Benefits administration is no easy gig — not surprisingly, considering there is an industry committed to handling this alone. And in all honesty, it gets harder every year to figure out the details of employee benefits by yourself. If you mess up, the cost is high — if you don?t provide health insurance for qualified employees, for example, you?ll be fined $2,000. And if the IRS finds that you were negligent in your tax reportings, you could be hit with a 20% penalty.

One way you can deal with the constant shifts in benefits administration is to opt for benefits administration software. This tool can help you keep on top of the details important to taking care of your employees. Here?s a few other important things you should know about human resources when it comes to benefit administration.

Group Health Insurance for Small Businesses

If you?re a company with over 50 employees, you?re mandated to provide them with health insurance coverage; and not surprisingly, many businesses with under 50 employees decide to opt in anyway (it can be an essential recruitment tool in many industries). Employer-based coverage is the largest source of health insurance for Americans, and in most cases your final cost will be determined by the size of your company, age of employees, and location. Many businesses choose to cover a percentage of the insurance cost for their employees.

Part Time Employee Health Benefits

Are you required to offer health benefits to part time employees? In most cases, the answer is no, and 20 hours a week is typically the lowest minimum that would qualify someone to receive benefits under law. In most cases, employers might decide to offer part time employee health benefits as a way to retain employees while still, perhaps, not needing to pay out quite as much in benefits as they would be required to for a full time employee. About 50% of employees say that the benefits they do receive are an important reason for sticking with their current employer.

There?s a reason that nearly 60% of companies plan to make a major human resources software purchase in the next year and a half. Will your company be on board? Let us know!