A gender pay disparity case is unsettled again following a U.S. Supreme Court decision this week to overturn a lower court ruling. Because of a technicality, the Supreme Court vacated an April 2018 ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals preventing employers from using a woman’s compensation history as a justification for paying…
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The shootings at the Henry Pratt Co. plant in Aurora, Ill. are a tragic reminder of how deadly confrontations in the workplace are all too real. These types of situations give employers a more heightened awareness about the possibility for violence to occur. But steps can be taken to help lessen the risk, human resources…
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The record-keeping rule from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is again in effect. OSHA requires many businesses with more than 10 employees whose work involves a higher level of risk to keep a record of serious work-related illnesses and injuries from the previous year. An OSHA Form 300 is used to keep a detailed…
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Kansas lawmakers are considering two bills that would amend and improve a statute pertaining to professional employer organizations and employment security tax filings. Syndeo president Bill Maness and industry representatives are among those advocating for the change. Maness testified before Kansas House of Representatives and Kansas Senate committees in Topeka this week along with Michael…
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Bringing in qualified employees is a great way to increase your company’s chances for growth and success. But in reality, it’s about so much more than that. When trying to attract new talent, the goal is always to bring in the best of the best. Landing top talent sometimes requires us to implement new strategies…
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E-Verify is back up and running. The web-based employment verification program has resumed operations following the partial shutdown of the federal government that lasted more than a month. Now, employers who use E-Verify have until Feb. 11 to log employees who were hired when the program was unavailable. Though service was disrupted, employers still were…
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Hiring and training new employees is a big investment, meaning optimal hiring practices are essential if employers want to avoid the high costs of employee turnover. When it comes to hiring candidates who will be successful in the long run, it all starts with asking the right questions during the interview process. Developing a list…
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Jenna Marceau and Syndeo are receiving national attention. Bizwomen selected Marceau, Syndeo’s director of implementation and systems management, as a 2018 “Headliner” in the professional services sector. Bizwoman is a digital news platform featuring stories and information about women in business across the U.S. and is an arm of Charlotte-based American City Business Journals. Headliners…
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More respect. More say in company decisions. A seat at the executive conference table. These are the things most managers, department heads and team leads want. At the same time, C-suite executives want their leaders to be more strategic and proactive. Here are six actionable ways you can increase your strategic leadership skills AND impact…
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Changes to the federal overtime law are expected to be at the forefront of U.S. Department of Labor discussions early in 2019. At issue is the threshold at which a salaried employee would be eligible to receive overtime pay. A change could make millions more Americans overtime eligible and likely increase employment costs for employers…
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The list features a familiar Syndeo name. Kate Rhea, one of Syndeo’s HR business partners, has been selected to the 2019 class for the Wichita Business Journal’s HR Professionals Awards. “We couldn’t be prouder of her inclusion in this class,” says Bill Maness, Syndeo’s president. “She is an outstanding representation of the efforts by all…
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Businesses can expect to pay more to reimburse their employees for work-related travel. The IRS recently issued its 2019 optional standard mileage rates that will be used to calculate deductible costs for employees to operate an automobile for business, medical, moving or charitable purposes. The rate for general business travel is increasing to 58 cents…
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Note: This part of a series of stories aimed at encouraging businesses to think proactively about safety. Safety is the responsibility of everyone within a company. While management sets safety policies and procedures, it’s up to employees to keep safe themselves and others around them by following those protocols. Management and employees working in…
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Note: This part of a series of stories aimed at encouraging businesses to think proactively about safety. Creating a culture of safety doesn’t come without some work from a company’s management and its employees. A collaborative approach, however, can lead to lower instances of workplace injuries and workers’ compensation claims. Adhering to these seven…
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Did you know that recent studies show that 71 percent of employees are not engaged at work? Without a desire to work hard, employees cannot contribute to the team’s collaborative goals and efforts, causing the business to under perform. If employees are apathetic or disengaged with their work routine, something needs to be changed quickly….
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Being intentional about your organization’s culture is good for your staff, customers and, of course, your bottom line. Open communication, being inclusive, leading by example, living the company’s values, working with purpose and focusing on people over profits are all ways to build a company culture your employees will love. What is Workplace Culture? A…
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Syndeo Outsourcing is part of an ongoing national dialogue about how to advance the professional employer organization (PEO) industry. It’s an issue for which Bill Maness, Syndeo’s founder and president, has a passion and one he had the opportunity to address during the annual conference of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations. “I saw…
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Add Leadership Wichita graduate to the list of Kevin Steckley’s accomplishments. Steckley, senior business development partner with Syndeo Outsourcing, recently completed a nearly three-month leadership development program put on by the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce. He was one of 31 people from organizations large and small who were selected to participate in this year’s…
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Burnout is something everyone experiences in the workplace at one time or another. Projects become overwhelming, leaders or clients set unrealistic expectations, and employees start losing sleep, productivity and satisfaction. As a leader, human resources professional or decision-maker, you have the ability to create a burnout-free workplace. Challenging situations will inevitably arise from time to…
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Note: This part of a series of stories aimed at encouraging businesses to think proactively about safety. What is a safety culture? Unlike a safety program, which has a start and end date, a culture is a philosophy: How we live, how we think and how we act. Building a proactive safety culture is…
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Note: This part of a series of stories aimed at encouraging businesses to think proactively about safety. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued employers thousands of citations for safety violations this year. Companies have been slapped with nearly 30,000 violations through the first three quarters of 2018, according to OSHA data. And many…
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Note: This part of a series of stories aimed at encouraging businesses to think proactively about safety. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching a new program to crack down on employers with high incidences of workplace injuries. OSHA’s site-specific initiative will target for inspection manufacturing and non-manufacturing employers with high injury rates….
