Author: Steven Richman
Being a payroll outsource bureau allows us to observe and analyse various trends in the industry. One that has been gaining momentum in recent years has been the shift to cloud-based payroll platforms, resulting in a move away from printed reports and payslips.
Many organisations, however, are still wary to make the change, and continue using printed media for various reasons. Over the years, we’ve noted a number of shortfalls associated with this:
- The distribution process of printed payslips and reports is often a manual one, making it an administrative burden that carries an associated cost.
- Increases in crime in South Africa mean that the transportation of printed media between sites within larger organisations increases the risk of the data falling into the wrong hands. This can create a POPIA issue for the organisation as payslips and reports contain private and confidential information about the staff and the company.
- Storage of printed copies of reports and payslips need to be secure, and over the years, depending on the size of the organisation, the space required to keep printed copies can be become substantial.
- The administration behind maintaining five or more years of printed reports, payslips and tax certificates can be time consuming and costly.
So, what are the options available to employers who want to make the move away from printed media? Investing in a modern, cloud-based payroll software is the answer, because it gives employers a number of different options.
- Emailed payslips
Most cloud-based payroll systems allow for the emailing of payslips and reports directly from the system to a specific user or employee. This means:
- Payslips, tax certificates and reports are encrypted and can be password protected when being sent to an employee.
- Emails can be sent out at a specific time and arrive in the employee’s inbox within minutes of being sent.
- Employees have the ability to store their payslips and tax certificates, and in doing so remove the need to request copies from their HR team.
- Employee and manager self-service portals (ESS)
New payroll systems offer employee self-service portals, allowing employees to access their own data 24/7 via a smart phone, tablet or PC. Access is gained by a web browser such as Google’s Chrome, Firefox or MS Edge, and in some cases, via an app that can be downloaded to your device. This means:
- Employees can gain access to current and historical payslips and tax certificates at the touch of a button.
- Your organisation can move onto an online leave management process which allows employees to upload and store sick notes electronically against the application.
- Your company can move onto an online reimbursement claims process and gain the added benefit of an online repository for receipts. This repository can be referenced in the event of a SARS audit if required.
- Employees can begin managing their emergency contact information and managers can gain access to it onsite rather than needing to contact their HR team.
- ESS systems offer various other features, such as online appraisal processes and access to company polices, empowering managers and staff by giving them access to data and tools, and increasing the overall productivity in your organisation.
So, how do you take advantage of one or all of these options? Easily! All you need is an email address for every employee, either issued by your company or a personal email address. Email accounts are readily available at no additional charge to a private individual and are quickly becoming the preferred method of communication for many organisations.
If you would like to make the move to a paperless payroll process, give our ESS support team a call today. Our payroll consultants are on hand to assist you throughout the process, and can also arrange a demo if you would prefer.
Email us for more information.