Forum for HR and Payroll in FE Colleges
14th May 2008 - The Heritage Motor Centre

A warm thank you from Software for People to all those who attended the Forum for HR and Payroll in FE Colleges at the Heritage Motor Centre. Below is a summary of the day’s main activities as well as the main concerns raised by delegates during the discussion sessions.

Our main objective is to make this forum for Colleges by Colleges, so we would really appreciate any feedback regarding topics, location, timing etc. Please do not hesitate to email us your comments and suggestions and we will take them into consideration when planning the next forum.

Over 60 HR and Payroll professionals attended the Forum, providing an excellent opportunity to discuss current challenges in the FE College environment and to benefit from networking opportunities.

New College Durham presented their experience of the roll-out of employee self-service, providing an insight into the pros and cons of using the technology and the consultative approach taken with employees, trade unions and other organisations prior to the service being made available.

A talk by Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale on the challenges and benefits of moving to an integrated HR and Payroll system highlighted the key issues faced prior to implementation and offered best practice advice for procuring a new system within realistic timescales.

An overview was provided on changes and updates to regulations related to SIR, Vulnerable Groups, Teachers' Qualifications, Continuing Professional Development and changes to LGPS. The talk included guidance on the key areas affected by the changes through practical examples and included a synopsis of the latest developments on changes to forthcoming legislation, sparking a debate on the direction of the legislation.

To conclude the forum, open discussion sessions were held to talk about the subject areas covered by the three presentations and provide an opportunity to discuss these with the speakers.

Discussion Groups

Self-service

There was a clear consensus about the need for this technology. All delegates agreed that it is beneficial to have self-service; however, they all admitted that it comes with many challenges. The main issues raised were:

• Security: Make sure you get detailed answers to every single security question before rolling-out self-service
• Good support from software suppliers: ensure that your supplier can provide all the help you need including any manuals, training, etc
• Managing cultural change in the establishment: not all employees will update their personal details or switch to online payslips overnight, so introducing employee self-service does require a plan and a lot of consultation with other colleges who have already been through this experience

Outsourcing Vs In-house Payroll

The single main pro-outsourcing argument was risk reduction provided you had a good service from your supplier. Most delegates argued for having payroll in-house. The main reasons mentioned were:

• Better control of Payroll
• Improved efficiency and service
• More cost effective
• Better timing
• Improved reports and management information

Reports and Returns

The main points raised in this discussion group are outlined below

• Calculation of Strike Deductions: quite a lot of discussion. Partly relating to the logic, but mostly on how far back to go in re-calculating deductions already taken (ranging from only 'on demand' to all deductions made in the last 6 years)
• LGPS: many questions were asked such as how to calculate contributions for a TTO contract, how to attribute different rates across multiple contracts, why the rate only had to be re-set once per year. Some appeared worried about how complex it had become
• Qualifications/Registration/CPD (for Teachers): most delegates appeared fairly confident that this is going well; however, it seemed that procedures still needed a more in-depth review. Colleges may still need to come up with a method for encouraging Teachers to acquire the new Qualifications, or how to record their CPD activities
• SIR: major concern that the planned changes have been announced by LLUK with so little notice - and colleges have no idea what should be done to prepare for generating this year's Return. Some optimism was expressed that the proposed changes would be postponed although this seemed very unlikely
• ISA: general concern that this would impose a lot more work on HR, but delegates were relieved to hear that the introduction of Registration had been postponed for a year
• General comments: delegates felt that there seems to be an accelerating amount of Legislation - and it is starting to reach the point where they need external advice
• This is a very brief summary of this session; please feel free to contact me if you need more advice about any of the issues mentioned above, and I will get you in touch with Mr Hugo Fair who can answer your questions.

I look forward to receiving your feedback and suggestions and I very much hope we will see you back at next year’s Forum.