Payroll administration is a resource-intensive function. Preparation and disbursement takes several man-hours to complete for every payroll cycle along with other tasks such as time card monitoring and responding to payroll inquiries. With Employee Self Service payroll services, many tasks are automated, allowing convenient access and updates by data users. In effect, payroll maintenance is simplified, and employees are empowered to manage their information.
What is Employee Self Service?
ESS, or Employee Self-Service, is a web-based solution to payroll management. Employees are given secure, online access to their own data including time and attendance records, check stubs and accrued time off among other information. Access may be through an internet or intranet portal. The ESS payroll would eliminate manual checks for various types of payroll inquiries. Employees have access to this password-protected information on a 24/7 basis. Your employees can generate a summary of their payroll data, and print their pay stubs and W-2 at their convenience without involving payroll administrators.
Benefits of Using an ESS Payroll System
The benefits of an Employee Self Service system are two pronged. On the administrative side, it means enhanced efficiency and significant time savings with the elimination of manual tasks such as tedious record-keeping, tracking, retrieval and tax compliance. It increases departmental productivity and may lead to significant cost savings in terms of salaries and benefits for personnel dedicated to payroll tasks. With a single database for all employees, integrating payroll data with benefits metrics customized for each department and each tier level is manageable.
On the employee side, it means instant access to personal information. Employees can review their salary history, time records and other information relating to career development. Convenient access to their data means that employees can provide the paperwork needed for loan applications or credit verifications without waiting for benefits administration to process paper requests.
An automated payroll system is scalable. It is updated in real time to reflect hiring, turnover and attrition. Universal updates are entered once for an entire data set while individual benefits keyed to a future date or event can be set to kick in as the trigger date occurs. Employee access can be changed with remote authorization by a supervisor, adding another layer of security to the system.
How does an ESS System Work?
Your ESS system will be customized to your requirements. Each employee is given access to the Employee Self Service portal with an authorization code. They will create their account by entering their information in the online forms provided. Each account holder will be prompted to create a password and set security questions that will be used to log into the system.
The ESS becomes a comprehensive database where each account will have demographic data, benefits package, skills inventory, training history, inventory of company-issued assets assigned to the employee, messages and reminders for each account holder. Supervisors can generate individual or group reports for review purposes.
At Integrated Payroll Services, Inc., an online payroll services company near Pewaukee, Wisconsin, the ESS payroll service is mobile-optimized so that you and your employees can access information needed anytime and anywhere using iPhone devices. When it comes to payroll services, iPS strives to keep pace with innovative strategies to deliver enterprise solutions that enhance business efficiency, productivity and profitability.