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Partnership provides cost savings for payroll and benefits administration services.
New payroll processing, health care coverage and other services recently introduced by CU Service Network are designed to relieve a common pain point identified by credit union CEOs: Nearly three-quarters of the executives surveyed by the Lakewood, Colo., CUSO in 2016 listed human resources as a critical issue for the next three to five years, says President/CEO Doug Burke.
In response to those findings, CU Service Network has launched CU Works HR, a back-office HR solution provided in partnership with OnePoint HRO, Denver, to offer payroll processing services and the negotiation for and administration of employee benefits ranging from health care plans to 401(k) programs.
Credit union executives surveyed about HR challenges cited both the demands on their time and rising costs to offer competitive employee benefits, Burke says. CU Works HR will give CUs that sign on for payroll processing the option to work with OnePoint to negotiate better rates on health care, dental and vision coverage for employees and lower fees on the provision of retirement programs. Client credit unions also have the option to enter into a professional employment organization relationship with OnePoint—in effect to partner as a “co-employee” with the company in administering payroll and employee benefits.
Partnering with an experienced HR company may help credit unions navigate changing regulations involving the provision of health care and other employee benefits, Burke notes. “A key benefit in this environment is working with an organization that is already invested in being prepared and proactive in keeping pace with this evolving landscape.”
Cost savings are another potential advantage credit unions may want to investigate, he suggests. In researching OnePoint’s service offerings, CU Service Network found that the fees it would offer to credit unions through CU Works HR were, on average, about 30 percent cheaper than those charged by other providers. Its analysis showed that a credit union with 30-40 employees could save up to $20,000 annually for payroll processing and up to $40,000 in employee benefits costs by negotiating for services as part of a larger group, Burke says.
CU Works HR is designed to serve small credit unions with six to 10 employees up to mid-sized organizations with 200 employees, generally in the $40 million to $300 million asset range. Burke notes that larger credit unions typically have the staffing and systems in place to handle HR administrative challenges.
Karen Bankston is a long-time contributor to Credit Union Management and writes about credit unions, membership growth, marketing, operations and technology. She is the proprietor of Precision Prose, Eugene, Ore.
