Rippling PEO: Innovative Platform Solution

Rippling PEO In Brief

Rippling's goal is to reduce the amount of routine work that every business is saddled with—the tasks that have nothing to do with their industry but that must still be done. They strive to automate those tasks through their all-in-one software, which is where their PEO services are set up and accessed. Rippling PEO incorporates their full-featured services for HR, payroll, tax, and workplace compliance, as well as benefits administration, that you can count on to take your business to the next level.

Rippling PEO supports their users with a very intuitive dashboard, a team of experts, and a large number of services. They primarily cater to small and medium businesses (SMBs) but have many large enterprise clients with over 1,000 employees. Their services support growing businesses so that they can stay focused on their growth and leave all other HR and IT issues to Rippling's team of experts.

Rippling has accumulated many industry accolades over their short lifespan. These include category leadership and top rating awards from the likes of PCMag.com, GetApp, TrustRadius, and softwareadvice.com. They have been members of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) since 2019 and hold accreditation and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). However, they currently lack IRS certification and Employer Services Assurance Corporation (ESAC) accreditation, two industry credentials that many of their top competitors will have.

Industries & Business Sizes Served by Rippling PEO

As with other such companies, Rippling does not specify the business types or sizes that may apply to their PEO solution. They don't seem to limit their PEO eligibility to small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), although those are their main demographic, and they state that their services, broadly speaking, can help businesses grow "from 2 to 2,000+ employees." They serve many industries, including those of retail, technology, restaurants, marketing and advertising, professional services, healthcare, financial services, nonprofits, and manufacturing.

Rippling PEO Features

This company usually deploys their software solution in a modular system where you would purchase the core workforce platform, Rippling Unity, then add all the services you need on top of that. That platform offers a basic directory, analytics, compliance, leave management, mobile app access, and onboarding automation functions, among other things. Clients could then choose to add different modules from their many HR, IT, and finance cloud packages.

While their website does not make it clear if purchasing their PEO would give you all those necessary features as a cohesive package, we would expect that to be the case. Doing so provides you with services that include, but are not limited to, benefits enrollment, health plan education, appointment scheduling, employment issue guidance, permission management, policy management, and a handful of other services. Keep in mind that many of their top advertised features may be paid add-ons.

In a nutshell, here are the features of Rippling PEO:

• HR services: If you don't have a team to take care of your company's HR issues, you can rely on Rippling's HR services, including customizable HR reports and alerts, position and task management options, a mobile application, recruiting software, and HR customer care options
• Training and development: Rippling allows your business to contact HR experts for support for an extra fee. They also provide access to training that imparts their extensive knowledge base, as well as guide documentation and other training materials for employees and managers alike
• Payroll and taxes: They offer speedy payroll processing capabilities in the US and globally, which include considerations for workers' comp, garnishments, direct deposits, paid time off (PTO), tracking, and so on. Additionally, Rippling ensures tax compliance through full local tax registration, so if your company has employees in different locations or states, this is an excellent feature to employ
• Time and attendance: These are fully automated and integrated with payroll and PTO. They allow for customizable workflows and include features for overtime, break policies, various clock-in options, approval chains, reporting, and so on
• Risk and compliance: Rippling provides risk management services such as pay-as-you-go workers' compensation coverage, ACA reporting, and COBRA insurance. They also offer online courses, or allow you to upload your own, that deal with risk mitigation and ensuring compliance, among other things
• Employee benefits: Rippling offers one single easy-to-use dashboard to access all your company's information, whether medical, vision, dental or any other type of data. Employees can also benefit from the online employee self-service and the benefits packages for both small and large groups. Additionally, the company provides online and newly hired enrollment options with payroll deduction synchronization

Rippling PEO Pricing

Rippling does not advertise any specific PEO packages online, nor do they discuss a PEO-specific pricing model. However, they do share that their pricing options are based on the number of employees and start at $8 monthly per employee, which is conceivably what a small business would pay for just the Rippling Unity platform. Any extra modules and features would cost extra, so you can expect to pay a lot more for their PEO. In fact, online sources say that their PEO package starts at $85 monthly per employee. That being said, you would need to contact their sales representatives to discuss what works best for your business and get a personalized quote.

Rippling can be an ideal option to mix and match services if you run a small business that might witness growth in the near future. Keep in mind that for new and growing companies, Rippling provides access to its HR help desk at an extra monthly fee.

Rippling PEO Top Perks

Choosing this provider's PEO services comes with many advantages, some of which are quite unique. These perks include the following, among other things:

• Responsive chatbot: If you're looking into different PEO providers and need to know how Rippling can help you, they provide a chatbot on their website that can connect you with tour videos or live demos, and answer any questions you may have
• Up-to-date & full-featured solution: They boast a modern interface that is easier and more intuitive to use, and that displays all your services in one software tool
• Multiple apps and integrations: All of Rippling's benefits and services are presented as useful apps in their software interface. Additionally, you will be able to integrate and use your other third-party cloud-based applications like Zoom, Slack, GitHub, Google Workspace, and others
• Considerable benefits cost savings: If your business needs to supply its employees with competitive benefits, those costs could push your budget's limits. However, Rippling claims it could save you around $1,775 per employee while keeping them covered with plans for medical, dental, vision, 401(k), HSA, FSA, workers' compensation, employee liability, commuter flex benefits, and more
• Live healthcare guidance: They provide one-on-one expert support via phone and chat with Rightway health guides to answer your employees' healthcare inquiries. They can help with symptom assessment, benefits enrollment, appointment scheduling, healthcare cost questions, understanding or disputing bills, and so on
• Automating compliance: Rippling wants to make federal, state, and local workplace compliance hassle-free by taking over many of those tasks. They'll make sure you're up to date with mandatory workplace posters, minimum wage laws, ACA, and COBRA administration
• HR and compliance support: They provide expert support that can answer your HR, payroll, safety, or employee claims inquiries
• Onboarding nationwide: Rippling will help you hire anywhere in the US, even for remote work, and handle all the considerations that come with it, like device purchasing and distribution, tax registration, benefits enrollment, and so on
• Seamless transitioning: If you should outgrow your need for a PEO, Rippling makes it easy to switch off their services—with the flick of a button—while maintaining all your benefits, logins, and employee data. In that case, you would also still be covered by their HR platform

