REWARD
Simon Garrity, UK, and international business development, Protime, explains how payroll professionals can use overtime insights as a lever to promote their strategic value to the organisation THE ROLE OF PAYROLL IN MANAGING OVERWORK
F or years, payroll professionals having a greater influence on the overall strategies of their employer. Suggestions have ranged from rebadging – if human resources (HR) teams can continually rebrand, then why not payroll? – to increasing representation at board level. So far, the conversation remains stuck in a loop. The potential for payroll to add more value is widely recognised within the profession, but leadership often can’t see beyond their view of the function as purely operational. have debated the potential for widening the remit of payroll and I don’t pretend to have the complete answer to this conundrum. However, I do believe what’s needed is a single big
issue to drive the change; a starting place that will help to change the organisational mindset. Recent research from my organisation suggests that the current overtime epidemic in the UK has the potential to be that issue. Our overwork culture and its implications The study shows that UK businesses face a ticking time bomb in the form of an engrained overwork culture that is burning employees out and undermining productivity, retention, and bottom-line performance. More than a quarter (28%) of employees say they can’t complete their workload during normal working hours, inevitably forcing overtime. Employees
cite various reasons why this happens. For 20%, the amount of work their manager delegates is unrealistic for their contracted hours. Others (26%) stay to complete their to-do list for the day. Even worse, over half (54%) of employees are logging up to four days of completely unpaid overtime each month. This situation is exacting a significant human toll: 53% of those overworking suffer from increased stress and anxiety, while 41% have experienced burnout because of unsustainable workloads. A quarter aren’t taking holidays owed as they struggle under the strain. The impact stretches far beyond employee wellness and quality of life. The operational consequences are dragging
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | September 2024 | Issue 103 52
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