You have concluded that your Connecticut firm needs a PEO. Your workforce is pushing for higher perks, and the compliance problems are getting worse. Managing HR has become a full-time job. There are over 900 PEOs in the U.S. as of 2025. How do you pick the best one for your business?
That’s when PEO brokers step in. These experts assist business owners in going through the many choices, comparing plans, and finding the one that works best for them—often saving them a lot of time and money in the process.
This guide will help you figure out if HR outsourcing or a PEO is good for you. You’ll discover what a PEO broker does, why you should hire one, and how to locate one that can help your firm save money, lower risk, and spend less time on paperwork and more time on growth.
A PEO broker is a middleman between businesses that need PEO services and the PEOs themselves. In the sphere of professional employer organizations, they are like matchmakers. Brokers don’t work for just one PEO. Instead, they work with many providers and help businesses figure out which one is the greatest fit for their needs.
In simple terms, a PEO broker is a specialist with a lot of experience in the field who looks at your business needs, finds the best PEO choices, gets quotes, helps you compare them, negotiates terms, and helps you implement them. Many brokers additionally help you once you’ve signed up with a PEO.
In the last few years, the PEO sector has grown very quickly. According to current data, PEOs help 173,000 small and medium-sized enterprises that employ more than 4 million people. In 2020, these businesses paid $216 billion to their employees at work. This huge growth brings with it a lot of problems. In 2022, 65% of people who made business decisions knew about PEOs. This is an increase of 48% since 2018. More businesses know about PEOs, but fewer know how to pick the best one among the hundreds of choices.
You could call PEOs directly and compare them one by one, but most business owners find that to be slow and hard to understand. A professional broker can swiftly narrow down your options, has more expertise about the market than most buyers, and can typically get better terms because they know what PEOs are ready to offer. Brokers help with everything from making sure prices are clear to arranging the transfer, so your staff doesn’t have to deal with payroll, benefits paperwork, and workers’ comp while trying to operate the firm.
Here’s what brokers typically add to the process:
Let’s get practical. Here are the outcomes many clients report after using a competent PEO broker:
You should check out a broker before you hire them because their value is not guaranteed. Check for references, clear fee information, and proof that they work with more than one PEO instead of just one vendor.
Brokers are often worth it for small and medium-sized enterprises that want greater benefits, easier HR, or a faster deployment. If your organization doesn’t have enough internal HR staff or if you’re processing payroll in more than one state, a broker’s help will probably pay for itself in time saved and mistakes avoided. Some big organizations also use brokers to help them compare complicated or industry-specific PEO choices.
A broker is an advisor, not a guarantee. Here are common concerns:
If a broker’s model or network looks unclear, don’t rush. A few extra questions at the beginning will keep you from being surprised later.
The answers to these will show whether the broker is operating as a true advisor or simply a middleman.
You might not need a broker if you already know the specific PEO you want because you’ve used them before or have a reliable referral. You can also contact PEOs directly if your needs are very typical and you have time to compare bids. But for a lot of small businesses that need specialist underwriting, competitive benefits, or an easy implementation, working with a broker is the quickest way to start a successful partnership.
A PEO broker can be quite helpful because they can help you evaluate providers, save you time, and often find better solutions than you would on your own. Brokers can help Connecticut businesses, especially those with growing teams and not enough HR staff, find a suitable PEO partner more easily.
However, there are clear benefits to working directly with a knowledgeable local PEO like OEM America. OEM America has been helping businesses in Connecticut for more than 30 years. They know more than any other middleman about local regulatory concerns, workforce issues, and industry needs. You’ll work directly with specialists who can create custom HR and benefits plans that meet your company’s needs, not generic ones that don’t fit anyone.
If you want to get rid of inefficiencies that came after COVID, save money, and get more done, make an appointment with an OEM America expert now. You can get up to four hours of one-on-one help, a free spending benchmarking analysis, and a plan that might save you up to $1,000 per employee (terms apply).
A: A PEO broker is an independent consultant that looks at your HR and benefits needs, finds Professional Employer Organizations that fulfill those needs, and helps you compare quotes, negotiate terms, and put services into place.
A: A PEO broker helps businesses find PEOs that are a good fit for their needs. Brokers take care of the hard work of choosing vendors, comparing prices, and making plans for the transition so you can focus on running your business.
A: Brokers can often get better prices and find PEOs with fewer administrative costs or higher benefits rates. They also save time, which lowers the cost of internal HR and prevents expensive mistakes during deployment.
A: Some brokers do get paid by PEOs. When you talk to a broker, ask them to tell you everything about how they get paid and ask for client references to make sure they are acting in the client's best interest.
A: Not always. Direct negotiating is fine if you trust the PEO and have checked the terms and service levels. A broker is particularly helpful when you want to know more about the market or compare different vendors.
A: Usually, it takes a week or two to get initial proposals after the discovery call. This depends on how complicated your needs are and how many PEOs are involved.