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Fractional HR, Chicago, Illinois

Fractional HR for Chicago small businesses

Bevel HR runs the people function for Chicago companies with 10–75 employees, compliance, onboarding, payroll, and employee relations, so founders can get back to the business. Senior HR and people & culture support, starting at $1,800/month.

$1,800/mo
Starting retainer
~25%
Of a full-time HR hire
Days
To start, not months
Who we help in Chicago

Chicago businesses that need real HR, not another tool.

We work with logistics and manufacturing, fintech and trading firms, healthcare, professional services, and consumer brands across the Chicago metro. If you have 10–75 employees and HR keeps landing on the founder or ops lead, that's exactly who Bevel HR is built for.

01
HR keeps landing on the founder
Chicago employers face a triple layer of rules, federal, Illinois state, and aggressive City of Chicago and Cook County ordinances, that small businesses routinely miss, and every offer letter, complaint, and policy question routes straight to the top. That's founder time you can't get back.
02
Hiring fast with no system
The team is expanding, but there's no repeatable way to bring someone on. Improvised starts turn into preventable six-month departures.
03
Illinois compliance gaps piling up
Illinois requires annual sexual-harassment prevention training, has pay-transparency in postings, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (earned paid leave for any reason), and strict final-pay rules. On top of that, Chicago and Cook County add their own paid-leave and Fair Workweek scheduling ordinances. The local layer is where most Chicago employers are exposed.
04
A full-time hire doesn't pencil out
At $70,000–$90,000 fully loaded, a full-time HR hire is premature at your size. The work calls for experienced judgment a few hours a week, not a salaried desk.

HR compliance in Illinois, what Chicago employers need to know

Illinois requires annual sexual-harassment prevention training, has pay-transparency in postings, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (earned paid leave for any reason), and strict final-pay rules. On top of that, Chicago and Cook County add their own paid-leave and Fair Workweek scheduling ordinances. The local layer is where most Chicago employers are exposed. If you're also hiring remotely across state lines, the complexity compounds fast. We track state-specific requirements for every client so you're never blindsided by a rule you didn't know applied. See our multi-state hiring and HR compliance services.

Fractional HR in Chicago

Why Chicago businesses bring in fractional HR

Chicago's economy has its own texture, and it drives the HR work. Chicago employers face a triple layer of rules, federal, Illinois state, and aggressive City of Chicago and Cook County ordinances, that small businesses routinely miss.

Whether in logistics and manufacturing, fintech and trading firms, healthcare, professional services, and consumer brands, Chicago employers reach the same inflection point: too many people for ad-hoc HR, too few for a full department.

Illinois requires annual sexual-harassment prevention training, has pay-transparency in postings, the Paid Leave for All Workers Act (earned paid leave for any reason), and strict final-pay rules. On top of that, Chicago and Cook County add their own paid-leave and Fair Workweek scheduling ordinances. The local layer is where most Chicago employers are exposed. That's the kind of exposure we close quietly, before it turns into a claim.

The Chicago market

What HR actually looks like in Chicago

Chicago is the most diversified economy in the Midwest: finance and trading, a deep professional-services sector, logistics and manufacturing, healthcare, and a substantial tech scene clustered in the Loop and River North. The breadth means employers here span every industry profile at once.

Illinois, and Chicago specifically, is a high-regulation environment. The state has the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, strict wage-payment timing, mandatory sick leave, and the new statewide paid-leave law, while Chicago and Cook County layer on their own higher minimum wages and Fair Workweek scheduling rules for certain industries.

The Chicago challenge is the stacking: state rules, plus Cook County rules, plus city rules, sometimes all applying to the same employee. We keep that layered compliance straight so a scheduling or sick-leave rule does not slip. See HR compliance.

Fractional HR services & pricing

Senior HR for Chicago businesses. A fraction of the cost.

Monthly retainers that flex with your company. Minimum 3-month engagement, cancel anytime after. Fully remote, we can start the same week you sign. Full pricing & comparison →

Foundation
$1,800/mo
6–8 hrs/mo · 1–20 employees

  • Dedicated HR request channel
  • Compliance monitoring & calendar
  • On-call Q&A (up to 2 hrs/mo)
  • New-hire paperwork guidance
  • One policy update per month
  • Monthly People Report
Get started
Embedded
$6,500/mo
22–26 hrs/mo · 40–75 employees

  • Everything in Growth
  • Leadership team attendance
  • People strategy & org design
  • Comp benchmarking
  • Manager coaching
  • HRIS implementation
  • Quarterly board report
  • 4-hr urgent response SLA
Get started
Common questions

Questions from Chicago businesses

How much does fractional HR cost for a Chicago business?

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Bevel HR retainers start at $1,800/month for Chicago businesses with 1–20 employees. Most Chicago clients at 15–40 employees land on the Growth package at $3,500/month, roughly 25% of the ~$70,000–$90,000 fully loaded annual cost of a full-time HR manager.

What Illinois employment laws do Chicago employers need to know?

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Illinois mandates annual harassment training, pay-range disclosure, and the Paid Leave for All Workers Act. Then Chicago and Cook County stack their own paid-leave and Fair Workweek scheduling rules on top, so a compliant Illinois policy can still violate a Chicago ordinance.

Do you work with Chicago businesses remotely?

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Yes, remote is how we work best. Chicago businesses get a senior HR partner reachable over video, Slack, and email, usually more available than an overloaded internal hire. Distance has never been the constraint; attention is.

How quickly can you start with a Chicago business?

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Within days of a signed agreement. Book a free 30-minute HR Assessment this week; if it's a fit, you'll have a proposal within 24 hours. Week one is your HR Audit, we review your current setup and surface what actually matters in the Chicago metro.

What size Chicago companies do you work with?

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We focus on Chicago businesses with 10–75 employees, the stage where HR is too complex to ignore but a full-time hire doesn't pencil out yet. We commonly work with logistics and manufacturing, fintech and trading firms, healthcare, professional services, and consumer brands.
Explore more

Fractional HR in other markets

Helpful guides
Get started in Chicago

Ready to get HR off your plate?

Book a free 30-minute HR Assessment. We'll look at your Chicago business, find your biggest exposure, and tell you what to prioritize. No pitch, no obligation.