The month of June is the start of summer, but for those in southeastern states, June 1st marks the start of hurricane season. Hurricane preparedness often includes stocking up on supplies and being at the ready for physical damage to a business, but another equally important aspect is having a plan to pay your employees.
At PayMaster, we have been right in the thick of things, operating our headquarters out of South Florida. Over our past 30 years, we have maintained service before, during and after any and all hurricanes that have come our way. This is due to critical planning and preparedness for the unexpected. Loss of power, Internet, facilities, and other infrastructure, is commonplace during a disaster. Preparation is key.
Here are some tips to make sure your employees are paid accurately and on time:
- Maintain updated employee records. Regularly update employee contact (including emergency contact) information.
- Encourage employee direct deposit. While Paymaster may be in operation and shipping during this time, common couriers such as FedEx and UPS may suspend service to affected areas. Direct deposit would ensure that your employees are paid on payday. If everyone is on direct deposit, then you can go paperless and not have a need for delivery. Remember PaperLESS is MORE.
- Consider submitting/processing payroll early and receiving your delivery ahead of time. You may even want to change your check date to an earlier date, in order to allow your employees to cash/deposit checks ahead of the storm. An example of the latter is if a storm is going to hit on Friday, which is payday, then you will be a hero for changing that check date to the Wednesday or Thursday of that same week.
- Provide employee access to resources. Consider processing an advance payroll to support them, if payroll is delayed. A payroll system, such as PayMaster’s, can be utilized as a communication tool to post announcements and messages to employees, should they not be able to get in touch with your business. A PayMaster payroll specialist can assist with setting this up.
- Have our phone number handy. While you may not have power or Internet to access our system, you can call our office and we can perform functions for you, such as keying and submitting a payroll. We can even copy a previous payroll and reconcile any over/under payments after the storm.
- Maintain backups. If you are not using PayMaster and processing payroll in-house, then be sure you have a remote backup of your payroll system and current data, if not already on the cloud. If you use another payroll service, be sure to reach out to them to confirm their disaster plans and ensure they can process payroll during any outages. Not all payroll service providers are as prepared as PayMaster.
These steps can help minimize disruptions and ensure employees are paid accurately and on time, even during a crisis.
For what to do after a disaster strikes, be sure you read our blog from a previous year Hurricanes and Disaster Pay – Wages After The Storm
