The pandemic has taught businesses a lot – patience, flexibility, ingenuity, and most importantly – the value of your employees. Now more than ever, workers (and candidates) have become very selective about who they work for, and what they expect from their employers. That could mean pay scale, paid time off, flexible schedules, health insurance, retirement plans and other benefit offerings. Some of these things are fairly easy to offer, and others more complicated or costly. One thing is certain – if you’re not competitive with benefit offerings, you stand to lose good employees to a business that is.

The assumed cost and administrative work involved with setting up and maintaining a retirement plan is the reason many employers give for not offering one, or not making a move to a better plan. Spooner’s 401(k) MEP (multi-employer plan) gives businesses the ability to provide this valuable benefit with minimal effort and start-up costs. A multi-employer plan doesn’t mean it’s a one-size-fits-all plan design. Those details will still be determined by the employer with the guidance of our partner, Vantage Financial. Vantage acts as the co-fiduciary on the plan, and will provide you and your employees with the same helpful advice as they have with our own staff. From gauging what type of investor they want to be, to projections that can help them meet their goals - our teams will work together to help your workforce plan for their future. Retirement plans shouldn’t be intimidating to you or your employees.

These types of plans also have the added benefit of reducing your liability and exposure, since the fiduciary responsibilities are assumed by professional plan administrators. The MEP sponsor (Spooner) also takes over the majority of the day-to-day tasks, leaving the end employer with little to no administrative work on the plan. Especially if your business utilizes our sister company, SuretyHR, for payroll services – this plan is virtually hands-off once it’s implemented.
To see more details on our 401(k) MEP, click here or contact us at 440-249-5260.
1 “Living in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Health, Finances, and Retirement Prospects of Four Generations,” nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, August 2021.
2 “Retirement Security Amid COVID-19: The Outlook of Three Generations,” nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, May 2020
3 “2021 Retirement Confidence Survey,” Employee Benefit Research Institute, 2021
Posted By Brandy King
February 02, 2026
Category: Medical Marijuana, Drugs In The Workplace, Marijuana Rescheduled, Marijuana Breathalyzer, Cannabix, Thc Breath Test
Toward the end of 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to expedite the rescheduling of marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act. This is monumental in that it acknowledges that marijuana does, in fact, have valid clinical/medical uses and has low-to-moderate potential for abuse. Only four states in the U.S. still regard cannabis as being fully illegal, while another six allow only the cannabinoid CBD, which is known not to produce psychoactive effects. All other states have some version of legal or decriminalized marijuana, be it medical, recreational, or a combination of both. The first thing that’s important to note and is widely misunderstood is that this rescheduling does not legalize marijuana federally. As of January 28, 2026, Marijuana is still a Schedule I drug, since the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has not yet finalized this rule. Once they do cement this change, there could be some wide-sweeping changes to drug testing. The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) currently only allows testing for Scheduled I and II substances for federal and regulated drug-testing programs followed by DOT-regulated employees and other safety-sensitive positions. Truck drivers, pilots, transit operators, railroad employees, and pipeline workers are all currently subject to mandatory drug and alcohol testing, including marijuana. There has been talk of a
Posted By Brandy King
February 02, 2026
Category: Ohio, Unemployment, Hr Outsourcing, Unemployment Claims, Fraud
If you haven’t considered trusting Spooner’s family of companies with managing your unemployment claims, maybe you’re not sure what it entails and how much time and hassle it could save. You may have also tried outsourcing this to another vendor in the past and found that their approach really didn’t save you much of anything. The team at Spooner Risk Control (which encompasses both Spooner Inc and SuretyHR) boasts over 15 years of experience managing unemployment claims, including an attorney that will represent your company at hearing. Many clients that are new to using our unemployment services have shared that past vendors still required them to log into their portal, submit all the responses and paperwork, then the vendor would send to the state. Our approach is to simply ask for the documentation, submit, and take care of everything. As an unemployment services client, you’d be asked to sign a third-party representation form that will allow any unemployment-related forms and letters to come directly to us so you’re not always the go-between. Here’s a run-down of the services you can expect as an Unemployment Services client: Monitor and report all new unemployment claims and notifications Submission of claims and responses after requesting information from the employer and submission of any rebuttals File and submit appeals on any base period unemployment notifications or allowed claims File appeals to the
Posted By Brandy King
February 02, 2026
Category: I 9, Immigration, E Verify, Construction, Ohio Hb 246
If you weren’t paying close attention, you may have missed the passage of Ohio’s House Bill 246, or the E-Verify Workforce Integrity Act. This will require all Ohio nonresidential contractors, subcontractors, and labor brokers to confirm employees’ work eligibility through the federal E-Verify program. Nonresidential construction is defined in HB 246 as: “…The construction or renovation of any building, highway, bridge, utility, or related infrastructure, but does not include any of the following: (1) An industrialized unit, manufactured home, or a residential building as defined in section 3781.06 of the Revised Code; (2) A building or structure that is incidental to the use of the land on which the building or structure is located for agricultural purposes as defined in section 3781.06 of the Revised Code; (3) A mobile home as defined in section 4501.01 of the Revised Code.” Included employers are expected to be fully compliant with the E-Verify requirement by March 19, 2026. There are currently no exceptions being made for small businesses or sole proprietors, and E-Verify is a free service. Employers will enroll at www.e-verify.gov and create a new case for each new hire by entering info provided on their I-9 and should receive initial results in seconds. Once a final eligibility result is obtained, employers may close that employee’s case. The Act requires employers to maintain this verification record for three
28605 Ranney Parkway
Westlake, Ohio 44145
Phone: 440-249-5260 ext. 153
Hours: 8AM to 5PM