The impact of The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 on your Payroll
Insights from Ormsby & Rhodes experts on the impact of the recent enactment of The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 on payroll management.
In an ever-evolving employer landscape, staying up to date on legislative changes has never been more important.
In Ireland, the period 2023-2024 will encompass various legislative changes that impact employers, such as ‘The Sick Leave Act 2022’ that commenced 1 January 2023, the recently enacted ‘The Work-Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023’ and the pending: ‘Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System Bill’ or pensions auto-enrolment, that we can expect to come into play (albeit on a phased basis) early 2024. Whilst these legislative changes are required to support employees and indeed establish a more robust framework for the future of employee pensions, it can be a minefield for businesses to navigate these changes, particularly SME’s.
In this article, we are focusing on the most recent of these changes, The Work-Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 and its impact on payroll management specifically. For those not familiar with the legislation, The Work-Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 (“The Act”) is a progressive piece of legislation enacted in Ireland on 4th April 2023 designed with employee welfare in mind. The Act was established to enhance work-life balance for employees across various sectors in Ireland and introduces several new provisions and changes to existing laws. The common areas that the Act typically covers are flexible working arrangements such as remote work and flexible hours, leave entitlements, particularly around carers leave, working time regulations, family-friendly policies and employee wellness. With a myriad of changes in scope, what are the implications for payroll management that your team need to be implementing?
Here are just some of the key aspects payroll professionals should be considering:
Calculation of payroll: Employers and payroll professionals will need to consider calculation of flexible work and the current technology in place to compute changes to existing work schedules, for example: parental/carers leave/changes to working hours. It will be essential for payroll specialists to stay updated on these changes and ensure accurate computation of wages. Mechanisms will need to be in place to manage these calculation changes and partial days.
Leave Management: The Act’s provisions related to leave entitlements require employers to maintain accurate records of employee absences and ensure proper administration of leaves. Payroll professionals need to implement systems and processes to accurately track and account for different types of leave, including any changes introduced by the Act. Various technologies exist to account for these additional leave types, however introducing new systems can be costly and time-consuming, especially for SME’s.
Compliance with the Act on work-life balance and welfare: It will be prudent for employers to maintain accurate records of working hours, to ensure the appropriate balance is being applied for employees.
The ability to stay flexible: The premise of the Act is that employers need to retain flexibility from a work-life balance perspective and thus, it will be necessary to mirror this flexibility within your payroll department. In a sector defined by deadlines, we predict more and more entities will opt to outsource payroll responsibilities to experts, with appropriate systems, checks and controls.
How we can help
Our experienced payroll team provide a comprehensive and efficient service to an extensive range of clients varying in size from SME’s to multinationals, from businesses with less than 10 employees to teams of hundreds across multiple departments. Our qualified and trained payroll experts are well versed in managing complexity and we stay abreast of legislative changes, so your team don’t have to. We maintain the necessary systems and controls to run your payroll efficiently and accurately and we stay flexible to your needs, customising our payroll and HR solutions to suit business requirements. Furthermore, our Payroll and HR department is embedded in our broader Taxation, and accounting practice, should you require further expertise for your growing business.
Keen to find out more about how we can support your business? Arrange a consultation with our experts at info@ormsby-rhodes.ie or browse our solutions at https://ormsby-rhodes.ie/payroll-services-and-hr-solutions/
