Summer 2021 is already looking busy and brimming with potential. Employers are witnessing day-to-day operations stabilize after a tumultuous year, employees are feeling more secure and empowered at the workplace, and everyone is looking forward to a vacation. We sat down with Anita Kulik, CPP and Payroll Consulting Manager at Wise, to discuss best practices companies can follow to ensure their payroll process runs smoothly when key staff schedule Out Of Office time.

Summer 2021 Will See a Spike in PTO Requests

After 92% of employees canceled, postponed or chose not to have a vacation due to the pandemic, everyone is ready to book a flight to somewhere far, far away. Employers and human resource departments everywhere should be expecting a spike in PTO requests—heck, even the payroll processors themselves will need a getaway! That’s when companies need quality, reliable temporary payroll support to ensure employees are getting paid correctly and on time, no matter who is out of the office.

“Payroll is an inflexible process,” says Anita. If payroll gets disrupted, employees quickly lose trust in the organization. This affects turnover rates, morale and employee satisfaction. Simply put, payroll is something you just don’t mess up.

Temporary Payroll Support: A Seamless Solution

Companies who are fielding an influx of PTO requests, or lose their payroll processor for a temporary amount of time, may need extra support.

Anita says, “Companies may have a backup person internally to take on some HR responsibilities in the event of an absence, but they may not have a lot of experience. Running payroll might be too complex.”

She continues, “perhaps the company is losing a lead and needs someone more experienced to head-up the process. Not just one person may be able to take on that responsibility.”

If the payroll processor takes time off, this may mean that their responsibilities fall on the leadership team. However, managers can’t drop all of their existing work, even if they do know how to process payroll. This scenario warrants outside support, and that’s where Wise comes in—to offer dynamic temporary support with little risk compared to using a temp agency.

“When you work with a third party for temporary payroll support, you get what you pay for,” Anita says, “Wise consultants get in there and offer the experience and knowledge. In emergency situations, we can get in there and pick up most of the payroll process in one shadow session; it doesn’t take us that learning curve.”

Wise’s support doesn’t stop at making sure payroll goes out on time. Our consultants will make sure your process is optimized and will even create the necessary checklists for you to use long-term.

“We identify inefficiencies and create efficiencies,” Anita explains, “We try to get checklists and documentations from our clients and fine tune them. If they don’t have a checklist, we create it as we go along and then share it with them for future use.”

Not only will payroll be covered seamlessly when clients work with Wise, but they get the added value of acquiring completed documentation for future instances when temporary support is needed again.

Get Temporary Payroll Support with Wise Consulting

When the wave of PTO requests crashes on HR’s desk this summer, it may take more than internal replacements to get the job done, even if there are back-up employees willing to step-in. They may not understand payroll complexities and compliance thoroughly enough to ensure no critical mistakes are made. Like Anita astutely puts it, “it’s not just about knowing how to process payroll. You have to understand what you’re processing. You not only need the knowledge of the software and the knowledge of the process, but knowledge of payroll, period.”

Our certified payroll consultants at Wise Consulting know most HCM software systems and support our clients’ short and long-term payroll needs. Both U.S. and Canada certified, Wise consultants have the practitioner experience to support seamless transitions, create checklists and documentation, and (most importantly!) make sure employees get paid accurately and on-time.

To get in touch with a Wise professional, contact us today: call 800-654-4550 or email us at HCMHelp@WiseConsulting.com.