A Smarter All-in-One Payroll Software for Multi-Role and Multi-Shift Teams
Within the ever-changing landscape of business, one of today’s hardest challenges for Human Resource and Financial Professionals is paying a multiple role and shift workforce.
Paying a multiple shift, multi-role workforce quickly becomes very complex when traditional ways of paying employees do not support all the different aspects of an organization: including numerous different shift patterns, different pay rates for each shift type, overtime pay calculations and compliance with regulatory agencies (e.g., the IRS). Therefore, to solve this complexity, a smart all-in-one payroll system is the solution.
Why Traditional Payroll Does Not Adequately Work with The Complexities of Paying Employees
Organizations with multiple shift workforces (manufacturing, retail, transportation, medical, etc.) often realize that basic payroll systems and/or spreadsheets alone cannot handle things like:
- Different shift patterns (Day/Night Rotational)
- Different job functions with multi-tiered pay scales
- Overtime, Double Shifts, additional Incentive Pay.
- Statutory Payroll Rule Compliance
- Real-Time Attendance Reporting Integration
As an organization grows and the workforce continues to evolve into more complex schedules and types of jobs, relying solely on manual or disconnected systems creates a higher likelihood of human error, inconsistent payroll processing, and violations of Federal and State Laws. As such, this creates additional costs for the business due to employee dissatisfaction and/or regulatory fines.
Payroll Management on One Platform
The ideal payroll software allows every step of the payroll process to be handled from a single source including employee information, attendance and leave information, tax information, and compliance with local laws thus avoiding numerous systems that require manual checks or entries.
Leave and attendance management
Integration with time-tracking devices and tracking systems allows payroll software to accurately track the hours employees have worked throughout various shifts, which then enable accurate wage calculations including overtime and shift differentials.
Support for Multiple Roles
Many employees actively work in different capacities requiring them to have different pay rates. The right payroll system can identify multiple role definitions and automatically calculate the earnings based on where the employee reports.
Automating Statutory Requirements
Staying compliant with various employment regulations is the primary reason payroll continues to be a challenge for companies operating in markets such as India. Custom-built software in the Indian market must continually stay apprised to rapidly changing EPF, ESI, Professional Tax, TDS and Labour Welfare Fund rates as well as automatically adjust payroll runs and produce accurate pay amount reports.
Integration Without Barriers
Payroll does not exist in a vacuum. Integrated HR systems allow for the consolidation of employer/employee relations data (i.e., on-boarding, attendance, performance, time-off and payroll) eliminating double entry errors and increasing efficiency, thereby allowing for a higher volume of completed payroll runs.
Precise Calculation and Reporting of Taxes
Utilizing smart payroll software will calculate tax accurately by providing the capability for complex tax computations, generate prepared-for-filing reports, and provide e-filing capability where applicable. All of this will save the employer manual effort during the tax season.
For companies that utilize multi-role and multi-shift teams, purchasing a robust payroll software platform will provide strategic and operational benefits.
Enhanced Accuracy: Use of automated calculations will reduce errors of any type in the employee’s pay, his/her deductions, and their statutory compliance.
Shorter Payroll Cycles: The time it takes to complete the payroll cycle is now in minutes instead of days.
Timely Information in Focus: Dashboards and reports allow HR staff and finance leaders to get accurate real-time data to allow them to make better-rounded business and people decisions.
Confidence About Compliance: With the use of automated updates, companies can feel secure about following labour laws across the regions (especially pertinent with payroll in India).
Creating a Better Employee Experience: Timely pay, transparent payroll practices and the availability of payroll processes help foster trust and confidence between employees and employers.
What is Driving the Change to Cloud-Based Payroll Software?
Cloud-based payroll systems are becoming the preferred option of companies of all sizes. The benefits of using this method include:
- Use of Secure/Encrypted Data Storage
- Automatic Updates & Backups
- Scalability as Workforce Grows
Most companies with multiple physical locations in India are adopting the use of cloud-based payroll systems to ensure their payroll transactions comply with local payroll regulations through an automated process with no manual involvement.
Selecting a Payroll Solution
The following criteria should be used to evaluate payroll products:
User-Friendly: A payroll solution that has quick and easy navigation will allow users to become quickly familiar with the interface.
Compliance: Pay attention to local compliance needs, particularly if you will be using the payroll solution in India.
Integration: When selecting a payroll product, look for one that can integrate with attendance, HRMS and accounting software.
As companies employ increasingly complex combinations of people working multidimensional roles in multi-shift environments, payroll complexity stands in the way of efficiency & compliance. With the addition of a smarter, yet fully integrated payroll product, payroll complexity is converted to an automatic process. This means less time is wasted performing functions, more accuracy is achieved, and employers are complying with statutory requirements.
For small businesses or for those that operate multiple facility locations throughout the country, implementing a payroll solution in India will prove invaluable to an HR professional by allowing them to concentrate on the growth and development strategy rather than day-to-day payroll issues.