PEO in Oklahoma [2024]

Companies can outsource their time-consuming administrative tasks and access top-notch benefits packages with a professional employer organization (PEO). By co-employing your workforce, PEOs assume responsibility for handling HR duties like payroll processing, tax registration, and compliance with employment laws on a company’s behalf. This allows businesses to focus on strategic issues instead of trudging through neverending paperwork.

Oklahoma business owners keen on saving time on taxes and money on big-company benefits packages that allure top talent have much to gain from partnering with a PEO. You can comply with workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance, and state income tax requirements stress-free while accessing trusted advice on any HR issue that comes your way.

But amid all the PEO options, which works best for your company? Whether your employees live in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Edmond, or elsewhere in the Sooner State, this guide will help you evaluate PEOs and select the option best suited for your business. Rippling PEO, for instance, makes it easy to hire, onboard, and manage your Oklahoma-based workforce by automatically registering employees for taxes, distributing laptops to new remote workers, and much more.

Benefits of using a PEO in Oklahoma

Handing off critical HR tasks can mean more time for big-picture projects, cost savings, expert guidance, and more benefits to help your business thrive. Here’s a closer look at what companies can gain from partnering with a PEO.  

Offload administrative HR work

PEOs co-employ your workforce. In this HR outsourcing partnership—referred to by the Oklahoma Insurance Department as a professional employer agreement—your company and the PEO provider assume responsibility for different parts of your business. Your company remains the worksite employer and maintains full authority over personnel decisions—who to hire, what to pay them, how to manage them—and core business operations from sales to research and development. 

Meanwhile, the PEO becomes your administrative employer, employing your workforce under its own federal employer identification number (EIN). This allows the provider to handle administrative services like payroll, tax registration, benefits administration, compliance, and other HR tasks on your company’s behalf. In Oklahoma, PEOs register their partnership with a client company at the state’s Oklahoma City-based Insurance Department. 

Outsourcing your administrative burden to a PEO takes time-consuming administrative work off your plate, allowing your HR team to focus on more strategic projects, like growing your company.

Better employee benefits, at a lower price

According to the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO), PEOs co-employ 4.5 million workers across 200,000 businesses in the US. This collective partnering with so many companies creates economies of scale that allow the PEOs to bargain for more cost-effective benefits packages with third-party providers—which is especially beneficial for smaller businesses that don’t otherwise have access. These benefits plans include: 

• Comprehensive health insurance (including dental, vision, and mental health coverage)
• Disability 
• Retirement plans
• Meal stipends
• Commuter stipends

Better benefits at lower costs allow companies to hire and keep top talent, all while remaining profitable. According to the NAPEO, companies that partner with PEOs have as much as 14% lower employee turnover—while being 16% likelier to see profitability. 

Worry-free compliance with Oklahoma laws

It’s essential for businesses to abide by federal, state, and local employment laws—in Oklahoma and wherever else they hire. Since there’s so much variability between jurisdictions (and local laws often change), keeping track of all the regulations can get tricky. And while Oklahoma defers to federal guidelines on most employment laws, the state has its own progressive income tax as well as unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation coverage schemes.

PEOs help monitor and ensure compliance with every relevant law, relieving your HR team of the headaches that come from combing through every regulation wherever you hire. Rippling, for instance, automatically flags compliance issues and recommends how to solve them to avoid penalties.

PEOs also offer reliable compliance support for:

• Payroll: Register and file for Oklahoma’s payroll taxes, make the right withholdings, and pay the correct agencies on time. PEO service providers can also ensure you log employees in the Oklahoma Employer New Hire Reporting System within 20 days of their hiring date, per state rules.
• Benefits: Stay on top of federal healthcare requirements for the Affordable Care Act, COBRA, FSA, and HSA, along with Oklahoma’s state unemployment insurance contributions via the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) and workers’ compensation coverage via the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission (OWCC). 
• Employment laws: Follow federal guidelines, including Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) requirements along with Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) criteria. You can also avoid misclassifying employees as independent contractors, sparing your business steep fines. 

Oklahoma tax authorities can charge 5% in penalties for late tax filings and an additional 1.25% interest rate every month. And according to the IRS, 40% of small businesses pay payroll penalties annually. PEOs can help you avoid any costly mishaps. 

Dedicated support team

Apart from taking work off your plate, PEOs also offer expert advice whenever your company needs a hand with any and all things human resources. Whether you have questions about tax filing paperwork, difficult-to-interpret employment laws, or compliant workplace posters, PEOs grant you on-call access to professionals who give the support you need. Standout PEOs may also provide templates and other educational information on HR topics like workplace safety and performance reviews.

What to consider when evaluating a PEO service in Oklahoma

Amid the breadth of PEO providers to choose from in Oklahoma, use the criteria below to determine the best option for your company. 

• Your business needs. The PEO should be equipped to handle the current size of your workforce, your future growth plans, and the HR functions your company could use a hand with, including:
• Payroll processing
• Tax registration and filing
• Compliance and risk management
• Benefits administration
• Recruiting and onboarding
• Time and attendance tracking
• Your budget. Typically, PEOs either charge a fixed monthly fee per employee or a percentage of your total payroll. Either way, the solution may get pricier as your headcount grows, so plan accordingly.
• Experience and reputation. See which Oklahoma PEO services HR professionals in your orbit rave about. Online review sites like G2 and Capterra provide honest client feedback on PEOs in action. 
• Benefits. Evaluate the size and scope of benefits packages you can access via different providers. Compare price ranges and whether they meet your employees’ wants and needs.
• Benefits renewal rates. While a PEO may offer a tempting intro rate, some options impose a steep price hike after the first year, leaving companies scrambling for a more affordable option. Look for companies that are transparent about how renewal rates will change over time. 
• Integrations. It helps if PEOs mesh well with collaboration tools and apps your team already uses. Providers using modern software that’s interoperable with other systems stand out here. 
• Does the PEO specialize in certain industries? Some PEOs are tailored to specific industries, like staffing or construction. If you’re one of the many Oklahoma businesses in the renewable energy or agriculture sector, for instance, research whether your industry could benefit from a specialized PEO option.
• Does the PEO specialize in certain legal or compliance issues? Your business may have certain state or industry-specific legal needs. Oklahoma, for example, is a major hub for airplane repairs, subject to regulations from the aviation industry. See if a PEO can cater to any niche needs. 
• Your exit strategy. If your company grows to the point where moving off a PEO makes more financial sense, you’ll need to find a new solution or bring all your HR functions in-house. Some PEOs make the transition a pain, requiring you to ditch the systems that hold your important employee data. Look for PEO options that let you move on and off with minimal disruption.

Why Rippling PEO is the right choice for your Oklahoma business

Rippling PEO pioneered syncing HR, IT, and Finance in a single, multifunctional platform. Our modern, easy-to-use software automates your most arduous administrative work, from onboarding new hires in 90 seconds to immediately configuring and shipping their new laptops. 

Our system also protects you from any compliance issues. We register state and local tax accounts, automatically flag wage and overtime violations, and help you access top-tier benefits at affordable costs. 

With Rippling, you get:

• An all-in-one HR, IT, and Finance solution
• Customizable reporting on employee data that you can easily share with your team and update to track new metrics whenever conditions change 
• Tools for managing remote teams, including state and local tax registration, remote I-9 verification, and configuring apps into new employee devices
• Access to Fortune 500-quality benefits packages with below-average renewal rates
• Automatic monitoring of compliance infractions, with proactive recommendations for solutions
• Trusted expertise handling workers’ compensation insurance, ACA and COBRA administration, digital labor law poster distribution, and updates to federal, state, and local tax rates
• Full access to hundreds of HR resources, guides, and templates—like an employee handbook builder and performance review tools 

You also won’t need to worry about when it’s time to move on. With Rippling, you can transition away from the PEO whenever you’re ready to leave, all while preserving the same systems, integrations, and logins in our all-in-one workforce management platform.

FAQs about PEOs in Oklahoma

What is a PEO, and how does it work?

A PEO company partners with businesses to share HR responsibilities. PEOs co-employ your workforce and are typically responsible for administrative functions like processing payroll, state tax filings and registration, providing access to benefits, and managing compliance with federal, state, and local guidelines. Your company retains authority over core business processes and any strategic decisions. 

Are PEOs in Oklahoma required to have special certifications or licenses?

Yes. PEOs and their client companies first need to sign a professional employer agreement establishing a co-employment relationship. The PEO, also known in Oklahoma as a staff leasing company or employee leasing company, must then apply for registration with the Oklahoma Insurance Department.

The initial registration fee is $500, and renewals cost $250. As part of the application process, PEO providers need to provide financial statements, their EIN, and proof of workers’ compensation coverage. More information on registration materials is available on the Oklahoma Insurance Department’s website. 

What is a Certified PEO?

A Certified PEO (CPEO) abides by IRS guidelines concerning its background, expertise, finances, and reporting. Certification isn’t required and doesn’t mean the IRS recommends that PEO; it just means it meets certain eligibility criteria. 

What size company can benefit from a PEO?

Companies of all sizes can join a PEO. While larger enterprises can still save time by delegating administrative tasks, small to mid-sized startups and businesses typically get the most out of a PEO’s offerings—since the solution gets more expensive per employee. 

How does an Oklahoma PEO charge for its services?

PEOs typically offer one of two pricing structures:

• Monthly fee per employee
• Specified percentage of total payroll

Are PEOs regulated?

Yes. PEOs are subject to both federal and state regulations like Oklahoma statutes. PEOs may also need to prove insurance coverage by using the state government’s Workers’ Compensation Verification System online. 

What happens if I want to terminate my relationship with a PEO?

If you want to end your partnership with a PEO, you typically have to find brand new systems to process payroll, administer benefits, register for taxes, and manage employees—not to mention abandoning systems full of critical employee information. With Rippling PEO, switching off is simple. You can transition to our all-in-one workforce management platform, which keeps all your systems, data, and integrations in place.

In what states is Rippling PEO available?

Rippling PEO is available nationwide. 

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.