Spotlight on Oasis Outsourcing
Since 1996, Oasis Outsourcing has ensured the success of their clients by offering outsourced human resources, employee benefits, payroll administration, risk management, and technology solutions. By placing high value on integrity and service, they have developed a business culture that helps both clients and employees thrive. Businesses receive the benefit of increased buying power resulting in cost savings while also experiencing relief from time consuming administrative duties.
We talked with Oasis to get answers for some commonly asked questions about partnering with a PEO:
1. Are you able to provide me with more affordable health insurance than I can find on my own?
Oasis: Oasis Outsourcing is the nation’s largest privately held PEO. Our size gives us a nationwide presence, a multitude of comprehensive offerings and buying power. That buying power allows our clients the opportunity to offer Fortune 500-type health insurance benefits that, in most cases, they can’t obtain on their own. We work with major carriers and offer a variety of plans to fit our clients’ needs.
2. Can I customize my benefit packages?
Oasis: Yes. Oasis Outsourcing offers health insurance plans from a variety of major carriers. In addition to medical plans, we offer dental insurance, vision insurance, short- and long-term disability insurance, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance and cancer insurance among others. We also offer employer-paid benefits such as an employee assistance program (EAP) and identity theft protection. In addition, we offer 401(k) plans, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), prepaid legal plans and college funds. Clients can elect to take advantage of any combination of our benefits offerings.
3. What does it take to get an employee up and running on your service? How does your onboarding process work?
Oasis: When a business partners with Oasis, one of the first items completed is the onboarding of employees. This process allows payroll processing to take place and benefits to be elected. The onboarding process can be done in a variety of ways, including face-to-face if needed. However, we recommend electronic onboarding (EOB) whenever possible. EOB eliminates the paperwork that accompanies this process. Our web-based EOB allows you and the employee to complete the process faster with increased accuracy than the traditional paper option. It also allows the employee to go through the process with little managerial involvement, saving time and money.
If you elect benefits with Oasis, our benefits team will provide information, answer questions and enroll your employees with the elections they choose. This includes traditional medical and dental insurance along with other offerings that may be selected such as vision, life insurance, 401(k) plans, etc. Following initial enrollment, our Employee Service Center is available to answer any employee questions and assist during open enrollment each year. Oasis also offers My Benefits Connect, which allows employees to enroll for benefits online if they so choose.
4. How much interaction is there between the PEO and my employees? How and where does the interaction take place?
Oasis: After the initial onboarding process, face-to-face interaction between Oasis and your employees is on an as-needed basis as defined by your specific needs such as safety training etc.
Oasis will typically communicate with your employees via email or mail regarding legal notices (e.g. W-2s), general service notifications (e.g. employee discount programs and employee newsletter) and open enrollment for benefits. Employees are able to contact the Employee Service Center to talk through benefits options and enroll. Employees are also given access to the Oasis Employee Services Website where they can view their paystubs, paid-time-off and benefits.
5. How much liability goes to the PEO vs. the business owner if there is a legal action against the company (sexual harassment, wrongful termination, etc.)? How much assistance does the PEO provide in settling these disputes and at what cost to me?
Oasis: As an Oasis Outsourcing client, you are covered by an Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) policy which provides $1 million in aggregate coverage per client per policy year. This covers defense costs for discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination and workplace torts claims brought by covered employees, former covered employees and/or applicants for employment. Clients are responsible for the first $25,000 incurred per claim.
While all claims cannot be avoided, Oasis offers its clients an avoidance and minimization of risk approach that includes HR tools and consultations that help reduce the likelihood of a claim. If a claim does occur, our expert staff and outside counsel are actively engaged in the resolution.
6. Who handles state unemployment taxes (SUTA) and claims? Do I have to do anything, and what is the extent of my involvement?
Oasis: Oasis Outsourcing, as your PEO, will pay and file the returns for Oasis-issued payrolls. Your company would be responsible for any taxes for non Oasis-issued payrolls (including payrolls done during the months or years before your company elected to become an Oasis client).
