When Do Employees Start Googling For Payroll?

When Do Employees Start Googling For Payroll?
Payroll mistakes are inevitable. However, when you receive your monthly payslip and realised that there is actually a mistake in your payslip - be it a wrong deduction or worse still, missing payment for that overtime hours which you have clocked in - what do you do then?

Surprisingly, instead of going back to the HR department, there is an increasing number of employees who try to a find a solution to the missing or wrong payment with a Google search?

The driving factor behind this trend is primarily due to the fact that most companies these days outsource their payroll. Most employees might argue that given their payroll is handled by an outsourced payroll provider, they can simply Google search their name and have them rectify the payroll mistake.

Well, it is not that easy.

Firstly, there are likely to be plenty of external payroll vendors with similar names or even the same name but are in fact two different companies based in two different countries. Give the wrong company a ring and the situation might get a little awkward and embarrassing.

Given that an employee actually tracks down the outsourced payroll vendor which the company engages, the payroll vendor might not be able to provide the solution. As much as an organisation is obliged to protect employees' personal data, the payroll vendor is obliged to do the same. After all, there is really no point engaging a particular payroll vendor should the company's personal payroll data be easily leaked to the public.

Moreover, under Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act, these payroll vendors have the right to not disclose any information to the employee over the phone or via email, regardless of the circumstances. Who knows, the person on the other end of the line could very well be a scammer himself, trying to get hold of your hard-earned wages.

What should the employee do then?

The first step should be to approach the payroll team within the organisation. After all, the team is likely to be made up of a bunch of payroll professionals who will certainly know where and how to rectify the payroll mistake. Additionally, they are likely to be the first point of contact with the outsourced payroll vendor and can easily resolve the payroll error.

However, if the company is relatively small and does not have a dedicated payroll team, then the next best step would be to approach the HR department. Likewise, they are likely to be able to get the payroll issue resolved with the external payroll vendor as well.

There are many reasons why payroll mistakes occur. However, if employees' payslips perpetually contain errors, the company might consider engaging another payroll vendor instead. Moreover, employers or the HR department can play a part by communicating to employees. It can be in the form of guidance through a staff handbook, on the HR intranet or even at the bottom of the payslips, informing employees what are the steps should they find a mistake in their payslip. Simple guidance as such can go a long way in simplifying the payroll resolution process.

This article was originally published by Gpayroll.