Industry news
activpayroll joins Partners program GLOBAL PAYROLL specialist, activpayroll, has joined Ultimate Software’s UltiPro Connect Partners program which requires building an integration adhering to Ultimate’s standards. The new partnership gives activpayroll and Ultimate the ability to integrate their solutions to make it easier for mutual customers to exchange data between the UltiPro human capital management solution and activ8. Alison Sellar, chief executive officer (CEO) of activpayroll, said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Ultimate Software to deliver global payroll solutions. Our partnership brings valuable opportunities to offer our customers a scalable global payroll solution, which includes the utilisation of the UltiPro API to seamlessly connect compliant payroll solutions across the world, and provide payroll results back to the UltiPro platform.” Reduction in available cash ANALYSIS FROM the Centre for Economics and Business Research (https://bit. ly/2T0HBoW) reveals that in the period April to June UK households will have £43billion less cash available for essential spending. Jeff Phipps, managing director at ADP, commented that this is the time for businesses to support employees’ financial wellbeing: “Sadly, a large proportion of people in the UK were already living paycheck to paycheck before the crisis. Due to the lockdown, the situation has been heightened as many have less cash available for their essential spending, taking a further toll on their health and work. “Employers have an opportunity to provide support and to ensure their employees have access to high quality financial advice. Done well, financial well-being programs can be a great way to help employees save money and reduce the ‘money worries’. “Employers are not able to solve every personal problem, but where we can, something that helps our employees go to work with one less worry is an opportunity to show we value and care about them.”
Pay awards on hold IN THE three months to the end of March 2020, pay analysts XpertHR recorded awards running at a median 2.4%. But with all settlements in the sample taking effect before the UK went into lockdown, more recent XpertHR research shows many employers putting 2020 pay awards on hold for the foreseeable future. In early April, XpertHR asked 400 organisations how they were addressing some of the people management challenges that have arisen. Only 16.5% of respondents said they didn’t think their organisation’s 2020 pay review or bonus payments would be affected by the coronavirus pandemic, although a further 32.8% were unsure or felt it was too soon to say. The majority (50.8%), however, agreed that there would be some impact. XpertHR pay and benefits editor Sheila Attwood said: “In the first few months of the year there was a clear upward trend in pay increases. However, we expect this to go no further, with pay pauses and pay freezes becoming commonplace as a result of the coronavirus crisis.” Payescape acquires PayRun.io TAKING STEPS to keep moving forward, Payescape has added PayRun.io to its business. Payescape, which was founded in 2006 and has over 1,200 customers throughout the UK and Ireland, and offers payroll, human resources and time management solutions, saw a 40% growth in sales in 2019. John Borland, managing director, welcomed the PayRun.io team commenting that “combining our skills and knowledge means Payescape can continue our growth trajectory and advance our offering.” Steve Sarowitz, billionaire founder of the US payroll company, Paylocity, and joint owner of Payescape, commented that “Payroll software is at the heart of our business model and until now we have relied on a third-party software to process our UK payrolls. Acquiring PayRun. io will allow us to be more efficient and productive in how we deliver our service.” PayRun.io launched the UK’s first truly scalable and transparent open payroll API (application programming interface). Stuart Hall, of PayRun.io, said “We are excited about the opportunities ahead and the success we can achieve together.”
Financial wellbeing hub A RESOURCES hub has been launched by Mercer LLC to assist employers and their staff through these challenging times. The Financial wellbeing in uncertain times site (https://bit. ly/2WU6nbA), which provides practical information for employers to help their employees maintain financial wellbeing, includes an associated site with toolkits aimed directly at individuals. All the resources are free to access for employers, employees and their friends and families. The resource site will see regular updates on current and emerging best practices in financial wellbeing benefits and approaches. Mercer will also regularly post expert commentary and information around evolving government and financial institution assistance measures
relevant to employers and their employees. The dedicated tool- kit site offers videos, podcasts and articles with practical financial information, money saving hints and tips, checklists and planners, and links to other useful association and government sites providing support and information. Sylvia Pozezanac, Mercer’s UK CEO, said: “As the economic impact of the pandemic comes to the fore, the short- and long-term financial wellbeing of employees is now rising up the agenda. “Drawing on our own approach to financial wellbeing, as well as the personal experience and expertise of our colleagues across our business, we have created this hub of information to support and give back to our clients and their people.”
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | June 2020 | Issue 61 42
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