CIPP FUTURE OF PAYROLL REPORT 2019
Sponsored by
Payslip distribution
DATAGRAPHIC FOREWORD Payroll is such a vital function but, as this report confirms, a small team of people or an individual often undertake the work. For the profession to evolve – to deliver more strategic value – the use of technology and automation tools is essential: to free time and ‘mind-space’ from operational tasks. One area where payroll has made progress with technology and automation is payslip distribution. It’s encouraging to see the majority of respondents to the survey now offer employees a digital view of their payslip. What is noticeable however is that few organisations are achieving 100% digital with many still printing payslips to post, hand deliver or for employee collection. What should be a priority for payroll is to understand the reasons for this fragmented distribution. For payroll to see productivity gains and automate 100% of distribution, new ways of working may be needed.
GLYN KING GROUP
MANAGING DIRECTOR, DATAGRAPHIC
The future of payslip distribution and key to successfully automating this operational task is recognising where the barriers are and creating a multi-channel approach to distribution. This could mean securely connecting (bolting on) third-party suppliers to the core finance/HR system. Suppliers, like Datagraphic, can present epayslips on computers and mobile devices for employees who aren’t able to use/access corporate systems. And can securely print and mail documents for employees who don’t have any means to view payslips online. When it comes to data security, the introduction of the GDPR, seems to have had some impact on payslip distribution with almost 22% changing the method of despatch as a result. A concerning statistic in this report however is that just over a third (35%) of respondents said they use an email facility to distribute payslips. This is surprising given that this report also highlights the GDPR and data protection as a key issue for payroll (38.5%). What conclusion are we to draw from this? Is payroll willing to risk using email with limited security (if password protected/ encrypted) or is there a knowledge gap and need to help teams understand the risks? Beyond payslip distribution, the report demonstrates there is scope for payroll to add value with the content displayed on (or with) payslips. Only 37% use payslips to deliver other information. In the age of epayslips, this seems a wasted opportunity. Many epayslip solutions are able to add messages for employees or present different documents online. Payroll should explore how it (and other functions in the organisation) can capitalise on this facility to engage with employees. When considering legislation changes to payslip content from April 2019, it seems payroll is able to respond. Almost 66% of recipients stated they already show the hours on payslips for workers paid by reference to time. The remaining 34% should now take action to ensure they are able to comply. In the future, if payroll is to align activities to assist with strategic decision making and performance improvement, data analysis skills will be required. Over 60% of those who responded to the survey felt they were behind the industry in terms of using data to drive payroll. To change this statistic, it’s important now that the profession adopts technology and automation tools to release staff from repetitive and manual operational tasks to develop the analytical skills for the future.
To the CIPP and all those who contributed to this report, thank you. I hope you find it thought provoking.
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