HRO stands for human resources outsourcing, and solutions is doing a lot of work in that phrase. The category contains at least three different products at three different prices, and the vocabulary is deliberately elastic, so the first job of any buyer is to make a provider say which one it is quoting.
The three things inside the category
Processing only, in which the provider runs payroll and administration and you keep everything else. Full outsourcing, which adds documents, policies and an advice line while you remain the sole employer. And co-employment, in which a professional employer organisation becomes an administrative employer and provides the benefits. Only the third changes your legal position, and only the third gives a small employer access to large-group cover. A quote for one is not comparable with a quote for another.
Reading a proposal
Ignore the headings and read the inclusion list. The words available, supported and included mean three different things and only the last is free. Look for what happens on the bad day rather than the good one: who files if your bookkeeper is ill, who answers when an employee raises a grievance, and who pays the penalty when a deposit is late. Those answers separate providers far better than a feature grid.
What the market publishes
Almost nothing, on this side of it. The record on this site shows which providers publish a rate at all, and they are overwhelmingly the payroll platforms rather than the outsourcing firms. Price a published platform at your headcount first so that every HRO proposal has a floor to argue against.
Questions people ask about hro solutions
What does HRO mean?
Human resources outsourcing: a category covering administrative processing, full HR outsourcing and co-employment through a PEO. The three differ in what leaves your hands and in price.
What is included in HRO solutions?
It varies more than any other term in this market. Read the inclusion list rather than the headings, and treat available and supported as chargeable until somebody writes otherwise.
How much do HRO solutions cost?
Most providers on this side of the market publish nothing. The providers in this record that do publish a rate are the payroll platforms, and their published figures are the sensible floor for any HRO proposal.