Payroll can be a tricky task at the best of times and pay transparency can be too. However, introduce changing legislation, workplace policies or procedures and you have a potential recipe for disaster. Payroll for a lot of businesses can be a risky area of operations, that if done incorrectly can increase the liability of the entire business. Understanding legislation and adapting to organisational policies is only the first step. Pay transparency is the best way to ensure your business operates smoothly. To learn what you need to know about pay transparency, use these simple payroll transparency tips.

Seek advice on pay transparency

Making sure you have complete transparency in your payroll function can be tough. A lot of businesses set themselves up to do the bare minimum. Seeking external advice from an expert consultant is the best way to get the payroll transparency tips you need. These professional payroll consultants will be able to advise on the latest legislation and help you set up the best practice processes to ensure pay transparency in your business. A professional payroll resource is uniquely placed to notice the blind spots you may otherwise miss in your own assessment. In the interest of transparency, an external adviser might be the quickest and most effective way to achieve this in your business.

Keep a record

Transparency isn’t necessarily all about protecting yourself or your business. Often times employees may need those records for themselves. Making sure your business has adequate record-keeping practices in place is critical to good transparency. Physical records can be damaged, lost or accidentally disposed of. Find an electronic record-keeping system that allows all records to be kept in a safe and encrypted environment. Maintaining accurate and historical records means any enquiries into your payroll practices are handled in an appropriate and transparent way, allowing you to access data from the day, month or year before. 

Finer details

When it comes to the type of information you provide when you pay an employee, more is always better. Transparent pay practices are all about making it easy for employees to access the information they need in their pay. Including leave allowances, taxation and any other additional pay related details in their remuneration slips is crucial to good transparency. By making this information transparent and easy to access, you empower employees to take more ownership over their positions. It also helps create greater efficiency in other payroll tasks as unnecessary inquiries are handled with the information already shared. This payroll transparency tip not only creates greater clarity but helps payroll staff to focus on the tasks that require their skills and experience.

On-boarding

When welcoming new employees, pay and payroll processes are two of the more important questions most new starters have. Pay transparency is about making sure your business is able to help employees feel welcome by answering those questions for them. A great tip to pay transparency is including key information on pay cycles and required information in any on-boarding or welcome kits. Identify when employees will be paid next, following their start date as well as what information you require from them. Paper forms are a good way to solicit this information on day one for quick starters, but if you have forewarning, sending these forms and information ahead of time electronically is best. Creating pay transparency is crucial for all employees, even those who may not have started yet.

Pay transparency is all about making sure your business doesn’t hold any unnecessary liability and making employees feel empowered. Achieving pay transparency can improve efficiency as well as employee satisfaction. To achieve payroll transparency in your business, contact our payroll specialists at i3 Group to get started.

Interested in more essential payroll advice? Check out our master guide here!