Payroll Associates Opens Office in Orange County

Payroll Associates Ltd., an Oxnard employee leasing concern, has opened an Orange County branch office in Mission Viejo. The firm says the expansion means its service--handling all personnel matters for client concerns--is gaining increased acceptance.

Mary Ann Underwood, Payroll Associates’ co-owner, estimated that about 700,000 employees of small and medium-sized companies nationwide are now “leased.”

Employee leasing firms become the employer of record, handling payroll, workers’ compensation and benefit matters, Underwood said. “The system frees entrepreneurs to concentrate on production and marketing,” she added.

According to Underwood, employee leasing can reduce the cost of benefits because of discounts made possible by the leasing company’s purchasing power.

Underwood, who is a partner with her husband, Jerry, in Payroll Associates, declined to name any of the 3-year-old firm’s clients. The Underwoods’ son, Kevin, will manage the Orange County office.