Workers Give Thumbs Up to Employer's Paycheck Delivery

October 3, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Even though the amounts may be smaller than they like, the overwhelming majority of employees say, when it comes to getting paid, their employers have it right.

More than nine out of 10 (94%) workers surveyed said that they are confident their employers are producing accurate paychecks every payday. Further, a similar number (92%) give their vote of confidence to the manner in which their vital personal information is being handled by their companies, according to the Getting Paid In America survey of more than 14,000 workers conducted by the American Payroll Association (APA).

Looking to the “what ifs” of the world, workers also gave favorable responses to their firm’s business continuity planning as well. Eighty percent said they are confident that their employers have disaster recovery plans in place to ensure that paychecks will be uninterrupted in the event the company’s payroll department was to become debilitated. This is especially reassuring to workers, when 65% said it would be difficult to meet current financial obligations if their paychecks were delayed for even a week.

“This survey confirms our own research,” said Patricia Loria, vice president of research and development at MasterCard International. “There are many, many workers who live from paycheck to paycheck, and for whom any delay in pay delivery can become a crisis. That is one of the many benefits of a payroll card; especially for those who cannot take advantage of direct deposit.”

Confirming the idea of “paperless payroll” is the more than 70% of those polled that said they would favor check stubs posted online where they could view and print them as needed. Linda Miller, vice president of marketing for Ultimate Software also agreed. “APA’s survey underscores what we’ve been hearing from our customers — that employees today like ‘paperless payroll’ — and business executives are equally happy with the hard cost savings. That kind of combination makes for an unstoppable trend.”

In the end though, paperless or not, employees are most concerned about being paid. “Let’s face it, when it comes to a paycheck, the bottom line amounts to this: ‘Is it correct?’ and ‘Did I get it on time?’ These results tell us that as an industry, as a profession, payroll is doing its job and doing it well,” said APA Executive Director Dan Maddux.

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