Backing Up Team Vacations
With summer approaching, many employees are planning vacations. As a payroll team, we need to be prepared to cover for each other when vacations are taken.
Do you have the necessary training in place to account for team absences?
Cross training is vital in any work environment but is magnified in a payroll environment. Payroll deadlines do not change just because it is nice out and we want to take time off, much like they do not change for us to spend the holidays out of the office with our families. With this in mind, now is a wonderful time to create or review your checklist and coverage policies. With a checklist, you can list all the different tasks that must be completed to process payroll and who completes them. If your team is set up where different people do different steps, make sure to assign a backup for each step and train that person on what needs done if the main person for that step is out.
After things have slowed down from year end and before they pick up with vacations is the perfect time to start some cross training.
You will want to keep in mind any policies that your company has regarding separation of duties and make sure you assign back-up responsibilities that do not interfere with main responsibilities.
Make sure you leave at least two payroll cycles before a vacation to allow for proper training. Ideally though, you would want to utilize three cycles.
The first cycle is when the trainee will watch and take notes.
The second cycle is when the trainee will do the tasks under the trainer's supervision.
This would leave a third cycle for the trainee to do the tasks solo while the trainer is still there in case anything goes wrong.
Training for a back-up can be treated just like training for a new employee, but in a more consolidated timeline, depending on the skill level of the individual being trained.
A payroll manual is especially useful when it comes time to train individuals. If you do not already have one made, the slower summer months are a good time to make one.
Stay tuned for future articles where we dive deeper into making manuals and checklists!