Implementation of online payslips
A Case Study by Provide
Background
Provide is a Community Interest Company that delivers NHS and Local Authority community services across East Anglia. We currently employ approximately 1000 staff across a number of sites in a wide range of roles, from frontline patient-care roles (such as nurses, therapists, doctors and other healthcare workers) to supporting roles (such as corporate, facilities and estates staff).
In October 2016, we initially implemented the ESR Employee Self Service Limited Access (ESS LA) functionality, before implementing the Employee Self Service Full Access in January 2017. During this transition period we communicated to staff the variety of functionalities available within Self Service, also highlighting that they could now opt out of receiving paper payslips and P60s as they could now access them online via ESR. Our plan was to achieve full roll out of online payslips and P60s by April 2017 at the start of the financial year. Initially only a small percentage of staff opted out straight away so we decided the most effective approach would be to switch from paper payslips and P60s to online at organisation level with effect from April 2017, as this would reflect our organisational aim towards sustainability and reducing our carbon footprint.
Our Approach
Supported by our Board, the payroll team was informed that we would be moving to online payslips and P60s at the beginning of April 2017. The consecutive changes and process to switching from printed payslips and P60s to online had been discussed between the HR and payroll teams. We sought the guidance from our NHS ESR Account Manager and Functional Advisor and we established a process for providing support and information to our staff.
We began by our communications approach through a staff bulletin and electronic noticeboard three months before the roll out (February 2017) and again in April 2017 after we switched to online payslips. We also ran open days and training sessions in different locations to demonstrate to staff how to access ESR and payslips and also provided learning enhancements and further guidance documents. The launch of online payslips in our organisation has been successful and positively received. The ease of access both at work and through the internet remotely has been largely appreciated.
“The move to online only payslips and P60s fits with our organisational Sustainability Strategy. It has also promoted the further development of our staff IT/digital skills and awareness, through encouraging our staff to access employee self-service on a regular basis. Whilst the approach has led to financial savings and efficiency savings, it has also driven better data accuracy and security. This has given us a great foundation for driving further changes through manager and supervisor self-service over the coming months.”
Richard Atienza-Hawkes, Executive HR and OD Director.
Benefits
- The payslips appear online two days prior to payday for staff to view them.
- Our staff can access their payslips at any time whether at work, home, or on the move via their smartphone.
- The reduction in the use of paper and our carbon footprint is a key benefit for us as an organisation.
- Staff can go back and look at previous payslips if they need to for mortgage applications etc., as ESR stores a secure accessible database of historical payslips and P60s.
- We have reduced costs by no longer needing to distribute paper payslips and P60s.
- We have removed the risks of and breaches of confidentiality associated with manually distributing printed payslips and P60s around locations and departments.
“Being able to view everything in ESR is fantastic. From a manager’s point of view, all direct report details can be viewed from current compliance to absence. From an employee’s point of view, payslips are all accessible along with being able to book annual leave and keep updated with compliance and training. Moving forward I think ESR will be a great employee and manager tool.”
Amy Parker, PA to Assistant Director, Primary and Prevention Pathways Executive Clinical and Operations Director.
The Next Steps
We are now in the process of scoping and assessing the further use of Supervisor Self Service and will begin looking at and testing the functionality of Manager Self Service to understand its benefits. It is hoped that the increase in usage of the Self Service functions will give greater autonomy to our managers, lead to more timely decision making and a reduction in administrative time and overheads.
For More Information
If you are thinking about moving to online payslips and want to talk to Provide about their experiences please contact Kaiser Chowdhury, Workforce Planning & Information Analyst on 01206587228 / 07815546831 or email kaiser.chowdhury@nhs.net
We have published some helpful Best Practice Guidance for moving to on-line Payslips - go the Programme News section of this edition of ESR News to learn more.