Jan 2021

10 Benefits of using a Cloud Payroll Portal to Manage Employees Annual Leave

For employers, managers and HR departments, the task of handling your employees’ time-off requests can often feel more complicated than it needs to be. When requests are submitted manually or when the protocol on how requests should be made is unclear, it can often lead to problems. Delays in processing, lost requests or conflict over which employee is more entitled when there are overlapping requests are just some of the headaches that employers may have to endure.

COVID-19 has created many new challenges for organisations processing their employees’ annual leave entitlements. As more people are now working remotely, it is likely that organisations’ annual leave request conventions are no longer adequate.

Although we know that it is not always possible to keep everyone happy, having a leave request system in place that is transparent, fair and convenient can make life a lot easier for employers and management, while at the same time boosting employee morale.

An online solution that synchronizes with your payroll software

BrightPay Connect is an online, self-service solution that allows employees to request leave wherever or whenever suits them; be it from their desk or even in their own time through the BrightPay Connect mobile or tablet app. BrightPay Connect is an optional cloud add-on that works alongside BrightPay Payroll. Once a request for leave has been made, the relevant manager will receive a notification on their own BrightPay Connect dashboard. From the dashboard, employers can either approve or deny the leave request. Below, we’ve listed ten benefits of using BrightPay Connect to manage your staff’s annual leave.

Through your dashboard, you can view a real time, company-wide calendar. Here, at a glance, you can see which employees are on leave, when they are on leave (employees can choose full days, half-days or even by the hour, if set up to do so) and the type of leave (e.g., sick, paid, unpaid, parental).
The relevant manager will receive a push notification when a new leave request has been made. From the notification box they can then either accept or deny the request, making request approvals quick and easy.
Cloud integration means any approved leave requests will flow directly back to your BrightPay payroll software on your PC or Mac. This saves you time and cuts down on errors when entering employees leave for payroll processing.
Through the app, employees can view how much leave they have remaining which reduces the back and forth between employees and management/HR regarding how many days leave they have left.
You have the ability to grant access to your accountant, bookkeeper or selected colleagues. This means that in your absence you can rest assured any annual leave requests are being taken care of. There is also a full audit trail of leave that has been requested and who has dealt with that request.
The calendar on your employer dashboard draws attention to employees whose absenteeism might otherwise go unnoticed. Likewise, the employee dashboard draws attention to the employee’s own absenteeism. Having past sick days visible to employees has been shown to reduce the employee’s overall sick days taken.
The employer has the ability to mark off any mandatory leave days for employees so there is transparency around which days must be taken as holidays.
If your leave approval works on a first come, first serve basis, by using BrightPay Connect you cut out any confusion over who requested the leave first.
Employees also reap the benefits of using a cloud payroll portal. Giving the employees the ability to request leave wherever and whenever they want gives them a sense of control and in turn feel more organised and less stressed. Researchers at the University of Birmingham found that when employees have more autonomy in the workplace this can increase employee motivation, job satisfaction and overall well-being.
Nowadays, many people either do not have or rarely use a desktop computer at home. Therefore, being able to access the BrightPay Connect app through your smartphone or tablet makes a significant difference for employees. The employee payroll and HR smartphone app is available for free on any Android or iOS device.