Page 142 - The UnCaptive Agent

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED AND WHEN YOU’LL NEED THEM 115

not complicated or difficult to take a sample manual
and modify it for your unique use.
An option you may want to consider is the use of a
Professional Employer Organization or PEO. The use of
PEOs has become widespread among all types of busi-
nesses. Originally, these organizations arose as a means
of helping employers control workers’ compensation
expenses. While that is no longer a primary motivation,
smaller employers do find they are able to offer a broader
array of health insurance and employee benefits, and at
a lower cost, than they would be able to on their own.
A use of a PEO also means you do not have to set up
workers’ compensation insurance or federal and state
unemployment insurance accounts. PEOs also assist
small businesses with payroll services. As a byproduct of
becoming a “co-employer,” PEOs may offer their clients
employee manuals and employee assistance plans (EAPs)
and provide many professional HR policies, procedures,
practices, and assistance that only much larger businesses
can afford to provide for themselves.
Having established your employment practices, you
now need to develop employee agreements. Most states
in the United States have what are known as at-will
employment provisions in their employment law. This
means that you employ people, and they accept employ-
ment, based on mutual agreement. That employment
may be terminated by either party at any time with no
notice or reason given. Obviously, this is very flexible,
and the law generally does not require that you have any-
thing in writing regarding your employment agreements.

Protecting Your Business with Employee Agreements

In our business, written agreements are critically import-
ant. The value of an insurance agency lies primarily in its