There are lots of great things about Christmas and the festive time of year but one area that isn’t so great is the chaos that the extra Bank Holidays cause for payroll staff. Even if payday is normally after Christmas, there can be reasons to consider paying staff a little earlier on this one occasion.
Bank Holidays
One of the biggest complexities for payroll staff at Christmas can be the matter of Bank Holidays. Both Christmas Day and Boxing Day are classed as Bank Holiday. However, if these days fall on a weekend, then the following day or days are also classed as Bank Holidays. Potentially, this could mean four days where no bank activity takes place. So if the normal payday for the business is the 25th, this could mean staff wouldn’t get paid until 29th in some cases.
Therefore, if the normal payment date is the 25th, it is worth considering bringing the whole process forward a day or two in order that staff are paid before the block of Bank Holidays begin. So if the normal pay schedule involves beginning the process on the 18th for payment on the 25th, businesses often move this forward to the 16th to pay on the 23rd.
Don’t forget that New Year’s Day is also a Bank Holiday and the same principle can apply – if it falls on a weekend, then you might need to consider when staff will be able as it could as late as the 3rd before a working day occurs.
Helping hand for staff
Another reason to consider bringing the payday forward is for staff morale. Parents and families may find the festive period stressful and if they have to wait until after Christmas to receive their wages, it could impact their Christmas plans.
Employers who have voluntarily brought forward their date for a pre-Christmas payday have noticed that staff are often more motivated and happier in the lead-up. They know they will receive their wages just before Christmas and this takes a lot of pressure off, which has a correspondingly positive effect on performance.
Paying bonuses
Christmas or annual bonuses are often paid around this time of the year and some businesses opt to pay these before Christmas if they can’t manage to bring the entire wage to run forward. That way, the staff at least get their bonuses to use for Christmas and then still receive their normal wage after Christmas to last them until their next payday in January.
Getting help with the process
Sometimes businesses can handle their payroll normally in-house without any problems but with the extra workload around Christmas with overtime and the complexity of the Bank Holiday schedule, extra help can work. It is a good time of year to bring in some outside help with payroll and using a payroll specialist can be the perfect solution.
If you’d like more information on outsourcing payroll, get in touch with the specialists, Cintra Payroll. We can take care of all payroll aspects for you, so your HR department has one less thing to worry about. Contact us by calling 0845 873 5619 , email tracemail@tracepayroll.com, or fill out a contact form now.