Human Resources

Human Resources, Payroll and Superannuation Project

Background

The local authority sector is currently engaged in a project to implement an integrated HR, Payroll and Superannuation management information system, supporting the development of a more strategic approach to HR management and providing a robust, flexible and efficient payroll system. Twenty seven of the thirty four local authorities are involved in the project.

The new system, which links directly into the local authority financial management information system, will manage the full range of HR, Payroll and Superannuation process across the employment life cycle and provide an integrated view of employee and organisation-wide information.

Key Deliverables

A number of key deliverables were identified for the project:

• To implement a fully integrated HR, Payroll and Superannuation management system which would replace the existing outdated and ad hoc systems in place and would bring clear benefits to the HR, Payroll and Superannuation functions.
• To enable local authorities to meet their statutory and other reporting obligations with confidence in the accuracy and validity of data, including providing accurate and timely returns for the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Central Statistics Office, HR Service Indicators and data to bodies involved in the determination of public sector pay.
• To provide systems, tools and processes to deliver local authority HR, payroll and superannuation strategic objectives.
• To provide access to accurate, meaningful and real time data to support corporate and departmental planning.
• To exploit technology to the full in the establishment of streamlined processes and provision of management information.
• To meet statutory obligations in regard to the provision of pension benefit statements following the Pensions Act, 1990.
• To provide systems and processes which are flexible and can be changed quickly in response to the continually changing environment consistent with increased levels of devolution.
• To replace the existing payroll system in use in the majority of local authorities to mitigate the risks and address the shortcomings of the existing legacy system and future proof the payroll systems of Local Government.

The Core System

CoreHR is a fully integrated HR management system which manages employee information and HR processes throughout the employment life cycle. The key modules are the HR database (CorePersonnel), payroll (CorePay), superannuation (CorePension) and time and attendance (CoreTime). These four elements are interconnected providing a single point of data entry and a single source of information and a single view of organisation-wide information. Other modules include Recruitment, Training, Health and Safety and PMDS. 

The self service portal gives access to a range of HR information on-line. Managers are able to see up-to-date time and attendance, and training data relating to their staff, while employees can access their own HR, payroll and pension details, including viewing on-line time and attendance records, payslips and pension benefit statements.

Core Business Intelligence reporting provides a powerful tool to access the organisation’s critical employee information, using integrated data from across the suite of modules. 

Systems being replaced by the Core system include the Accupay Payroll System, and a variety of ad hoc databases, spreadsheets and paper records. Introduction of Core will also facilitate the establishment of a shared organisation structure and payroll service between Borough Councils and County Councils.

Integration with the Local Government Financial Management System Data from the Core system feeds directly into the local authority financial management system (Agresso) and provides detailed, flexible, up to date and accurate information for costings, accounting and audit purposes.

The feeding of payroll chargeability data to the financial management systems and processes on a real-time and project specific basis was and continues to be, a fundamental imperative of the integrated approach. The current project has delivered on this requirement in a manner which is unique within the Public Sector.

Benefits

Key benefits of the system include increased speed, efficiency and transparency of processes, cost savings, accuracy and availability of data and facilitation of a change in the role of HR and improved management information. 

Benefits identified include:

• Reduction in data entry and search time costs through employee and manager self service.
• Reduction in service delivery costs by automating some HR and Payroll business processes.
• Reduction in costs associated with printing and distribution of information.
• Improved availability of HR information for line managers and staff and improved speed at which information is available.
• Improved accuracy of data and reduced correction costs.
• Improved quality of information that HR provides to support business planning and availability of data to assist with aligning the workforce with organisationalobjectives.
• Single source of superannuation data for employees, including service history and potential benefits.
• Improved attendance management through better analysis of attendance records.
• Reduction in the routine administrative burden for HR and HR function enabled to service the organisation more strategically.
• Improved decision making through better analysis of HR information.
• Improved compliance with regulation.
• Improved response to collection of national statistics.

Current Status -Nationally

27 local authorities are participating in the project. As at the end of 2010, the following has been achieved:

Organisation Structure (HR database) 100% - all 27 live
Employee Self Service portal 100% - all 27 live
Payroll (indoor) 100% - all 27 live
Payroll (outdoor) 96% 26 - out of 27 live
Time and Attendance (outdoor) 96% 26 - out of 27 live
Time and Attendance (indoor) 59% 16 - out of 27 live
Superannuation 48% 13 - out of 27 live
CSO module 44% 12 - out of 27 live
Recruitment 34% 9 - out of 27 live
Training 15% 4 - out of 27 live

Current Status –Locally

The Organisation Structure, Employee Self Service portal, Payroll (indoor and Outdoor), Recruitment and CSO modules were implemented by the end of 2009. During 2010, work continued with the going live of the time and attendance module for all indoor and outdoor staff.

The superannuation module also went live in 2010 and staff now have a facility to calculate their estimated pension entitlements based on a variety of retirement scenarios. 

Work commenced on the implementation of the training module in the latter part of 2010 and this will go live in 2011. The project team was disbanded in late 2010.