By Louise Missen | Head of Member Services, Australian Payroll Association
"We'll send you to the training, and you can update the team when you get back."
It's something payroll managers hear all the time.
On the surface, it makes sense. Training budgets are limited, someone needs to attend and surely they can pass the information on afterwards.
But payroll has changed.
When Payday Super was introduced, one payroll team took exactly that approach. Their Payroll Manager attended the training, came back with pages of notes and every intention of sharing what they had learnt with the team.
Then reality got in the way.
There was an urgent termination to process, an audit to prepare for, annual leave to approve and a flood of employee enquiries. The planned team session kept getting pushed back until eventually everyone simply returned to business as usual.
The problem was that business as usual had changed.
One payroll officer was still processing super based on old assumptions. Another wasn't familiar with the Qualifying Earnings framework. Someone else didn't realise how important the new payment timeframes were. Every technical question eventually found its way back to the Payroll Manager.
Before long, the Payroll Manager no longer felt comfortable simply approving the pay run. They found themselves reviewing calculations, checking super treatment, answering questions and verifying decisions that the team would previously have handled confidently themselves.
Instead of spending time improving payroll processes, working on projects or supporting the wider business, they were reviewing much of the pay run to make sure nothing had been missed. Their workload increased, while the team's confidence slowly declined.
Nothing catastrophic happened, but payroll became slower and more dependent on one person.
That story isn't unique. As payroll legislation continues to evolve, it's becoming increasingly common.
The introduction of Payday Super is a reminder that payroll knowledge is no longer something that can sit with one individual. Understanding Qualifying Earnings, Member Verification Requests, SuperStream changes and new payment obligations affects everyone involved in the payroll process, not just the person leading the team.
The payroll officer entering earnings, the team member onboarding new employees and the person reconciling super payments all contribute to compliance. Every decision they make has an impact on the accuracy of the pay run.
The strongest payroll teams aren't the ones with the smartest Payroll Manager.
They're the ones where knowledge is shared, people feel confident making decisions and everyone understands the legislation behind the work they do.
As payroll continues to evolve, perhaps it's time organisations stopped asking, "Who should we send to training?"
A better question might be, "Who in the payroll team will be impacted by this change?"
For most payroll teams, the answer is simple.
Everyone.
Explore Australian Payroll Association’s training options today: https://austpayroll.com.au/training
