It makes no difference where you work or what you do for a living; if you perform certain services or tasks for an employer, you expect to get paid for your work. Unfortunately, many workers end up out of pocket due to payroll mistakes made by their employers.
When you run a business, you must ensure all your staff get paid when expected and that they get paid the correct amount of money for their work. Otherwise, your organisation could end up in a lot of legal hot water, and you could even face a staff mutiny on your hands.
If you’re worried that you aren’t paying your employees correctly, here are a few tips to help you check and streamline your payroll:
Have a Single Payday for Everyone
You probably do this already, but you should ensure that you’ve got a single payday for everyone at your business. Some organisations end up paying staff on different days or weeks.
When you unify your payroll date for everyone working at your business, you make life easier for both your employees and your HR and finance teams.
The day or date you choose is up to you; some firms pay on the 25th of each month, others might prefer the last Friday of every month.
Have a Single Payment Process
Electronic bank transfers make the most sense because you don’t need to worry about having large amounts of cash at your premises or concern yourself with handling potentially forged banknotes.
Bank transfers are instant, and the whole process can get done through online banking. It’s also usually possible to schedule payments, so your HR and finance teams can set up payroll payments in advance.
Avoid using a mishmash of payment methods like PayPal, cash, cryptocurrency, and so forth. Bank transfers are easier to manage for businesses, and it’s what you should use, whether you’re paying employees or contractors.
Outsource Your Payroll
There’s nothing wrong with paying third parties to do things for your business; all organisations do that to some degree. If you run an SME, it could make sense to outsource your payroll to a third-party service provider.
The great thing about using payroll services for small business is you don’t have to worry about arranging payments, creating payslips, or complying with various HMRC rules and regulations because someone else does the hard work for you.
Pay Your Staff Based on Their Skills
All too often, there’s an unconscious bias when hiring people and offering them salary packages. Make your business an innovative leader in its industry, rather than one that actively encourages an antiquated view of remuneration based solely on gender or age.
You should simply reward your employees with salaries based on their skills, irrespective of their personal attributes like gender, age or orientation.
Keep On Top Of Employment Law Changes
Lastly, it makes sense to keep abreast of any changes to employment laws and regulations as they could directly impact how you pay your staff. One of the most common changes or updates to employment law relates to the national minimum wage.
Failure to keep on top of employment law changes could result in your business getting fined, even if the problem was down to a “computer error.”
