Professional December 2017/January 2018

Feature insight - e-payslips

A digital delivery

Employers are increasingly turning to electronic payslips in a bid to cut costs and meet the needs of their workforce, says Kavitha Sivasubramaniam, freelance writer and editor

O ver the years, payslips have developed from simple, handwritten notes on pay packets to printed and posted documents, with the natural evolution then being to the production of the same document in an electronic format. Since what was perhaps an obvious progression from paper to online, payslips have been refined, both in terms of how they look and are presented. But payroll and human resources (HR) departments are still responsible for producing a vast amount of printed material in many organisations, despite document management systems and HR software helping to vastly reduce their paper trails. And although the adoption of electronic payslips continues to rise, it is still up to individual employers to decide whether to provide printed or electronic payslips as long as they are given to staff before, or on, their payday. Arguably, therefore, there is no better time than now for organisations to replace their paper payslips with electronic ones, if they haven’t already done so. But before moving towards a digital delivery, employers of all sizes must first

Eric Darling, business development manager for e-services at Opus Trust Marketing Limited, which specialises in producing and distributing fast, secure communications. Laura Hughes, marketing manager at PayDashboard, agrees that most employees seem to prefer a format they can access online rather than paper, particularly since the capacity to misplace a paper payslip is hugely inconvenient. “Everyone goes on their phone for instant access and one thing that is really important is having an easy-to-use system. Most phones are intuitive and it’s essential that the system is easy to understand and access, without an onerous user manual.” Digitally delivered payslips are also popular among offsite staff, who can access their data at the same time as those who are office-based. “E-payslips themselves have seen a revolution too, with many historical systems offering the service through the intranet only,” explains Darling. “In today’s app-friendly world, and with more than 90% of adults in work in possession of a smartphone, the ability to include remote workers in the e-payslips revolution is now possible.”

consider the business case for e-payslips without neglecting to look at the wants and needs of their workforce.

...employers of all sizes must

Growing in popularity For many employees demanding a modern approach to their employment arrangements, nothing can rival the benefit of 24/7, instant access to their pay data. After all, allowing them to access their information when they want and from where they want allows them to feel in control of their finances. “Without a doubt, e-payslips delivered via a mobile app are the most popular format today. We are all so used to using apps today for our banking, utilities and information, that our mobile phone has become our go-to tool for communication,” says first consider the business case for e-payslips...

39

| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |

Issue 36 | December 2017/January 2018

Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker