Professional February 2023

COMPLIANCE

Automation – Andrew Guy (FD Intelligence) and Fiona Hill ACIPP (AFH Payroll) (http://ow.ly/oCnv50M9fyl) Automation is always a popular talking point at events like this. Whether you’re a lover or a sceptic, there’s plenty to discuss. Andrew is the managing director for FD Intelligence, a company providing robotic process automation (RPA) solutions for payroll. After his presentation at the 2021 PSS, Fiona went on the journey with Andrew and came to PSS 2022 to share her experience with other payroll professionals. Fiona described her situation where a prospective new client was sought after, but resource for it would have been an issue. RPA was a lightbulb moment for her to allow her payroll team to be more efficient and focus on the more interesting part of payroll processing. Andrew highlighted the fact that RPA should be a business-led initiative, getting the payroll team involved to find out where the repetitive tasks are and what can be solved. Automation is “not revolution, it’s evolution”, said Andrew, driving home that such initiatives need buy-in from all staff for it not to be a fearful implementation. Fiona’s team named their RPA tool ‘Robyn Wexford’. The bot is a part of the team, and this significantly assisted with the team buy-in process. This session prompted a few audience questions, with attendees wanting to understand how the bots work, if they can handle pension uploads, validation and what they would do differently. Pay-on-demand panel – Adam Flight (Moore Kingston Smith), Sharon Kirby (QRails) and Ted Bechman (Income Group) (http://ow.ly/TwyV50M9qBS) In the penultimate session, we had a ‘fireside chat’ about pay on demand. This is another topic which has some strong opinions on either side, something the host, Adam, is keen to explore. Being honest about his own experiences and biases, Adam paints a

Whether you’re a small bureau starting out, or already have clients with employees in the thousands, there’s something here for you.

picture of his past situation, where he feels earned wage access may not have been beneficial for him. Luckily, he was joined by Sharon and Ted, both operating in the pay on demand service space, who provided a wider view of the key things people need to know. Sharon explained that America has a much larger adoption than the UK for earned wage access, but France and Spain have rules relating to advance payment availability. So, clearly, something’s changing, and there seems to be a growing desire for this benefit. Career futures – Samantha O’Sullivan MCIPPdip (The CIPP), Nigel Chambers ACIPP (PPAE ltd), Stuart Hall MA PGMdip MCIPPdip (CIPP board) and Paul Gibbons MCIPP (PayDashboard) (http://ow.ly/oqtz50M9snE) After many thought-provoking sessions, the CIPP careers video (http:// ow.ly/emAQ50M9sLt) was played to celebrate and praise all payroll professionals. Especially after all the hard work form the past year. Following this, we had a panel session exploring the different options available to payroll professionals. Nigel represents the small payroll bureau avenue, Paul as part of a software solution, Stuart as a consultant and board member of the CIPP and Sam as part of our policy and research team. This is another session I implore you to watch as the conversation shines a light on just how important the profession is to those who work in it. With decades of cumulative experience, the panel offer some truly helpful insights for the past, present and future of payroll. PayDashboard’s website is live to register your interest for 2023 if this has piqued your interest. The networking reception after the summit was also very well received. It was fantastic to meet a range of different people from varying businesses, despite the day’s tube strike. What will the next year bring and how will the world of payroll services react? I hope to see you there next year to discuss. You can register for the 2023 PSS here: http:// ow.ly/NMyc50M9tkh. n

Introduction to Experian – Paul Speirs (Experian) (http://ow.ly/ggy350M9ePM) With PayDashboard recently being acquired by Experian, Paul gave a brief overview of what they currently do in the UK and Ireland area and their vision for the future. Providing a look into: l the future l why Pay Dashboard was of interest l the importance of data

l data security l transparency.

Work report verification – Caine Bingham (PayDashboard) (http://ow.ly/Ykev50M9faI)

Caine presented a new product from Pay Dashboard which aims to solve a very real problem for individuals today. Work Report provides a way for workers to share employment data with lenders in real time, potentially reducing verification times from days to seconds. Caine described a hypothetical, but vividly plausible, situation where the delay in receiving payslips could have caused a mortgage application to be repealed during the growth plan chaos. Work Report removes the paper and documentation from the process, sharing data electronically (with the individual’s consent, of course), with various organisations to speed up applications.

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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |

Issue 87 | February 2023

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