REWARD
“We’re aiming to make a real impact, from helping students understand their pay as soon as they secure their first job, to inspiring more people to consider a rewarding career in payroll”
The Money Advice Service found that teenagers are inadequately prepared for the demands of the workforce, as only 59% asserted their comprehension of their pay slips (https://ow.ly/b4U950Wy2sy). At the CIPP, we recognised this issue and began a project on building financial education to support school leavers. Our primary objective is to empower school leavers to understand their payslips and their basic employment rights. We want this to spark a journey of lifelong learning, equipping them with a crucial skill as they navigate their career paths. In addition to this, we wanted to highlight payroll as a potential career path, making students aware of the exciting jobs available in our wonderful industry. Putting plans into action Over the past year, the CIPP has taken part in several school fairs in North London and Hertford. The purpose of these events was to deliver two presentations: l one focussed on understanding payslips and day one employment rights l the other on understanding payroll as a career path. This provided us with the opportunity to engage with up to 800 students per fair, aged 14 to 19, from year 10 upwards. Each event was opened by the local mayor and other dignitaries, and we were among a plethora of other industry and company stands. The primary objective of these events was to promote financial literacy and wellbeing within the context of payroll, payslips, legal rights and the industry’s appeal to school leavers. The events were also attended by Joyce O’Leary MCIPP, a CIPP member and owner of the payroll service company, The Payroll Lady. We knew this wouldn’t be easy – how do you get teenagers interested in payroll? Our approach focussed on the ‘what’s in it for me?’ factor, highlighting how understanding payslips and pay could benefit them from the moment they land their first jobs. We
were thrilled to see that 16-19-year-olds were open to learning about employment and payroll rights. By the end of the sessions, they understood that they were entitled to a payslip, a contract and to be paid at least the minimum wage. What we wanted to do was to go a step further to give students more rounded lifelong skills, meaning they can understand: l various payslip elements and deductions l what to expect when first starting work l what their rights are and where to go if things go wrong. We talked about what payroll has to offer as a career, in payroll itself, as well as other careers in our industry, such as leadership, technical, project management, implementation and service support roles. We also discussed the qualifications that could sit behind this, from apprenticeships up to master’s degree level. These first fairs allowed us to tweak our presentations to make them more impactful for the setting we were talking in. Continual feedback and improvements We also wanted to trial the presentations in a teaching environment and were given the opportunity to engage in direct student presentations at the Centre Worcester College. This engagement enabled us to address a diverse group of students in a classroom setting, and the targeted audience consisted of business and hospitality students. After delivering to the first group of students, although their feedback was positive, we felt we still needed to deliver a compelling opening to the conversation
to ensure mutual engagement. On a positive note, several students approached me afterwards, having discovered that they’d either received payment as ‘cash in hand’ or were paid below the national minimum wage (NMW). And in some cases, both. Feedback on the presentations was provided by both students and class teachers, which led to further development of the presentations. Next steps The next stage in our schools project will involve creating a digital pack. This pack will include a video of the presentations which can be used within schools, colleges or clubs, alongside background notes to support those presentations. The background notes will include information on each slide, as well as exercises which can be conducted either as speaker-led activities or in small groups. For instance, a list of questions with multiple answers might be provided, such as: 1. What’s the current NMW? 2. What are the steps you should take if you don’t understand your tax code? 3. What are the disadvantages of being paid in cash? We’re also engaging with other third- party organisations to see how these presentations can be rolled out across various media types to create the biggest impact. There’s so much exciting progress underway, and we’re aiming to make a real impact, from helping students understand their pay as soon as they secure their first job, to inspiring more people to consider a rewarding career in payroll. n
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 113 | September 2025
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