How the Pandemic Has Affected Business Payroll

by admin · September 9, 2020

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When our payrolls operations are run at their best, staff and invoices are paid on-time and without issue. Money is transferred and issues are minimised and eliminated. However, amid an international pandemic, there are many external and internal factors that hinder optimum payroll performance. And, as has become evident, these issues affect a wider area of performance, staff, and operations within businesses.

Perhaps most significantly during this time, it is a business’ team that needs to be protected from financial errors. If a wage is incorrect or missing, it can create huge amounts of stress and financial detriment, even at times without concerns for health issues. As COVID-19 continues to affect payroll, employees are put at risk, including those who are reliant on their payments to care for themselves and potentially ill family members, and it is important for businesses to ensure they take appropriate action to protect their staff.

The following points describe how payroll is being affected by the pandemic and what actions businesses can take to ensure risk is averted.

Personnel Disruptions

A common issue, typically of those businesses with internal payroll departments, is the unreliability of payroll management during a period of lockdown. As the pandemic isolates workers responsible for payroll, either due to illness or necessary social distancing measures, regular payroll can become disrupted as staff members are unable to perform their duties. In such a scenario, departmental positions are not always easily taken over by other staff members, which leads to transactions, invoices, and wages being held up.

Depending on the size of your payroll department, even a single illness can grind its operation to a halt. Businesses who have outsourced their payroll, however, are finding themselves protected. As such, there has been an increasing demand for external payroll options, like those from People Group Services, as companies look to protect their internal departments and employees from potential risk.

Remote Limitations

Remote working has, for many businesses, allowed them to continue their operation safely as staff work from within their homes. However, while many issues are easily overcome with technology, there continue to be hindrances. In the case of payroll, access to physical documents and data can delay or prevent payments from being made. Other key documents, those which may be necessary for applications or as evidence for tax compliance, may also remain out of reach for staff.

While many businesses are well underway putting their documents onto the cloud, many others rely on paper documents and physical storage, which is not only problematic as accessibility is limited, but it is also now a greater security risk as offices and workplaces remain unattended.

Service Complications

The delays on products and services are slowing the processes many businesses have in place, due to manufacturing issues and worker absences. For temporary workers and those assigned to specific projects who rely on these for their work, they are then prevented from completing tasks and, therefore, earning their pay.

Delayed invoices create a backlog that eventually becomes problematic and overwhelming for those trying to work their way through it, causing disruption and potential confusion as businesses attempt to get back on track.