Not much glory for payroll professionals

CHRR spoke with veteran payroll manager Nancy Chappel just prior to National Payroll Week and asked for her opinion on NPW and payroll in general.

PET PEEVES

•“Everyone thinks it just takes a push of a button to prepare a cheque.”
•“People expect you to know everything taxwise, they want personal advice often regarding their RRSP situation but they don’t give you all the details.”

PAYROLL PERCEPTIONS

•“Most people think that payroll is a clerical position, that it does not require a lot of thought process. Anyone who has worked in payroll for any length of time knows that is not correct. I think that that is the way payroll is perceived.”
•“There is not a lot of glory in payroll. No one ever thanks you for getting their cheque right. But once a mistake happens, even if it is not your fault, everyone knows who you are.”

NIGHTMARE

•“My payroll nightmare would be, everyone’s cheque to be late or wrong.”

NATIONAL PAYROLL WEEK

•“NPW is important because it means seeing payroll mentioned in the media more often. People are becoming more aware of payroll and that it is not just ‘a push of the button.’ This brings payroll to the forefront every fall.”

“I work at the branch level of the Canadian Payroll Association and we are putting on a breakfast meeting with the theme ‘Who Wants to be a Payroll Millionaire.’ It should be a lot of fun although no one will be winning a million answering our questions.”

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