The Drawbacks of Rippling PEO

As with any service provider, Rippling may fall short of your needs in some respects. They might not be the best fit for your company for the following reasons:

• Lack of industry certifications: Unlike many of its top competitors, Rippling doesn't have the IRS certification, nor is it accredited by ESAC. However, they are members of NAPEO
• Advertised features may cost extra: Although you would expect support and expert guidance to come with your agreement, you have to pay additional fees for those
• Complicated PEO setup: They have a modular approach to their PEO solution, where you must purchase their workforce management platform before you can add feature modules, even those you would think are standard. While your final product might be as desired, it may come off pricier than expected

The Rippling PEO Customer Experience

Rippling enjoys a stellar reputation among business users and their employees. They hold a review score of 4.8 out of 5 from Trustpilot and G2, a 4.9 out of 5 on Capterra and Software Advice, and 8.6 out of 10 on TrustRadius. These scores are compiled from thousands of reviews, indicating that they have a large customer base that is overwhelmingly satisfied with the services they provide.

Usability

Their clients rate the Rippling system as extremely easy to use, and most say they have never had any issues with it. The general consensus is that the dashboard is intuitively designed, feature-rich, and has a user experience that facilitates task focus and productivity.
When reviewers were critical about the software, it was because they said that certain applications or integrations might be hard to find within it or because they had difficulties adjusting timecard formats. Otherwise, it seems that their interface, which Rippling touts as being more modern than their competitors' 'stuck in the 80s' systems, is legitimately being appreciated for its user-friendliness, flexibility, and automation of tedious processes like new hire onboarding.

Guidance and support

Rippling boasts heavily about their customer support and one-on-one experts in their promotional material, but the majority of reviewers say that they cannot comment on that. Customers say that because Rippling's tools are easy to use and their documentation is comprehensive, they hardly have to use support. Some reviewers that have made use of it report feeling taken care of and state that support during stressful times, like company launches, is responsive and transparent.

On the other hand, a few large enterprise users did have a contrary experience where they encountered an issue after hours and could not get it addressed by Rippling until the following Monday during business hours. They were inconvenienced and suggested that longer support availability and alternative contact methods, like live chat, would be appreciated. Another reviewer, also from a large business, did not find support to be adequately helpful and had to rely on the supplied documentation, which they found inconvenient.

Is it worth it?

With a very positive customer experience picture, you might be asking yourself: Are they the perfect human resource assistant for my business, or does this sound too good to be true? If you look at the BBB website, you will find a few complaints against them, although they are relatively scarce. Issues that users bring up there include being charged after cancellation of services, not being supplied with appropriate tax forms when requested, being late with filings or refunds, and employees having problems with benefits. On the other hand, customers seem to be happy with the costs charged by Rippling.

Rippling generally replies to all complaints, and although their responses have been prompt recently, they have not always been so. They are very professional in their replies, sharing complete information about the issues as well as admitting and correcting mistakes when they make them, and this usually leads to a satisfactory resolution.

On a related note, some customers have praised Rippling for their actions following the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank. Because Rippling used that bank to process some of the employee payrolls, those employees had expected to stop being paid when regulators seized SVB's assets earlier in 2023. To the surprise of some, Rippling was upfront about the details surrounding this and used their own funds and those of investors to cover payrolls until they could get those issues sorted out. Their actions strengthened the trust of clients in the company.

Customer Support

Rippling does not share many contact methods online. Employees who need support are encouraged to talk to their business's Rippling administrator. As for those administrators, they may contact support electronically by logging in to Rippling's system or using their online help center. Employees and administrators alike can also find guidance and documentation via the Rippling mobile app.

The Bottom Line on Rippling PEO

What distinguishes Rippling from other PEO providers is their modern software and an intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard that is accessible and manageable by HR specialists and any other business user. The services are highly advantageous for businesses looking to automate onboarding, payroll, and HR tasks, among other unique features like guidance and advisory services.

Rippling PEO has a lot to offer any type or size of business, although their scalable system seems optimized for small and medium businesses and is a great option for growing businesses or startups thanks to its customizable solutions and industry-tailored services. However, we understand that larger businesses may not benefit as much from their services due to the more demanding workload and criteria, and in fact, much of the critical feedback concerning this company comes from large enterprise users. This is why it is important that they make switching off their PEO as easy as a flick of a button when your business has a better in-house payroll and HR solution.

If you wish to compare Rippling side-by-side with other PEO services, our website offers a comprehensive comparison tool. You may also read more in-depth about other top companies on our PEO reviews page. We also have a lot of articles about the different aspects of PEOs, like our post that helps you in your PEO purchase decisions. If you do your due diligence, we are confident that you can find the right solution for your business needs.

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