ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 17, 2024  -- Hundreds of owners, executives and employees of professional employer organizations (PEOs) around the country will be gathering in Washington, DC next week to celebrate National PEO Week, which recognizes the key role of PEOs in helping small businesses and their employees thrive.

PEOs provide payroll, employee benefits, compliance assistance and HR services to hundreds of thousands of small and mid-sized businesses that employ more than 4.5 million people. These businesses are in every state and congressional district.

National PEO Week coincides with the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations' (NAPEO) PEO Capitol Summit, the association's annual legal and legislative conference and fly-in. On May 21, hundreds of PEO representatives will head to Capitol Hill to talk with their elected representatives in the House and Senate about the industry's broad impact on the small business sector. They'll also urge lawmakers to push the IRS to process hundreds of thousands of legitimate Employee Retention Credit (ERTC) applications from small and mid-sized businesses, many of whom have been waiting years to receive these funds that are critical to their survival.

PEOs across the country will also be commemorating the National PEO Week in their own communities in a variety of ways, including virtual events, client outreach, social media campaigns and staff celebrations.

"The success of small business is critical to the future of our country and our economy, and we look forward to celebrating all our industry does to help make that possible during National PEO Week," said NAPEO President & CEO Casey Clark. "By fulfilling back-end payroll, benefits and compliance needs, we enable business owners to focus on growing their business, attracting and retaining talented employees, and helping their communities."

NAPEO research indicates that businesses that use a PEO:

• Grow seven to nine percent faster.


• Have ten to 14 percent lower employee turnover.


• Are 50 percent more likely to stay in business.

National PEO Week has been recognized in the federal Congressional Record and by the National Day organization, which annually approves only 30 requests out of 25,000 applications. Many states have also issued proclamations in recognition of National PEO Week, including Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas. It is celebrated the third full week in May each year.

About NAPEO:

The National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) is the Voice of the PEO Industry. NAPEO's 210 PEO members provide HR expertise, payroll, benefits, regulatory compliance assistance, and other services to small and mid-size businesses in every state. Businesses that use PEOs grow 7-9% faster than non-PEO users and are able to offer robust benefits packages not typically available to employees of smaller businesses. NAPEO members account for more than 90 percent of the PEO industry's $358 billion in revenue. An additional 196 companies that provide services to PEOs are associate members of NAPEO. For more information, please visit www.napeo.org.

SOURCE National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO)