All-in-one payroll, health benefits and 401(k) account manager Gusto of San Francisco has added HR software services to its monthly subscription platform.
The company says this expanded functionality will allow benefits administrators to seamlessly integrate employee onboarding and records management tasks into a single software system, along with payroll and benefits administration.
“We built our product in deliberate stages,” says Gusto’s Steffi Wu. “We started with payroll, last year added health benefits, and now we have a set of HR features.”
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Wu says that building a universal platform helps benefits administrators save time switching from various systems to chart changes to employee records, keeps information consistent across various accounts, and makes automatic payroll deductions based on their enrollment choices. Automatic updates help ensure regulatory compliance, and an optional 401(k) program provided by Guideline offers one of the lowest portfolio plan pricings in the industry, Wu says.
Gusto is offered at a $39 per month plus $6 per employee; the Guideline 401(k) enrollment adds $8 per employee, per month. Gusto has 40,000 customer companies nationwide, with the majority of them employing fewer than 100 people, “but we’re starting to serve larger companies as well,” Wu says.
Focusing on employee experience
The Gusto platform can centralize employee records, from personnel files to a full staff directory, in a single, paperless system. It also helps smooth the onboarding process by allowing new hires to e-sign documents and read messages from their new coworkers on a welcome wall prior to their start dates.
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“One thing that HR admins who focus on benefits care about is a great experience for their employees,” Wu says.
The Gusto benefits platform also helps employees select from among a variety of health plan options by creating an annual cost estimate based on the results of a survey about their health needs and financial picture. Provider lookup tools allow employees to see of their current doctors and dentists are in-network. A savings program also helps motivate employees toward larger financial goals, rewarding their progress with badges and milestone acknowledgments.
