ABC SEMI Issue 4 2018

12 Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. ASSOCIATE MEMBERS According to Frank Mamat of Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith PC and ABC SEMI Chapter attorney, legal services outsourcing offers contractor businesses the opportunity to form strategic partnerships with experts specializing in contract labor areas. Having someone to provide legal and litigation support from outsourcing legal services is a huge cost savings. Hiring and maintaining an in-house legal department is often much costlier than utilizing an outside vendor. “Outsourcing legal services provides more expertise in specific legal areas and leverages the economic comparative advantage to provide high-quality work with lower costs,” said Mamat. “Legal services vendors also allow for greater flexibility, so that small companies with varying legal issues can better scale up or down.” Cort Niemi, ABC Board member and ABC associate member Lake Agency Group, believes that companies that outsource their HR functions can mitigate their risk of liability for HR issues that may not be properly handled by someone on the company’s staff who doesn’t know enough about HR to protect the employer’s interests. Delegating HR functions to an independent contractor can keep the organization from becoming embroiled in litigation, which can affect the bottom line as well as the company’s reputation through negative publicity that often accompanies high-profile lawsuits and employee complaints. When offering his clients advice on properly insuring their companies, he will often ask who handles their HR for their company. “Businesses that contract their HR functions to an independent firm can relieve the company of a huge administrative burden,” said Niemi. “By sending the HR function to an outside company, it eliminates the need for contractors to focus on administrative functions, freeing up time to devote to what they do best. Business growth. No one can be an expert in all HR functions and the cost to attempt to handle these efforts inhouse can be exorbitant. I know that we are very conscience when quoting insurance for our members that they have a proper HR support team in place to ensure they reduce their liability. It keeps their employees safe and their company in business.” n continued