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The market for top candidates is competitive. With companies offering a laundry list of perks, how can you make yours stand out and attract the best candidates? You get what you pay for As you know, acquiring the best, top-of-the-line option of anything usually requires opening your wallet and shelling out some extra cash. Attracting…
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The Wichita Business Journal selected Jenna Marceau to participate in its Emerging Leaders program. Marceau, director of implementation and systems management at Syndeo Outsourcing, is one of 76 young professionals from companies across the Wichita area who are participating in the program. The Wichita Business Journal created the Emerging Leaders program, now in its fourth…
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Syndeo Outsourcing is again on the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. Wichita-based Syndeo landed at No. 3,147 on the annual Inc. list with a three-year growth rate of 126 percent. This marks the second-consecutive year the company, which provides human resources consulting and outsourcing, employee benefits administration, payroll services,…
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Add another honor to the list. Syndeo Outsourcing has been selected as a Wichita Business Journal Best Places to Work Finalist for the second consecutive year. This year’s competition – albeit a friendly one – includes 44 local companies that are divided into small, medium and large categories based on employee count. Syndeo is a…
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Proper documentation is a key component of managing employee performance. Human resources experts say documentation should be thorough because poor documentation can be worse than having no documentation of employee performance. Tonja Sowder, Vice President of Human Resources at Syndeo Outsourcing, says proper documentation protects employer liability and lessens litigious action. She says documentation also…
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If a large weight appears to have been lifted off Glenda Buche’s shoulders. It has. She marked the end of a strenuous five-months-long process on Sept. 29 by earning her Certified Payroll Professional designation through the American Payroll Association. Buche, senior payroll leader at Syndeo Outsourcing, only needed one word to describe her feelings about…
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Bill Maness, president and CEO of Syndeo Outsourcing, has been elected as a board member for the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations. He is one of 24 members of NAPEO’s board of directors. Of that, 22 are from NAPEO member organizations. Two board members are from associate member companies, essentially service providers to the…
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The outsourced human resources industry is alive and well. New research shows professional employer organizations (PEO) accounted for 3.7 million worksite employees working for roughly 175,000 businesses nationwide, according to a study commissioned by the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations. The analysis, completed by human resources analytics firm McBassi & Co. Inc., estimates PEO…
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As a small business owner, there will come a point when you need extra help and will start thinking about hiring either a full-time employee or an outside contractor. Don’t make the mistake of thinking they are the same thing. They aren’t. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of hiring employees vs. independent contractors…
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Soon students and new graduates will be flooding into the workspace over the summer and throughout the year looking for internships. As an employer, it’s tempting to bring on interns in hopes of offering a “permanent” job later on down the road. Whether it’s a paid or unpaid internship, you do have to be mindful…
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As the middle of 2018 draws near, we can now get a better grasp on the HR trends that are on the rise and weed out the predictions that didn’t take hold. With older generations moving on, younger generations moving in, artificial intelligence taking over and the need to cultivate a more diverse work environment,…
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Our nation’s workforce continues to evolve in its ideas, products, processes and services while at the same time being affected by naturally occurring demographic shifts. Our aging Baby Boomer generation is being replaced by Millennials and, eventually, Generation Z. These changes have, and will continue to, result in a more competitive economy that affects the…
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Ask anyone in the workforce what they most desire from their superiors, and the answer is likely to be treated with dignity and respect. In the workplace, over half of employees feel that they don’t regularly get respect from upper management. This is important to pay attention to because employees report that being treated with…
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When people think about company culture, they often think of open, collaborative floor plans, company-provided gym memberships and lunches, plus unlimited vacation time. Although these on-the-job perks can play into employee morale and retention, building a great company culture doesn’t involve an office redesign or an updated employee benefits sheet. By making your company personal,…
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W-2 tax forms should be mailed to you or delivered electronically before January 31st. A W-2 that was mailed may take a few days to make it to your mailbox, but if you still haven’t received it after the first week of February, there are four steps to take so you can begin filing your…
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As you may have guessed, the future is leaning towards remote work. In a survey conducted at London Business School’s Global Leadership Summit, of the 600 executives, entrepreneurs and business academics in attendance, 34 percent said more than 50 percent of their full-time workforce would be working remotely within three years. And 25 percent said…
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Some businesses with 25 to 50 employees were grandfathered into old health care plans that will no longer be available. Businesses who currently have coverage through a grandfathered plan will need to transition to an Affordable Care Act (ACA) plan with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2018. The new ACA plan comes with a…
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Due to technology, medicine, and improvements in public health, people are living longer. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. life expectancy reached 78.8 years in 2014. Physical activity and healthy eating habits have also contributed to this and, in turn, these new ways of living and our longer lifespans are…
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