large enterprises; but it is particularly difficult for SMEs. So services that exploit technology to provide affordable access to the sort of resources and support that would small otherwise be the preserve of the very large, and those with very deep pockets, is very good news for many small businesses – if they can find their way through the array of offerings to something that meets their needs.
As well as the services being offered by software developers, numerous other organisations also provide specialist HR services. They include big names such as Ceridian, Croner, Northgate Information Solutions (which includes the SME services of Liquid HR), and the Tenon Group, to smaller organisations such as BusinessHR.net, EmploymentProblem.info and Peopletime, the regional Pay & Employment Rights Service and the trade body Intellect.
Some of them offer HR advice as part of a broader range of HR services, some offer totally outsourced HR (which includes online or telephone help), some provide free (but limited) access to documents and support online (to all-comers) and back this up with (paid for) telephone support, some provide various ‘packaged’ solutions that offer varying combinations and levels of support. The costs and the way they are levied also vary widely. There are subscription-based services, pay-as-you-go ‘on-demand’ services, services that are free to members, and other variations on the theme.
Spoiled for choice?
Just collecting together the relevant information on services and pricing is a job creation scheme, before you can begin to try to do any meaningful comparisons, or carry out an even vaguely well-informed cost-benefit analysis. So when SMEs do want to avail themselves of this sort of service, many take the path of least resistance, and opt for something that has been recommended by their accountant or another ‘trusted’ advisor, follow in the footsteps of a business associate or friend, or stick with a provider they already have a relationship with.
This brings us back to small business software developers and the services they are offering: some of which have been around for a couple of years, and others which are more recent. Even if they would not be at the top of your list of options, they merit a closer look, because they demonstrate the range of services you can expect in terms of HR advice and support, as well as the various approaches to service provision, ways of paying for this, and the different amounts of money a small business could potentially spend.
Sage HR Advice, for example, comes in two versions. ‘Standard’ includes online access to a database of HR-specific ‘best-practice’ guidance on issues such as discipline, equal opportunities and redundancy, access to an online bank of answers to frequently asked questions, plus email alerts about forthcoming changes to law - before they happen. The ‘Professional’ version supplements this with compliance and reporting features plus access to a qualified HR professional over the telephone (weekdays 9-5) and by email (with a response guaranteed within 48-hours).
A 12-month contract for the Standard version costs from £135 + VAT – but this is the price for a business with up to 10 employees on the payroll; up to 50 users will cost £275, up to 100 is £430, up to 250 is £565 and up to 500 is £645. The Professional version is also charged on a sliding scale starting at £320 for 10 employees, and ranging up to £1345 for between 251 and 500 employees. But these are the prices for standalone services, and some (but not all) users of Sage software will find that they can get a much better deal. Buy Sage 50 Accounts Plus 2010 or Sage 50 Accounts Professional 2010, for instance, and if you sign up for Sage Cover, access to Sage HR Advice is free.
The same, but different
Iris also offers an HR and legal help line and February 2009 saw the introduction of Pegasus HR, which provides a range of services. On-demand access to its online database of HR letters, forms, policies, a sample staff handbook, plus guides for recruitment, appraisal, discipline and other employment issues is made freely available to all Pegasus customers with a current Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC), while non-Pegasus customers are charged an annual fee of £360.
All of this is not unlike Sage HR Advice. But the range of additional HR services and the way that these are provided and charged for is different. If Pegasus HR customers with an AMC and non-Pegasus want to be able to get telephone and email access to more personalised HR advice, they are charged for this either via subscription or on a pay-as-you-go basis (£95 for one hour). Pegasus customers can also go a step further and arrange on-site visits from HR experts, or utilise specialist consultancy services – because Pegasus HR is a re-badged/outsourced offering based on BusinessHR.net, itself a specialist provider of HR advice and services.
As well as offering the services provided through Pegasus HR, BusinessHR.net offers a suite of care packages. These include limited or unlimited access to the HR help line plus a broader range of HR-related services, including a monthly newsletter, annual visit from an HR expert, a legal compliance service, plus insurance (from Hiscox), which can provide cover for the legal costs associated with a range of discrimination, employment, health and safety, and wider HR-related legal issues – including taxation claims, data protection claims and losses due to employee dishonesty.
Clearly, these types of specialist HR advice and support services have the potential to make life easier – and less worrying - for many SMEs, to varying degrees. They can alleviate the burden of keeping up-to-date with legislation, simplify compliance, reduce the risk of not acting fairly or legitimately as an employer, and even provide reassurance that if something, somehow goes awry, they can cover the cost of legal assistance. So although HR-related legislation has never been more challenging for SMEs, there have never been more sources of help.
