Senior HR Leadership. Without the Full-Time Price Tag.

Fractional HR is senior-level human resources expertise delivered on a part-time or project basis — without the cost of a full-time HR director or VP. Rather than hiring a $120,000–$180,000 full-time HR leader, you engage a credentialed HR professional for the hours and scope your business actually needs. The work is real: policy development, compliance management, employee relations, performance systems, onboarding, terminations, and strategic workforce planning. The difference is that you pay for what you use, and you get experience that would be out of reach for most small and mid-size employers on a full-time basis.

Fractional HR is most valuable for employers with roughly 10 to 150 employees — companies large enough to have real HR complexity but not yet at the scale where a full-time HR team is cost-justified. This includes fast-growing companies that have outgrown ad-hoc HR management, businesses that lost an HR person and need bridge coverage, organizations facing a specific challenge (compliance audit, leadership conflict, compensation restructuring), and companies that simply want senior HR counsel without the overhead. It’s also a strong fit for businesses going through a significant transition — acquisition, rapid hiring, or a reduction in force — where temporary senior HR capacity is needed.

Our fractional HR professionals hold SHRM-SCP (Senior Certified Professional) certification — the senior-level credential from the Society for Human Resource Management, requiring demonstrated strategic HR experience and passing a rigorous examination. SHRM-SCP holders are equipped to operate at the strategic level, not just the administrative one. Beyond certification, our team brings decades of hands-on experience across industries including healthcare, professional services, manufacturing, nonprofit, and technology.

A traditional HR consultant is typically project-specific — brought in to complete a defined deliverable and then out. A staffing agency places temporary staff, usually at the coordinator or generalist level, without strategic ownership. Fractional HR is an ongoing relationship where a senior HR professional functions as a part-time member of your leadership team — attending meetings, owning HR strategy, managing employee issues in real time, and building institutional knowledge about your business. The engagement depth is what differentiates it. You’re not buying a report or a temp worker; you’re adding a senior HR leader to your team on a fractional basis.

The full range of strategic and operational HR, including: employee handbook development and updates, job description library, onboarding and offboarding processes, performance management systems, compensation benchmarking and pay equity analysis, disciplinary processes and documentation, termination management and separation agreements, HR compliance audits (FLSA, FMLA, ADA, state-specific), employee relations and conflict resolution, leadership coaching, HR technology selection and implementation, and strategic workforce planning. We scope each engagement based on what you actually need — not a generic package.

We offer three engagement models depending on your needs. A monthly retainer provides a defined block of hours per month for ongoing HR support — best for companies that need consistent, reliable HR presence. Project-based engagements are scoped and priced for a specific deliverable with a defined timeline, such as a full handbook rewrite or a compensation restructuring. Hourly advisory is available for employers who need occasional senior HR counsel on an as-needed basis. Most clients start with a project or short-term retainer and move to a longer-term arrangement once the scope of ongoing need becomes clear.

Both, depending on what you need. For companies with no dedicated HR function, we serve as the HR department — the owner or office manager stops handling HR issues and those route to us instead. For companies with an HR coordinator or generalist already in place, we function as senior HR leadership above them — providing strategic direction, handling escalated situations, reviewing their work, and filling the experience gap between what they can handle and what the business needs. The latter model is particularly common in companies with 50–150 employees that have outgrown a single generalist but aren’t ready to hire a full HR director.

Our primary service area is Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. We work on-site at client locations within this region and remotely for clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic and, for the right engagements, nationally. Many HR functions — handbook development, compliance audits, policy work, employee relations counsel — are handled effectively remotely. On-site presence is available for employee meetings, leadership sessions, and situations where in-person HR support is important.

The integration is one of the most practical advantages of working with JS Benefits Group for both services. Our fractional HR team works directly with our benefits team — so open enrollment planning, compliance obligations tied to benefits (ACA, COBRA, HIPAA notices, Section 125 documentation), and HR policy around leave and benefits administration are handled by people who already know your plan and your workforce. You don’t have to translate between an outside HR consultant and a separate benefits broker. For many clients, the two services reinforce each other significantly, particularly around compliance, onboarding, and renewal strategy.