16 Jun 2023
The importance of business continuity for payroll
Paying employees is fundamental to every organisation and a timely, accurate and compliant payroll delivery relies on technology, robust process, and a competent, well-trained payroll team.
Every organisation is subject to somewhat unique terms and conditions of employment, requiring different combinations of people, process, and technology. But what happens when something disrupts this combination and payroll delivery becomes vulnerable. Without considering strategies to mitigate payroll disruption, organisations will be at the mercy of any event or action that affects their people and/or technology.
Outsourcing payroll to a reputable and experienced vendor is an effective way to protect against any event that can threaten payroll delivery, from loss of key staff to a cyber-attack. Organisations that outsource payroll services can save money on software, staff and training costs. They mitigate risk by having an expert provider focused on their payroll, instead of relying on in-house resources. They also save time by leveraging the best practice processes that are developed by specialists, because of their focus on and experience with payroll.
Making the decision to outsource the payroll enables an organisation to take advantage of the well-developed and tested business continuity plans implemented and maintained by their chosen vendor.
A payroll services supplier will protect their technology
Reputable payroll vendors have to ensure that their technology is available anytime. They invest significant sums of money in developing infrastructure that can survive adverse events that can easily incapacitate other organisations. This includes having secondary sites for IT infrastructure.
They may partner with data hosting centres that will provide world-class, business continuity strategies. Such providers ensure card access security to premises, duplicates of critical equipment, sophisticated climate control systems and backups, their own electrical sub-stations supported by back-up generators and state-of-the-art fire monitoring and control systems.
A payroll services supplier can restore quickly
Because they use world-class data centres, payroll service providers can commit to restoring services quickly; usually within an hour or two. For an organisation not well-versed in activating back-up plans, this process could take much longer. Furthermore, a payroll service supplier, with significant experience, has tested and refined their plans, ensuring complete preparedness for critical events.
A payroll services supplier preserves your expertise
Outsourcing payroll services avoids the threat of single-point sensitivity; for example, having all the payroll knowledge vested in one employee. If organisations risk being single-point sensitive, an event such as freak weather or a health pandemic might present a significant threat. By outsourcing the payroll, this threat is mitigated. Using a payroll services team with a shared understanding of your processes and employment conditions, means every team member can apply that knowledge when processing your payroll.
In conclusion
Whilst there is nothing to stop a pandemic or natural disaster from occurring, you can prepare by taking appropriate actions. It takes time, resources, and funds to develop and implement strategies that will deliver the payroll in the face of a disaster. Successful payments to staff in adverse conditions requires detailed preparation, trained resources and the support of your executive team. Or you could consider outsourcing to an experienced payroll services provider that already has rigorous business continuity plans in place. A timely and accurate payroll creates trust between employee and employer, so every organisation must be confident of its ability to deliver something as crucial as the payroll in any scenario.
Are you prepared?
To discover how outsourced payroll can benefit you, contact Frontier Software on 01276 456 902, email sales@frontiersoftware.com. You can trust Frontier Software with your payroll.
Article originally published on Public Sector Focus June 2023.