Helping your council with payroll governance
Why having a payroll governance policy helps way more than payroll
At the 2024 annual Local Government Payroll Professionals Conference, experts on payroll audit, risk, and legal compliance discussed key things councils can do to ensure they mitigate payroll risk and meet obligations. One of the simplest things suggested was for all councils to implement a clear policy outlining their commitment to payroll and payroll governance.
At elementTIME, we believe in local government, and we love local government payroll. So, to assist in ensuring councils can meet, understand, and manage their requirements and obligations around payroll and payroll-related processes, we have pulled together a policy pack for payroll governance.
Payroll officers going above and beyond
There are many expectations and assumptions when it comes to local government payroll. Even a clear agreement over what a timesheet should contain and who should be responsible for verifying it can change from staff member to staff member within the same team.
Payroll officers are often seen as the ones responsible for ensuring everyone in Council gets paid on time...
But there is so much more to success than just the bank file getting created.
Payroll officers are often making calls on overtime, illegible timesheets, incorrect cost codes...
And completing inconsistencies in the data they are provided.
But this approach creates so much hidden noise and risk to a council, and it just doesn’t need to be this way.
When councils can provide clear expectations to their staff on what and when information needs to be provided for records of work, and consistent processes for approval through to transparent workflows, the payroll function can change from reacting to noise to supporting the council workforce.
At the 2024 annual Local Government Payroll Professionals Conference, experts on payroll audit, risk, and legal compliance discussed key things councils can do to ensure that they mitigate payroll risk and meet obligations.
One of the simplest things suggested was for all councils to implement a clear policy outlining the council’s commitment to payroll and payroll government. When polled, no attendees at the conference had any ‘code of payroll compliance’ or similar policy document at their council.
Attendees at the conference also commented on gaps some councils have in understanding payroll obligations, requirements, and communication channels between payroll and council executive teams.
Introducing: A payroll governance policy
At elementTIME, we believe in local government, and we love local government payroll. So, to assist in ensuring councils can meet, understand, and manage their requirements and obligations around payroll and payroll-related processes, we have pulled together a policy pack for payroll governance.
The documents are intended to provide councils with a foundation that can be used as is or customised as needed. The intent is to help establish a council-wide agreement on how the council intends to manage its payroll obligations, meet requirements, mitigate non-compliance, and clearly identify the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders in the payroll process.
Access the Payroll Governance Policy documents
1. Review
Review the documents and strike out the options that are not relevant to your council.
2. Alter
Alter the associated introduction and covering memo as relevant to align with your organisation’s approach to governance policy documents. If relevant and appropriate, cut and paste into your councils’ templates.
3. Circulate
Ensure the memo and policy are available and circulated before presentation.
4. Gather questions
If your council provides for it, request that questions be prepared and made available for you to respond to before the meeting to allow you time to prepare any answers as needed.
5. Present
Present your policy and change the world!
Regardless of your software or your systems, if you do local government payroll, we hope this helps you get a jumpstart on putting a payroll governance policy in place.
If you have questions, just reach out…
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