Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
(Editor’s Note: Today’s article is brought to you by our friends at ComplyRight, whose mission is to free employers from the burden of tracking and complying with the complex web of federal, state, and local employment laws, so you can stay focused on managing and growing the business. Enjoy the article!)
Over the past few years, you’ve probably noticed an increase in subscription services. Subscription services can be good for customers because they get the products and/or services they need on a regular basis. Subscriptions bring real value because they require little, or no effort once initiated.
For the businesses that offer them, a subscription model is beneficial because they can provide a scalable product or service to customers at a reasonable price. The reason I wanted to talk about subscription services is because there are financial articles that will suggest all subscription programs are bad or wrong. That’s simply not true. There are many subscription services that easily provide a positive return on investment (ROI).
An example of a valuable subscription service that we use in our personal lives is credit monitoring. These services inform us of changes or alerts in areas that might damage our credit. This type of service has been in the media a lot recently with the news that there was a data breach exposing the social security numbers of millions of Americans.
Here are three examples of business-related subscription services that provide value to our organizations.
This is an annual compliance service that allows organizations to stay current with employment related legislation at the federal, state, county, and city level. ComplyRight’s expert legal team monitors legislative activity around the United States including over 20,000 agencies. The type of activity being monitored includes minimum wage, salary history, discrimination, harassment, sick pay, leaves, safety, and more.
When there’s a change, you receive an email alert with a summary of the law (in plain language) and some action items for implementing the new requirements. Subscribers will also have access to a database of recent alerts.
Like the employment law alert service, this is an annual subscription that allows organizations to stay current with labor law posting requirements. If the organization is changing labor law posters once a year, that might not be enough to stay in compliance. There are on average more than 200 mandatory state, city, and county employment law changes every year that require an immediate poster update or replacement.
The ComplyRight legal team monitors 175 different government agencies that are responsible for over 500 mandatory employment law posters. And when a change happens, you’ll get a replacement poster … for FREE!
In addition to labor law posters, there are some required legal notifications that employers must provide. There are more than 400 different federal and state notices that employers must distribute. Some of these are distributed during orientation, but others are “event driven” like a notification for Family and Medical Leave.
With this service, organizations are provided with electronic access to federal, state, county, and city handouts so they can be printed and delivered to employees. And like the other subscriptions I’ve mentioned, the expert legal team at ComplyRight monitors the files so you will have the most current information when you need it.
Now, some people might be saying, “Yea, this is great, but I can do all this research myself.” And you’re right … you can. The question becomes what’s the expense of doing it all yourself? In an Austin Business Journal article, they reported that 44% of small business owners spend 40+ hours a year on federal regulations and 33% spend more than 80. Keep in mind those are only federal regulations, not state / county / city.
Eighty (80) hours is a lot of time. It’s time that could be spent on recruiting, training, and retaining employees. It’s time that you could spend on your own professional development. It’s time you wouldn’t have to spend working late or on a weekend. You get the point. HR’s time is valuable. Your time is valuable.
Now let’s talk in terms of dollars. According to Indeed, the average HR manager’s salary is $83,000/annually. That’s $39.90/hour. I’m not here to debate whether Indeed’s numbers are accurate. Let’s just say they are. If we multiply the hourly rate by 80 hours (of time spent on compliance), then we spend $3192 annually just on compliance research.
A subscription service is a fraction of that cost. And those subscription services are being monitored by legal professionals. This becomes a very cost-effective way to get mandatory legal updates and information.
I’ve mentioned before that one of the first things that I had to learn as a consultant was just because I coulddo something it didn’t mean I should. Because I could be using my time on the wrong things. I had a boss once who like to say it was “stepping over dollars to pick up quarters”.
Organizations definitely need to watch their budgets and spend wisely. They should regularly evaluate their expenses and make sure they are delivering value. Mr. Bartender and I do it all the time in both our personal and professional lives.
So, don’t immediately dismiss subscription services just because … well, that’s what they are. Make sure you know how they work and are making the most of what they provide. The services they offer can free up time to create more value.
P.S. As you’re working on budgets for next year, be sure to check out ComplyRight’s subscription services mentioned in this article. If you’re following the news, then you know that 2025 could be an action-packed year in terms of labor and employment compliance. It might be perfect to have a partner that can help the organization navigate changes.
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