How do Employee Self-Service Portals help in Managing Payroll issues?
When it comes to technology in the field of human resources and payroll, Employee Self-Service or ESS technology is one of the most popular innovations. Companies across sectors including retail, education, F&B, hospitality etc. are reaping the benefits of an ESS portal. What attracts HR practitioners and payroll managers to this software is its ability to reduce their administrative workload.
Today, most companies hire employees that are well versed in using computers and can be trained easily in working on software that is tailored to be enterprise specific. Once an employee uses HR Payroll software with ESS portals like Primo Payroll, his or her dependence on the HR department reduces dramatically. Here are a few ways in which Employee Self-Service is improving payroll issues:
Access payslips anytime, anywhere
Every employee receives a payslip each month but most of the time it is a hard copy. This means that the payslip is very easy to lose. ESS makes accessing payslips really simple. Every month, once the salary is paid to the employee, the payslip is generated and uploaded online. This means that whenever the employee wants, he or she can access current and previous payslips and print them. Payslips are crucial when an employee wants to apply for loans, credit cards, tourist visas or lease a house.
Furthermore, since this information is available 24/7, employees do not need to rely on HR managers to provide them this information. They can access their payslips at their leisure. With all the payslip records easily available to employees, the HR department can save time and resources.
Publish timesheets and maintain attendance
For a payroll manager, making sure each employee receives his or her payment on time is essential. This means that attendance sheets and time sheets need to be error free and have to be processed in time. In jobs that hire casual employees, maintaining payrolls accurately is difficult to achieve. With ESS portals in Payroll software, managers can inform casual staff of the shifts available. When the casual employees take up shifts, they can then record their timesheets online. This eliminates paperwork and increases accuracy. Moreover, individual employees can have access to the number of hours they have worked and get information on the next available shift.
For full time employees, they can individually look into leave management or attendance management. They can monitor the number of sick leave, annual leave and vacation days they have used. The attendance system gives precise information of the number of days or hours an employee worked or was present in the office.
Updated employee data
Quite frequently, employees don’t fill in their employment forms accurately or forget to update their details. In such cases, the company has outdated information which may be in the form of bank details, residential address information, bank details etc. An ESS allows employees to update such information without interacting with any HR executives. Employees can simply go online and update their information instantly. Moreover, since payroll data is updated clearly on the portal, employees can manage their own tax declarations.
Improved communication between employees and HR
Imagine yourself as a HR manager who accepts all types of requests from employees in the form of emails. This would mean that you would receive requests for annual leave, holiday extensions, enquiries regarding payslips, etc. straight into your inbox. Handling multiple requests can be overwhelming and time consuming. Now imagine using a portal that streamlines all the communication between employees and HR managers. Employee Self-Service portals allows employees to access their details 24/7 and can update them whenever required. This allows employees to apply for annual leave, schedule appointments with HR, update emergency contacts, view leave balance, raise travel requests, claim reimbursements or fill out appraisal forms online. They can also use it to voice their grievances or sort out issues regarding payroll and salary.
Moreover, if the HR department is introducing new training videos or wants to make announcements, they can also do so through this portal. This improves two-way communication and reduces the number of redundant email exchanges between employees.
To conclude, the Employee Self-Service portal aims to create a paperless payroll system. It creates a more mobile automation and digitalization of processes which are repetitive and time consuming. It not only encompasses the needs of both causal and permanent employees, but also delivers outputs tailored to the job level of each employee. Furthermore, it makes communication between employees and HR managers smoother and more transparent.
