REWARD
focus of the scheme right. My first thought was that HMRC obligations would need to be a key element, partly because of the fear of audits and penalties, and because employers would want assurance from the CIPP that they had the right safeguards in place for that purpose. But it didn’t take a lot of research to realise payroll teams were just as concerned, and often more concerned, about other regulators like the Department for Work and Pensions, the Borders Agency and the Information Commissioner. More importantly, I recognised this was a rather negative way of looking at things, when most Payroll Managers viewed their roles much more positively in terms of paying staff and others accurately and on time, and being always open to learn and improve. We needed to get the documentation right, starting with a report template to give clients a detailed picture of where they were doing well and where we’d like them to improve or make corrections. We wanted to be as confident as possible that clients would receive the same service from every Assessor, and we addressed that in several ways. I wrote a handbook giving detailed background to each of
the sections of the assessment process, and that’s been regularly updated ever since. Initially, each new Assessor shared their first visit with me. We introduced a countersigning check for all assessments, and after a couple of years I built a scoresheet to help both assessor and the person countersigning address the same set of indicators in the same way. Light years Looking back to the early days of PAS, the biggest change has got to be in the use of technology. The first service provider we assessed in early 2013 had a payroll procedures manual housed in nine bulging lever arch binders. As far as I recall it was comprehensive, but goodness knows how the staff were expected to refer to it on a regular basis and how Managers were going to keep it constantly updated. And soon after that, I was shocked to visit another provider where team members seemed to be hemmed in by umpteen metal filing cabinets filling half of the available space. A bit like ‘ The Day of the Triffids’ . I couldn’t think of a better way of keeping morale down and discouraging teamwork!
These memories seem light years away now, and it’s interesting to watch different organisations constantly developing and improving their own tools to make their work as efficient and effective as possible. I’m regularly asked how often we decide that a PAS client has failed to make the standard and what the most common reasons are. The total number of failures is low, and we always offer advice and the possibility of consultancy input to help the client come up to the mark quickly. In alignment with CIPP strategy generally, PAS has always been about encouraging improvement and learning, not about highlighting shortcomings. Where I’ve withheld accreditation or been disappointed, it hasn’t usually been about technical detail. It’s been much more about things like relationships, teamworking and management. Who knows how many more assessments I will do. But when I do finally stand down, I’ll be very confident in the future of a scheme which is well structured and managed, and which will continue to prove popular with payroll teams across the country. n
PAYROLL UPDATE Fresh new look
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* Correct at time of print and based on CIPP membership with eligible grade booking the online delivery of the course.
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| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward |
Issue 116 | December 2025 - January 2026
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