Question 1

How do we get started?

Accepted Answer

Call (559) 334-5546 or send the contact form. An advisor calls you back within one business day during working hours, which are monday to friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm. The first conversation is free and carries no obligation.

Question 2

What happens on the first call?

Accepted Answer

A short conversation about your team, what is urgent and what is merely overdue. No pitch deck. We are working out whether the engagement makes sense for both of us, and sometimes the honest answer is that it does not.

Question 3

What should I have ready?

Accepted Answer

Nothing formal. Roughly how many people you employ, whether you have a current handbook, and what prompted the call. If there is an active complaint, a deadline or an agency letter, say so up front so we prioritize correctly.

Question 4

Which service do I actually need?

Accepted Answer

If you are not sure, do not guess. Describe the situation and we will tell you which service fits, or that you do not need one yet. Most clients start with a handbook rewrite or a compliance audit and go from there.

Question 5

How soon can work start?

Accepted Answer

Remote work such as policy drafting, compliance calendar setup and advisory usually starts the day we agree on scope. Onsite visits are typically scheduled inside the same week.

Question 6

What services do you offer?

Accepted Answer

13 in total, grouped into advisory and leadership, compliance and documentation, people and performance, and recruiting. Every one of them is available in every city we serve.

Question 7

Can I start with one service and add more later?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and most clients do. If a project turns into ongoing work, the project fee is credited against the first month rather than charged twice.

Question 8

Do you work with small businesses?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Most of our clients are Central Valley employers who have grown past the point where the owner or office manager can keep handling HR alongside everything else. Fractional HR and HR On-Demand Support are both built for that size of team.

Question 9

We already have an HR person. Does this still make sense?

Accepted Answer

Often yes. Plenty of employers have one capable generalist carrying payroll, benefits and hiring at once. We take the specialist work off them: investigations, policy builds, compliance audits and the conversations where being an outside party is the whole point.

Question 10

Can you handle a workplace investigation?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Impartial fact finding, interviews, and a written report and audit file you can rely on afterward. Using an outside investigator is often the point, because it removes the question of internal bias from the record.

Question 11

Can you help us hire?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Recruiting Services and Direct Hire Recruiting cover role scoping, sourcing, structured interviewing, offers and onboarding. Hiring and Onboarding Services covers the paperwork and first ninety day plan once someone accepts.

Question 12

Do you work onsite or remotely?

Accepted Answer

Both. Investigations, manager training and handbook rollout meetings are usually onsite. Policy drafting, compliance calendar work and day to day advisory run remotely so you are not paying for windshield time.

Question 13

How do you price this?

Accepted Answer

Scope drives price, and projects are quoted as a flat fee after a free scoping call so you see the number before you commit. As a guide: a custom, California-compliant employee handbook runs $800 to $1,500; a compliance audit starts around a few thousand dollars for a small business and runs $8,000 to $15,000 or more for complex or multi-location work; ongoing retainer support is $1,500 to $4,000 a month, up to $8,000 for higher-touch coverage; and hourly On-Demand work is $100 to $200 an hour.

Question 14

What does an employee handbook cost?

Accepted Answer

A custom, California-compliant handbook written to your policies and workforce is $800 to $1,500 as a flat fee, quoted after the scoping call. Templates with your logo dropped on them are cheaper and are not what this is.

Question 15

What does ongoing HR support cost?

Accepted Answer

Retainer support is typically $1,500 to $4,000 a month depending on how much of the HR function we carry, and up to $8,000 a month for higher-touch coverage. HR On-Demand is pay as you go at $100 to $200 an hour with no retainer.

Question 16

Do I have to sign a long term contract?

Accepted Answer

No. Project work is scoped and priced on its own. Ongoing support is monthly and cancellable. HR On-Demand Support has no retainer at all.

Question 17

Is pricing the same in every city?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Scope drives price, not distance. A handbook rewrite in Modesto is quoted the same way as one in Visalia, CA, and there is no travel surcharge.

Question 18

Is the first conversation really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The scoping call costs nothing and carries no obligation. You get a written scope with what is included, what it costs and when it is done before anything starts.

Question 19

What if the scope changes partway through?

Accepted Answer

We tell you before it costs you anything. A change in scope gets a written revision you approve, not a surprise line on an invoice.

Question 20

What does a compliance audit actually cover?

Accepted Answer

Current policy, personnel files, wage and hour practice, classification, required postings, training obligations and the paperwork trail behind all of it. You get a written findings document with a dated owner against every item, not a verbal summary.

Question 21

Our handbook is old. Is that a real problem?

Accepted Answer

Usually yes. California requirements move most years, and a handbook that has not been touched since 2019 is describing a legal environment that no longer exists. It is also the first document anyone asks for when a claim lands.

Question 22

Do you handle heat illness prevention plans?

Accepted Answer

Yes. For a lot of Central Valley employers it is a live Cal OSHA obligation that needs a written plan, real training and a record that you ran it. A plan sitting in a binder that nobody was trained on does not count.

Question 23

Can you work in Spanish as well as English?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Handbooks, policies, acknowledgement forms and manager training are delivered in both languages where your workforce needs it. An investigation record built through an ad hoc interpreter is a weak record, so we do not do it that way.

Question 24

Are you attorneys?

Accepted Answer

No, and we are careful about the line. We are HR consultants. We build the policy, process and documentation that keeps you defensible, and we will tell you plainly when a situation needs employment counsel rather than us.

Question 25

Do you work in Spanish?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every service is delivered in English and Spanish, including handbooks, policies, acknowledgement forms, manager training and investigation interviews. Bilingual delivery is standard, not an add-on line of business.

Question 26

What areas do you serve?

Accepted Answer

We are based in Visalia, CA and work with employers across 13 Central Valley cities, from Modesto down to Bakersfield. If your town is not on the list, call and ask. We usually can.

Question 27

How quickly will I hear back?

Accepted Answer

Within one business day during working hours. Messages that arrive overnight or over a weekend get answered first thing the next business morning. If it is genuinely urgent, call (559) 334-5546 rather than emailing.

Question 28

What if something urgent comes up?

Accepted Answer

Active investigations, terminations you are unsure about and complaints that just landed get moved to the front of the queue. Existing clients have a direct line to their advisor rather than a general inbox.

Question 29

Who will I be working with?

Accepted Answer

An experienced HR advisor, working from a written file on your business so context carries over between conversations. Our advisors travel, so your location does not change the service you get or what it costs.

Questions employers ask us

Getting Started

Services And Scope

Pricing And Contracts

Compliance And Risk

Coverage And Response

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