What Does HR Outsourcing Include?

HR outsourcing means handing the day-to-day work of running HR, not just the paperwork, to a team of certified professionals. It covers the handbook, the compliance calendar, the leave requests, the onboarding paperwork, and the manager questions that used to land on whoever in the office happened to know the most about HR. Here is what is actually included, and what is not.

What's Covered

• Handbook build and maintenance. A custom handbook with state-specific language, updated as laws change instead of left to go stale.
• Compliance monitoring. Tracking federal and state requirements across harassment policy, wage and hour rules, and safety obligations as headcount and locations grow.
• Leave-of-absence administration. FMLA eligibility, state paid sick leave, and other leave requests reviewed and processed, not just logged.
• New hire paperwork. Onboarding documents completed and verified so a new employee's first week is not a compliance gap.
• Manager coaching. A resource for supervisors handling a difficult conversation, a policy question, or a termination, so decisions are consistent across the company.
• Talent acquisition and direct hire support. Help sourcing and vetting candidates for open roles, distinct from BEG's milestone-based job placement service.

What's Not Included

HR outsourcing is not payroll processing. BEG runs those as separate services on the same isolved platform, so a company can pair HR outsourcing with managed payroll or use either one alone. It is also not benefits brokerage: BEG managed benefits handles enrollment and plan administration, while the client keeps their existing broker for advice and plan placement.

Most importantly, HR outsourcing is not a PEO. There is no co-employment and no change to who is the employer of record. A PEO takes over as a co-employer and often requires the client to move onto the PEO's benefits and workers' comp policies. HR outsourcing leaves the client as the sole employer and works inside their existing structure. For a factual, primary-source look at how PEOs actually operate, see the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations.

Why Companies Outsource This Instead of Hiring

An in-house HR manager typically runs $60,000 to $100,000 a year in salary alone, before benefits, before ramp time, and before the risk that one generalist cannot cover every compliance area equally well. HR outsourcing replaces that single hire with a full team of certified HR professionals, covering the handbook, the compliance calendar, and the hiring paperwork for a fraction of the cost of the in-house alternative.

This matters most for companies without a dedicated HR department, or with one person wearing every hat. The gap usually shows up during a real event, a leave request, an EEOC inquiry, or a state law change, and that is a costly moment to discover the coverage was thin. HR outsourcing, powered by isolved, closes that gap before it opens.

Reference points on federal requirements that any handbook or compliance program has to reflect are available directly from the U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division.

Frequently Asked Questions