was what it took to keep delivering. The request that changed things did not come as an accusation or a complaint. There was no incident that needed attention. It came as part of a broader governance review. A check on whether existing practices are still aligned with the organisation’s work health and safety obligations. Under Australia’s work health and safety laws, businesses have a duty to protect both physical and psychological health. The review was not framed as a response to failure. It was a test of whether the systems the business relied on were still fit for purpose. Virginia was asked to contribute information about how work was actually getting done. Not policies or intentions. Just what the work looked like day to day. Busy periods. Long hours to meet deadlines. Tight staffing. Temporary arrangements that slowly became normal.
The review was not framed as a response to failure. It was a test of whether the systems the business relied on were still fit for purpose.
Payroll data was used to understand the workload over time. The payroll team did not interpret or speculate. They simply recorded what had happened. That was when Virginia realised payroll was not just an administrative function, and it showed what work really looked like over time. When the data came back, there was nothing dramatic. No scandal. No breach. Just patterns. It was now visible that some teams worked longer hours than others, and some times of the year were just always busy. The same names kept coming up, including Virginia’s. She had not noticed this before because it was familiar and spread out, and
because everyone was being paid. Seen in this way, it now looked different. This was not about one bad week or one demanding client. It was about accumulation. About the intensity becoming standard. About long hours becoming invisible because they were normal. Virginia was in no way accused of doing anything wrong because she hadn’t really, and the business had benefited from her diligence, and the system rewarded her outcomes. The bonuses followed delivery, and not sustainability. The uncomfortable question was not whether she was valued.
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ISSUE 20 GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE
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