Explore common queries about Exceed’s outsourced HR support for small businesses.
HR Support for SMEs – FAQs
In which jurisdictions does Exceed provide outsourced HR services?
Exceed provides HR Support for SMEs, Full HR Management (an outsourced HR department) and SME Payroll Services for businesses and organisations in the UK and crown dependencies.
Our services are always tailored to be compliant with the relevant legislation in that jurisdiction and to suit each individual client.
How much support will we get from Exceed compared to an in-house HR Manager?
With outsourced HR Support for SMEs by Exceed, your managers can consult our HR experts during 252 days of the year (260 weekdays less 8 public holidays).
Whereas, if you employ an in-house HR Manager, they’ll cost your business an annual salary PLUS all related employment costs. And, if they take 25 days holiday and 10 days sickness in addition to 8 public holidays, they may only work for 217 days each year.
This means your business has access to 35 EXTRA days of potential support by outsourcing HR to Exceed, for a small fraction of the cost of an in-house hire.
If I outsource HR for our business to Exceed, will I lose control over my employees?
With HR Support for SMEs and Full HR Management by Exceed, your staff remain employees of your business or organisation throughout – you will not lose control of your people.
Exceed will simply provide professional outsourced HR (and payroll) services to support you and your team.
If Exceed manage our holiday requests, how much control do I have over whether they are approved or not?
If Exceed manages your holiday requests, you will still be in complete control, as holiday requests will be sent to your business for authorisation.
Once authorised, we will look after the administration of the holidays as well as absence reporting.
We don't currently have an employee handbook for our business. Is this a legal requirement?
It is a legal requirement to give all employees a written statement of particulars of employment.
Having a staff handbook isn’t a legal requirement in itself, but it gives you an opportunity to set out in detail what you expect from your staff.
It is a means of sharing with employees important information about your organisation and how it works on a day-to-day basis.
An employee handbook is also a handy place to keep forms (or links to them) for sickness self-certification, requesting holidays, claiming expenses and so on.
Outsourcing to Exceed helps with all of this.
How secure, confidential and protected will our data be?
Exceed takes the confidentiality and protection of all data very seriously, as explained in our Privacy Policy.
If you have any particular questions or concerns, please Get in Touch.
Do I need to wait until the start of the tax year to outsource my HR/payroll to Exceed?
You can outsource HR and payroll/pensions administration for your SME to Exceed at any point in the year.
Depending on the timing, we may need certain information from you, such as previously recovered statutory payments, but we will guide you through it step-by-step.
What's the minimum term? What's the cancellation policy?
Before we onboard your business, we’ll agree a transparent contract which clearly defines our service, including:
- Contract term
- Service inclusions
- Exclusions
- Monthly fees
- Add-ons
- Set up fees
- Cancellation process
The minimum term for SME Payroll Services, HR Support for SMEs or Full HR Management by Exceed is 1 year.
Contracts are also available for 2, 3, 4 or 5 years.
Contracts do not automatically renew and can be cancelled at the end of the term, with break clauses also available within longer term contracts.
Please Get in Touch for more details.
What if we grow/scale up? Are there volume discounts?
Exceed’s outsourced HR and payroll packages are all charged monthly, on a per employee basis.
As your business grows, your monthly fee simply increases (or decreases) according to the number of staff employed at the time of your invoice. This is subject to our minimum fee (equivalent to 10 employees), and a one-off set up cost of £5 per employee for HR Support.
You can upgrade any time from SME Payroll Services or HR Support for SMEs, to Payroll PLUS HR Support, or to Full HR Management which includes FREE Payroll.
You can also add-on optional extras like HR Software (recommended), Bespoke HR for custom HR projects, FasterPay for employee payments and Weekly Payroll, all of which are charged monthly too.
How quickly can you onboard us?
Please allow 2 to 3 weeks for us to transfer your HR and/or payroll to Exceed.
The actual time needed will depend on a number of factors such as the size of your business, payment frequencies and the availability of information and documentation.
If you have a specific deadline, we’ll happily work towards that – although we prefer to take the time to get everything right, rather than rush to complete onboarding too quickly.