From the Christmas period to the school summer holidays, there are certain times where you’ll inevitably have a lot of staff wanting time off. That’s why it’s important to have a system in place, ensuring that people book the correct number of days off, and that it’s tracked properly. This will help you to pay the correct rate, and ensure that everyone gets what they’re entitled to.

Complex arrangements

The problem with modern businesses is that people don’t just take off their statutory 28 days a year, and holiday arrangements are getting more complex. That’s why bureau payroll software is often needed to organise it all. Some challenges to payroll departments include:

  • Part time people getting pro-rated holiday
  • Schemes where people can ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ holiday days
  • Personal/duvet days and other perks
  • Changing holiday allowances – i.e. staff getting extra days the longer they work at your company
  • Bank holidays

This means it’s harder than ever to keep track of days off, and to ensure people aren’t over or underpaid for their holidays.

Requesting holidays

At times such as Christmas or the school summer holidays, you’ll have a lot of people wanting time off simultaneously. It’s important to come up with a system, whether it’s first come first served, or some sort of yearly rota, so you have the cover you need. You might want to look at creating an online holiday form that’s sent to managers for approval, or having each department work out their holidays well in advance, so you’re sure not too many people are off. Once finalised, the information can be sent to the pay department, who can use payroll software for bureaus to ensure the right deductions are made to holiday allowance.

Holiday rights

Full-time employees are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks off a year, which works out at 28 days, and this includes bank holidays. If people work part-time, then it’s important to pro-rata the rate correctly, so if they work 20 hours as opposed to the full time of 40 hours, then they get half the holiday entitlement. Payroll processing for bureaus can be difficult when you have part time staff or people on shifts, which is why using specialist software is helpful, as it means it’s easier to calculate, and you can be sure you’re staying within employment law.

Fewer mistakes

When doing payroll for people across an organisation, whatever this size, it’s easy to make mistakes. This can lead to people being overpaid or other issues down the line. Payroll for bureaus is much easier with the right software, which does many of the calculations for you. Therefore you can be sure people have taken the right amount of holiday, and you aren’t stuck trying to claim money back.

To find out how the right payroll software can make life easier, get in touch with Primo Payroll on 0845 456 7181. Based at Unit 2A, Bourne Court, Unity Trading Estate, Woodford Green, Essex, IG8 8HD, we provide payroll software to firms across the UK.

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