7. It isn’t clear to me what aspects of my workforce administration the PEO handles. How does this work?
Oasis: When you partner with Oasis Outsourcing, you gain access to Oasis’ workforce solutions in the areas of HR, Benefits, Payroll and Risk Management. Oasis’ certified HR experts understand and track federal and state laws that affect your business. In doing so, we help ensure business compliance, while you focus on your core business. Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) administration, I-9 compliance and New Hire reporting are just a few areas in which Oasis assists with compliance. In the area of HR, Oasis also provides a federally compliant handbook (customized and state-specific versions are available upon request), coordinates unemployment claims responses and provides an HR Service Center to assist clients with employee-related matters.
From a benefits perspective, Oasis handles the annual open enrollment of benefits for your employees. Oasis manages the required communications, the actual sign up of benefits (for new hires and changes made by existing employees), distribution of medical cards etc. Oasis plans are all Healthcare Reform compliant and our in-house experts assist clients with the various regulations and administrative requirements that the Affordable Care Act has brought to businesses.
It’s important to note that Oasis also has a dedicated Employee Service Center that handles employee questions related to benefits enrollment and other employee-related matters. Employees can call the center to ask questions and enroll in benefits.
Oasis handles the payroll processing, including administrative tasks, such as garnishments, for its clients. This includes automatic tracking of time off, job costings, and salary, job and rate allocation. We offer a robust, web-based payroll system that allows you access to standard and ad hoc reports and gives you 24/7 access with an internet connection.
As a PEO partner, Oasis assists its clients in housing a safe work environment. On an as-needed basis, we work with our clients to minimize risk and our Workers’ Compensation Department is skilled in working with claims and return-to-work coordination.
8. What kind of training and development offerings do you offer? In what areas are they available and is it offered online, onsite, or in a classroom?
Oasis: The Employee Services Website houses training and development offerings for our client employees. We offer free access to the eLearning portal, which includes more than 400 courses on professional skills such as critical thinking, effective presentations, team skills, communication and more. Additionally, the eLearning center offers courses on the Microsoft Office products. Courses are available 24/7 and allow employees to stop and start at their convenience and are accessible from work or home. Courses accommodate metrics analysis by including tests that must be passed before moving on to the next area. More than 2,000 additional courses are available at nominal fees per the client’s discretion.
As another benefit of our size and buying power, Oasis offers a variety of discount programs for employees. Programs range from retail, to travel to identity theft protection. Information on all of these programs is available on the Employee Services Website and employees can choose to take advantage of as many as they like. New offerings are added from time to time based on requests and savings to the employees.
9. How do you assure me you have remitted my state and federal taxes?
Oasis: Oasis is accredited by the Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC). The ESAC is the nationally recognized financial assurance, standard-setting and monitoring entity for the PEO industry. This voluntary accreditation ensures that Oasis follows the ethical, financial and operational standards and requires quarterly reports, which include an independent CPA’s verification of timely and accurate payments of all payroll taxes, benefit contributions and insurance premiums. Oasis is also SOC 1 (formerly SAS 70) Type II certified. This audit is considered a gold standard for service providers and it evaluates controls related to tax filings, payroll processing, data security and more.
10. What makes your PEO unique?
Oasis Outsourcing is one of the nation’s largest PEOs (and the largest privately held PEO). This distinction allows us to offer a comprehensive suite of offerings that may be more expansive than some PEOs.
One of our unique characteristics is our flexibility. While we offer a complete package of products and services, we allow our clients the flexibility to choose those that make the most business sense for them instead of forcing them into a one-size-fits-all service. This customized approach allows our clients to take advantage of the services that work best for their unique needs.
Oasis’ mission is centered on being service-obsessed. We meet that mission in a variety of ways:
- through our innovative technology solutions which are focused on efficiency and ease of use for our clients and their employees
- through our HR-certified professionals who provide guidance and expertise to our clients on a variety of HR-related topics and concerns
- through our overall customer service in which we are consistently rated in the high 90th percentile (based on 2014 client survey data)
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