Hello! Before grad school I was briefly HR professional in the government. Now I'm exploring a startup idea and am trying to talk to people who actually work in HR/benefits before I convince myself it's a good idea.

The basic problem I'm interested in: many hourly/wage employees may qualify for government programs, tax credits, childcare assistance, healthcare subsidies, student-loan programs, paid leave, utility assistance, etc., but figuring out what they are eligible for—and then actually navigating the applications—is incredibly fragmented and time consuming. Whether because they don't know or because it's too hard, people end up leaving a ton of money and benefits on the table .

The idea I'm researching is a benefit that an employer could offer employees that acts as a kind of personal government concierge. With the employee's permission, it could use information the employer already has in HR/payroll systems (income, dependents, address, benefits elections, etc.) to identify things the employee may qualify for, alert them when something changes, and help them actually complete the process.

For example:

-a new employee is added to the company -> the system figures out they are eligible for the earned income tax credit -> the system prepopulates all of the necessary filings -> the employee approves

- an employee adds a child to their benefits -> the system recognizes the life event -> checks relevant federal/state/local programs -> tells them they may qualify for a childcare subsidy -> already has most of the information needed to help them apply from company -> employee let's service apply for them

I'm trying to gauge reaction. How does this sound? Does this solve a problem HR/Benefits teams actually encounter? Would employers view this as a valuable employee benefit (it would likely help with recruitment and financial stability)? Do you think your employer would be willing to pay? What would a vendor have to demonstrate for your company to consider a pilot?

I'm not selling anything and don't have a product to pitch. I'd just rather have HR people tell me why the idea is bad before I spend a year building it.

Thank you

I will preface this by saying I am the minion of our HR lady and so I only have tiny brainspace. We are a mom and pop furniture and appliance business that currently operates by using Quickbooks for payroll and spreadsheets to track attendance. Our HR lady processes payroll through Quickbooks Desktop, as that's where our financial data is housed. She wants me to find an HRIS that will communicate with Quickbooks.

We're looking for a system that will allow our employees to clock in/out in the field (delivery drivers, service techs) or at their desk (sales team, back office staff). Preferably, we're hoping to find a system that will allow her to track excused vs unexcused absences/tardies. We have mostly hourly employees and six salaried employees. She'd like the payroll side to be able to handle deductions, garnishments, and liability stuff (again, I am just a minion, so all of this flies over my head). Employees are allowed to purchase things and have it deducted from their paycheck until it is paid off.

So far she has nixed paycor, and she's considering Paylocity or ADP, but I wanted to ask y'all if you had any ideas for systems that might work with Quickbooks Desktop. (Emphasis on the Desktop part, she says if we move to Quickbooks online she'll quit because it isn't suitable for the accounting side of the business).

I'm in CA but would love feedback from other folks.

I have never had experience with self-funded medical plans but I'm wondering if it might be a good option for my company, and I'm curious as to the logistics of managing it as an HR of 1 for a small company.

We're a small (about 25ees) consulting firm with a mostly very young workforce. I would estimate our medical utilization across most of our employees is fairly low, but we have 5 employees who have higher than average utilization. Based on my limitted knowledge I would have to think that we might save money by going self funded. The caveat is that we *are* construction adjacent....our company doesn't perform constuction work, but most of the team is regularly on construction sites. We haven't ever had a serious injury (knock wood), and our last WC claim was a couple of years ago. So risk is historically low but we still work in slightly dangerous areas.

Is self funded too hard to manage for just one person? If you have done both, which do you prefer and why? (I have a broker for our current benefits and they do the vast majority of the heavy lifting. I love them and I truly don't do much for our benefits but I have done full manual benefits admin in my past).

Does anyone have experience where going self funded resulted in a really significant cost reduction?

Any good online resources you just love for information on this potential switch? (I've been going down google rabbit holes all weekend but if someone has a very reliable site they love, plz share!).

I work in HR for an SME in Ireland and came across a situation recently that I found quite difficult to deal with. One of our managers clearly seems to favour one particular employee. They’ve been late several times, missed a few deadlines and taken a couple of last-minute days off, but the manager tends to let it slide.

Another employee made a similar mistake and was pulled into a meeting and given a fairly serious warning. That employee later came to HR and said they felt they were being treated differently.

I raised the inconsistency with the manager, but they basically said they know the employee well and that there are “reasons” for being more flexible with them.

There’s nothing particularly dramatic happening, but the difference in treatment is becoming noticeable to the rest of the team.

How would you handle a situation where a manager is showing clear favouritism towards one employee?

Hey guys, I've applied for an internal transfer into a Team Relations role at my company. The company uses a center of excellence type model. The job decription lists experience in UKG and 1-2 years of work experience as nice to have. My background is in operations, but I have certifications in aPHR, SHRM-CP and am doing a Master's program in HR Management. My undergrad major was Psychology. If you were interviewing me, what would you want me to say/demonstrate to give you faith in me to grow into this role?

Also, any basic background of UKG that I can mention so I have something more to say than "thats where I request PTO" would be appreciated.

If it helps, this is a compressed version of the job description

Main responsibilities: managing offboarding/departure tasks; supporting resignation and involuntary separation processes; creating termination letters; scheduling exit interviews; maintaining personnel documentation in UKG; coordinating collection of employee belongings; handling support requests related to LOAs/name changes; data uploads/contact lists; and conducting milestone check-ins and exit interviews.

Required qualifications: 9+ months in current role, strong written/verbal communication, attention to detail, problem-solving, ability to work independently, Microsoft Office proficiency, organization/time management, and ability to manage multiple competing priorities and work professionally with leadership.

Nice to have: UltiPro/UKG or other HRIS knowledge, HR/related bachelor's degree, and 1–2 years of HR experience.

I have worked in HR for about 4 years, hold an HR Management bachelors and a SHRM-CP. I recently accepted a job as an HRBP for a small company (less than 200) but have previously been an HR Coordinator. Granted, my last job had a coordinator title but had more responsibility than the title indicates.

I have been in an environment where I have been able to coast and not work that hard for the past two years so I really want to make sure I am showing up at this job and stepping into the role with initiative and ownership. I know I can be successful but I have a nagging fear that I am not cut out for the job, mainly because I can't believe I am jumping from coordinator to BP. Additionally, a small part of the job will include ER, which I have never had to do in any capacity so I am mainly nervous about this part of the job. It also is a big step up in terms of responsibility and scope. Does anyone have advice for moving into a much bigger job and dealing with the imposter syndrome? Any tips for preparing for a stretch role like this?