Reduce Payroll Inquiries — But How?

Have you ever wondered, how much the resources your HR team spends answering to repetitive employee inquiries such as payroll-related questions, time-off requests, and personal information updates, cost you as an organization? Now to get rid of these tedious tasks, the payroll staff can prepare a layout of most commonly asked question and post it on company’s website for easy access. Make sure you use simpler language and make your answers short and specific. Remember, they are not interested in your Hi-Fi HR words, but their money. Let’s check out some of the scenarios: Question: If I am on direct deposit, at what time of day on pay day will my pay be deposited in my checking account? Answer: Your pay will be deposited in your checking account as of 8 a.m. on pay day. Question: If pay day falls on a weekend, when am I paid? Answer: In that case, you will be paid as of the first business day prior to that weekend. Question: Can I get an advance on my next paycheck? Answer: Sorry! The company policy is to not issue pay advances under any circumstances. Question: If I resign from the company, when will I be paid my final paycheck? Answer: If you willingly leave the company, you will be paid as part of the next regularly scheduled payroll. Question: How much unused vacation time can I roll forward into next year? Answer: You can roll 40 hours forward. For exceptional cases, you must apply to your department manager, for a waiver. These FAQs can also be listed in the employee manual; but employees do not always refer to that document. By presenting them on the intranet site (which employee tend to access more frequently, especially if it is a rich, multi-function site developed by your software partner), there are better chances that employees will approach and access the FAQs instead of the payroll staff. FAQs when prepared well, delivers a lot of significance not only to your website visitors, but also to your organization. It increases the transparency of policy and helps you focus more on amending the policy than turning office into an inquiry center.