Important Information For Schools Using Serco Payroll Services
Despite the £1m Serco were fined in May 2016, due to the errors in school payrolls which lead to some members of staff not being paid, the promised improvement to accuracy and service does not seem to have materialised.
Important Information For Schools Using Serco Payroll Services
Despite the £1m Serco were fined in May 2016, due to the errors in school payrolls which lead to some members of staff not being paid, the promised improvement to accuracy and service does not seem to have materialised.
A number of schools have recently decided that enough is enough, with payroll errors still being made, and have made the decision to move their payroll provision away from Serco.
There is another option
If you are a school receiving poor service from Serco, just because they won the contract with the Council, it does not mean you have to suffer – you have a choice.
It is not just Academies who can outsource some of their functions such as payroll, you can still remain a Local Authority school but just have your payroll, pensions and HR managed by another company.
Make an informed choice
Although not ideal, the situation is an opportunity to make a positive choice for your school that could improve your payroll service, so it is important that you make a considered decision when discussing the options with potential payroll providers.
What questions should you be asking?
Is the service a software only solution or a true managed service?
Software is part of payroll process but people are even more important. At Dataplan our software and systems are provided by a team of 45 skilled and experienced Education Payroll Professionals with over 500 years of experience collectively. You will be allocated a named person / team who will be your direct contact.
Do they provide all the services you need?
Now is the time to look at what services you need to retain, but also what services you maybe didn’t have before that would be beneficial.
At Dataplan we provide a full range of services for schools including full Pension Management, HR solutions and ePayslips.
Do they have experience of working with schools such as yours?
There are idiosyncrasies of school payrolls so it is important that your provider is experienced in handling school payrolls and also liaising with Local Authorities and pension providers, if required.
Dataplan have been working with schools since 2007 and all our payroll staff are experienced in school pensions. We currently work for over 500 schools and academies, processing over £100 million in school wages every month.
We already work with a number of schools across Lincolnshire and have a strong working relationship with the pension providers that use Lincolnshire.
What software and systems do they use?
The interface between the school and payroll provider is essential that it is easy to use, secure and fit for purpose.
Dataplan have invested in the creation of our own bespoke education software which is accessed 24/7 over secure internet connection so there is no need to download onto your servers or pay for payroll software.
The front-end of our software is Vera, who is our indispensable online payroll, HR and pension management dashboard, providing our schools with an employee view of their data allowing them to drill down into payroll data and manage routine HR tasks such as absence management.
What to do next?
This is a big decision for your school to make and we understand that you will have lots of questions. We are happy to come and talk to you about your payroll, any concerns you may have and discuss your requirements across payroll, HR and pension management.
To discuss or arrange a visit please complete our contact form and someone will be in touch.