A harbinger of increased federal regulations, Human Capital, a professional administration services company in Rochester Hills, is partnering with Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton, a law firm in Troy. The association between the two firms is in response to the current regulatory compliance atmosphere, says Paul Connors, managing director of Human Capital.
“In both the public and private sectors, we’re dealing with a much more complicated regulatory environment these days,” Connors says, noting that compliance issues can stem changes in health care, tax code, and workplace regulations. “Aside from your Fortune 500s, the majority of small- to medium-size businesses are not equipped to handle or respond to the challenges that they face in this regulatory atmosphere.”
At Human Capital — which provides consulting services in addition to payroll processing, human resources, employee benefits, and workers compensation insurance — the staff noticed an increase in clients asking where they could go for legal assistance, Connors says. “A prime example of this would be in the human resources area, where we can provide consulting for certain accounts. But with certain infractions, it turns into more of a legal issue.”
So Connors turned to Giarmarco Mullins & Horton, a full-service law firm with 60 attorneys representing 36 legal specialties. “We determined that we needed to align ourselves with a diversified law firm that can assist both (our organization) and clients with issues related to labor, union activity, employment, government regulations, and health care.”
The collaboration will first be introduced to Human Capital’s network of clients and then to the Michigan business community at large. On the state level, more than 2,000 of 19,000 regulations have been eliminated or modified by the Snyder administration to reflect modern business practices, while the Obama administration has increased, delayed, or declined to enforce regulations, especially in the health care and financial services arenas.
