The CIPP releases its annual payroll survey findings
01 May 2014
The introduction of RTI cost some businesses around £30k. The number of businesses now considering online payslips is on the increase, however the number of complaints relating to the security of self-serve has significantly increased.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals has today announced the findings of its sixth annual payslip survey, which looks at the number of UK employees being paid, the frequency with which they are paid, the method of how they are paid and the information included in the payslip.
The cost of administering payroll
The survey conducted by the CIPP’s Policy Team earlier this year has yet again shown some surprising new trends within the payroll. Most noticeably are the significant costs some businesses have been faced with as a result of the introduction of RTI. These costs are largely due to the requirement to upgrade their existing payroll or Bacs software with some estimates from businesses being around £30,000.
Furthermore additional costs are also now being seen with the addition of automatic enrolment, not only in the software upgrades but also in the need for additional resource. Next year’s survey will look at the comparison between the one off and ongoing costs required for this legislation.
The increase of online payslips
In 2013, the CIPP reported that many businesses were not ready for the introduction of online payslips but this year’s findings show that they’re on the increase with over a third now using them (39 per cent compared to 27 per cent in last year’s report).
The findings also showed that the number of people considering using them has increased this year from 26 per cent to 37 per cent. This could largely be due to the cost savings they can provide with 83 per cent showing a savings with some showing savings of between £3,000 and £15,000 per annum.
Complaints
The research did also show a significant increase in complaints from employees regarding the security of self-serve, one of the methods of accessing an electronic payslip, from 44 per cent in 2012/13 to 58 per cent in 2013/14.
However the number complaints relating to the confidentiality over personal information and identity fraud has dropped significantly (60 per cent in 2012/13 down to 41 per cent in 2013/14 for personal information and identity fraud 37 per cent in 2012/13 down to 29 per cent in 2013/14).
Payment method
Electronic payments are still dominating as the preferred methods of payment, compared to paying employees with cash; cheque payments are showing a decline.
Payslip information
The number of respondents reporting that they include details of pensionable pay on the payslip continues to rise, with 38 per cent now including this information, the highest figure since records began. This is not unexpected with the introduction to automatic enrolment.
However the number of employers who include the pay period and employee’s name has dropped this year. Leaving aside the logistical problems of distributing payslips without names, it is interesting that at a time where employers are being asked to report more and more information, they are providing employees with less.
Unsurprisingly, the last working day of the month remains the most popular pay day for monthly payrolls, with Friday retaining accolade for weekly payrolls.
Karen Thomson, Associate Director of Policy, Research and Strategic Visibility commented:
“This is the sixth year that the CIPP’s Policy Team has surveyed its members to understand the long term trends affecting employee payslips and this year has really thrown up some surprises for us.
In particular it is quite concerning how much the new legislation changes are costing employers in the updating of their payroll software systems, a figure which is only set to increase with the addition of automatic enrolment. However it is good to see many making cost savings elsewhere with the introduction of online payslips.”
For more information on this year’s survey please view the full report.