ESR automates every aspect of the payment of staff, and is fully integrated with the HR functionality in order to save time and eliminate errors.

Payroll

ESR automates every aspect of the payment of staff, and is fully integrated with the HR functionality in order to save time and eliminate errors.

Overview

ESR holds all the information needed to produce accurate and timely

payments to staff. This includes personal details that are shared with the HR functionality of the system so that there is no duplication of information. To this is added data specific to pay, such as tax and National Insurance details, allowances and deductions, and pension arrangements. ESR holds all the relevant pay grades and rates for allowances and deductions whilst allowing local flexibility.

A particular feature is Date Tracking whereby the entire payment history for each staff member can be amended in the past or into the future. This

enables backdated or post-dated changes to be implemented very simply and quickly, and in the former case, for backdated payments to be made

automatically using the Retro Pay feature.

The reporting module allows control and audit of all aspects of the payroll process, and produces the mandatory information required for all relevant internal and external bodies.

Payroll processing within ESR requires that the due processes and reports are run in a given order to ensure that payrolls are processed accurately and on time; with this in mind payroll best practice guide has been developed.

Benefits

 ESR holds the full range of Agenda for Change and Medical and Dental rates of pay and allowances, together with a full set of national

deductions elements.

 The Date Track facility enables the calculation of future-dated and backdated changes.

 The Retro Pay facility enables arrears dating back over any period to be cleared within the normal payroll cycle.

 Interfaces with third party Time and Attendance Systems and travel expenses systems

 Flexibility over input of time sheet information – Batch Input facilities or Web – ADI to allow mass input of data

 Full suite of Interfaces with NHS Pensions for New Joiners, Leavers, Changes and Year-End.

 Inbound and outbound EDI interfaces with HMRC.

 Facility to hold both default and alternative pension schemes for Auto Enrolment purposes.

 The Quick Pay facility enables an on-screen “gross to net” calculation for any employee, for example to preview the effect of any change to rates or circumstances.

 The Retry facility allows for the recalculation of payments to individuals rather than a full re-run of the payroll – which reduces the number of queries and need for supplementary payments

 Four levels of security control access to payroll information and facilities.

What It Looks Like

The payroll component of ESR can be broken down into three elements:

 New Joiners

 Elements

 Payroll Processing

New Joiners

Tax Information Form

Where an employee has more than one assignment, the records can be linked for Tax and NI purposes.

National Insurance contribution information can be verified or amended by clicking on the “NI Details” tab.

Where the employee has provided a P45 or P46 the relevant details can be entered on this form. Otherwise, the system defaults to Basic rate tax.

Elements

Element Entry Form

The system creates a pre-defined set of elements for each new assignment. Some of these have default values to ensure the employee is paid. These will need to be reviewed for accuracy and amended accordingly. For example, the employee has completed a form SD502 to opt out of the pension scheme. You need to change the Pension NHS element accordingly and use the tax details form on the Assignment to change the NI to non-contracted out.

NHS Pension Details Entry Form

This form details information relating to the employee’s NHS Pension scheme membership. It is important that these details are correctly set up to ensure that the pensions interface passes accurate information relating to the employee’s assignment. Default values are loaded but these need to be checked in each case and amended as necessary. The employee’s contribution rate is a default value and can be changed by amending the capacity code.

The basis for all element entries is very similar – both recurring and non-recurring entries can be made. ESR also has alternative methods for entering non-recurring elements, such as out of hours

supplements. These include Time and Attendance interfaces and Web ADI as well as batch input facilities.

Payroll Processing

Request Form

Once a payroll is selected, the system will default in the basic parameters to assist in processing. These can be amended if required. Different processes have different parameters. Processes can be scheduled to run at given times.

Payroll Best Practice

The M-3025 Payroll Best Practice Guide provides recommended payroll best practice guidance based on the experience gained from system usage, and following feedback from NHS Payroll Providers. The ESR National Payroll Special Interest Group has endorsed the Payroll Best Practice and Critical Path.

With the majority of monthly payrolls paid towards the end of the month, critical processes tend to run around the third week of the month. The Payroll Best practice process ensures the processing of payrolls has the minimum impact upon other system users during core hours, and ensures that Trusts payrolls are completed accurately and on time. It also allows McKesson to forecast any potential problems and assist Payroll providers where issues arise.

Among the critical processes required for payroll running are the following:

 NHS Increment Process

 NHS OSP Batch Process Request Set

 NHS Retro-Pay

 NHS Payroll Run and Retry Payroll Run

 NHS Prepayments

 NHS RTI FPS EDI Process

 NHS BACS

 NHS Payroll BACS File Transfer

 NHS Pay Advice

 NHS Cheque Writer

 NHS P45 Process

 NHS Costing

 NHS GL Interface

 NHS RTI EPS Create Process

 NHS RTI EPS EDI Process

Reporting Capability

ESR has a suite of standard reports that organisations are able to run to effectively monitor and manage payrolls and make payments to third parties, such as the Inland Revenue, NHS Pensions Scheme, and Trades Unions. These reports facilitate the balancing of payrolls with the General Ledger and with HMRC and Pension Returns. It is recommended that Trusts balance their payrolls on a monthly basis to ensure they meet HMRC deadlines at year-end. Standard Reports include:

 NHS Pre and Post Increment Reports

 NHS Duplicate Bank Account Details Report

 NHS Element Batch Details Report

 NHS Impending Retropayments Report

 NHS Payroll Checking Reports

 NHS Payroll Leavers and New Joiners Request Set

 NHS Pensions Exceptions Reports

 NHS Pre Payroll Exception Report

 NHS Payroll Exception Report

 NHS Payroll Message Report

 NHS Gross To Net Summary Report

 NHS Element Result Listing

 NHS Monthly Summary for Inland Revenue Report

 NHS Monthly Summary for Pension Schemes

 NHS RTI Year to Date Reconciliation Report

 NHS Union Subscriptions Report

 NHS Third Party Element Listing Report The main Discoverer Analyses used by payroll are:

 NHS Element Schedule

 NHS Employee Change Event Log

 NHS DateTrack Changes and Highlights Analysis

Business Intelligence

A ;’Payroll Dashboard’ is available in ESR BI which provides the following analyses:

 Allowance / Deduction Schedule

 Pay Breakdown by Assignment (Net Pay / Allowance / Deductions)

 Net Pay Comparison

Further Information

Further information can be obtained from the links below:

Links

ESR Website

ESR User Manual (N3 Only) Kbase