HR Companies & HR Consultants in Champaign, IL

Amplified HR is an outsourced human resources firm with a Champaign, Illinois location in the University of Illinois Research Park. It gives small and growing businesses access to a full HR team without the expense of adding an in-house HR employee. Each client gets a team that includes an HR Director, a Senior HR Advisor and administrative staff. Together they act as the company's own HR department on a subscription basis, priced by employee count.

Who They Serve

The firm works with employers in 38 states and has particular depth with franchise operators. Some of its franchise clients have grown from a handful of sites to well over one hundred. Its client list spans many industries, including:

• Single-unit and multi-unit franchisees, including multi-concept operators
• Small IT firms, software companies and technology innovators
• Bakeries, coffee shops and donut shops
• Car dealerships and transportation companies
• Golf courses
• Accounting and other professional services firms

How the Service Works

The process is simple. When a workplace problem comes up, the business owner contacts the assigned HR team by email or phone. The team recommends a course of action and then handles much of the follow-up work itself. Owners get practical answers plus finished work they can act on, rather than generic advice they have to carry out alone.

Services Offered

The day-to-day work covers a broad range of people issues:

• Advising on employee situations and next steps
• Drafting employee documentation
• Preparing talking points for difficult conversations
• Researching applicable employment laws in different jurisdictions
• Coaching managers on handling staff matters
• Support with performance reviews, discipline and workplace conflict
• Guidance on topics such as benefits, PTO, payroll taxes and unemployment
• Compliance support to lower legal and claims risk

Prospective clients can also take an online HR risk assessment to see how well their current practices hold up.

Background and Differentiators

According to the Research Park, the company was founded in 2015 by a former HR Director of a national franchise chain. The goal was to give franchise owners access to professional HR help and protect them from the cost of employment claims. That origin explains why the firm still focuses heavily on multi-location franchise businesses.

The firm contrasts its model with hiring one in-house HR person. Clients avoid recruiting, salary and turnover, and they draw on the combined experience of several professionals instead of one person's career. Because a team handles each account, coverage continues during vacations, illness or leave.

The staff also gain insight from working with employers across many industries, jurisdictions and company cultures, while still aiming to give each client personal attention. Client testimonials on the site describe the team as responsive and thorough with follow-up. Clients also say the team explains HR matters clearly and helps leaders build a strong workplace culture.

Benefit Planning Consultants, Inc., widely known as BPC, is a third-party administrator focused on employee benefits. It works mainly with small and mid-sized employers, from organizations with a single worker up to those with about 20,000 people on staff. BPC calls itself one of the largest TPAs in the Midwest.

Its corporate office is in Champaign, Illinois, and it serves employers across the country. Buyers looking at HR partners should note that BPC is now part of the Ascensus family of companies, operating under the FuturePlan by Ascensus name.

Background and approach

BPC has been in business since 1979. For more than four decades it has helped employers plan, launch and run their benefit programs. Its work covers the whole life of a plan: picking a structure, putting it in place and handling the ongoing administration.

That makes it a good fit for a company starting a new plan as well as one reworking an existing program. The firm stresses flexible plan design and says its staff hold professional certifications in the areas they manage. It also points to industry awards it has received for its administration work.

Benefit and retirement plan services

BPC's services fall into two main groups: tax-advantaged health and spending accounts, and retirement plans. Its specialties include:

• Flexible spending accounts (FSA), health reimbursement arrangements (HRA) and health savings accounts (HSA)
• Premium only plans (POP) and transportation benefit plans
• Retirement plans such as 401(k), 403(b) and 457 arrangements
• Profit sharing, money purchase and employee stock ownership plans (ESOP)
• Online benefits enrollment
• Dependent eligibility audits

The dependent audit service checks that family members on an employer's health plan are actually eligible. BPC runs these reviews for named clients, including Carle, a health care system based in central Illinois. A dedicated BPC team handles the documents and answers employee questions. For employers trying to keep benefit costs under control, this kind of verification can be a useful addition to routine plan administration.

Technology and participant tools

Employees in BPC-administered plans get self-service tools. A web-based participant portal and a BPC Benefits mobile app let account holders file reimbursement claims and manage their benefits online. Benefit debit cards let participants pay for eligible expenses directly, and paper claim forms are still available as a backup.

BPC also offers LifeLock identity theft protection as an extra benefit employers can add to their package. The firm has told clients publicly that it and its technology partners act on security issues, such as patching its systems when a major internet-wide flaw was disclosed.

What sets BPC apart

For buyers comparing HR consultants and benefit providers, BPC's main strengths are its long track record, its focus on employers of modest to mid-market size and the range of plan types one team can manage. A single firm can handle both health spending accounts and retirement plans, which may make life simpler for HR departments juggling several vendors.

Its ties to the Champaign area, combined with the backing of a national retirement services group, give local employers a regional contact with wider resources behind it.