Introduction
Local authorities employ hundreds, sometimes thousands of staff
working in many different departments. Staff may be paid weekly or
monthly and some may work several hours of paid overtime or be in
jobs in which car allowances, shift allowances, unsocial hours,
stand by and/or bonus payments are made. Some of them work
full-time, some part-time and some job share. They may choose to
join a pension scheme and have the contributions deducted at source
from their pay. The payroll department has to ensure that they are
all paid correctly and that records connected with their pay are
kept up to date.
In addition, a council may operate a payroll system for locally
managed schools, using information supplied by school
administrators.
Work Environment
Payroll assistants work indoors, in offices within council
buildings. Most of their work is done seated at their own desks and
using their own computer terminals. They do the work allocated to
them by their payroll officer.
Daily Activities
Payroll assistants feed data into computer terminals in time to
meet the council's date for paying its employees each week/month.
(Councils normally have regular day of the week on which employees
receive their pay packets or a date toward the end of the month on
which salaries are paid in to bank accounts and staff given a
payslip.)
They check time sheets and clock cards that show exactly how
many and which hours staff have worked. They then calculate the
correct salary or wage to be paid, including any additions for
overtime and other payments, take off deductions for income tax,
national insurance and pension contributions and prepare pay slips,
detailing all the information. They also have to make sure that any
pay increases or holiday pay are included. They use calculators and
computers in their work. They must also keep accurate records to
ensure that employees are not over or underpaid. They may
also carry out general office duties such as photocopying documents
and answering the telephone. Much of the work can be
repetitive.
Skills & Interests
Payroll assistants need to be:
- competent in the use of IT systems;
- organised and be able to prioritise own workload;
- accurate and methodical;
- able to pay attention to detail;
- able to work on own initiative and within a team;
- able to work to tight deadlines;
- able to concentrate for long periods of time.
They must be able to respect confidentiality of information. For
example, they must not discuss employees' salaries or personal
affairs. (Sometimes they may be required to deal with Attachment of
Earnings Orders or Judgement Debts made by the courts and ensure
that the amount of money in question is deducted from the
employee's pay and paid to the court office.)
Entry Requirements
Usual minimum entry requirements are five GCSEs grades at C or
above, including English and Maths, or experience in a previous job
that required literacy and numeracy skills. However, many entrants
have higher qualifications. In order to become a payroll
assistant, previous experience involving the use of computerised
payroll databases is required.
Future Prospects & Opportunities
A small council might employ one or two payroll officers
responsible for a small team of two to three assistants. In a
large council there might be two to three principal or senior
payroll officers, eight or nine payroll officers and 20 or more
payroll assistants. It is necessary to have previous
experience as a payroll assistant before gaining promotion to
payroll officer.
Further Information & Services
Association of Accounting Technicians www.aat.co.uk
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals http://www.cipp.org.uk/
You may find further information about this area of work through
Careers Wales (www.careerswales.com/) or
in your local library, careers office or school careers
library.