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The Case For Outsourcing Payroll - Leeds Building Society

25 August 2020

Leeds Building Society partners with EQ to implement an integrated HR and payroll system, progressively outsourcing further responsibilities including auto-enrolment administration.

Leeds Building Society began its relationship with EQ in 2005 when, following a comprehensive tendering process, it selected EQ to provide an integrated HR and payroll system. Over the course of the next six years the partnership between the two organisations developed significantly, with Leeds choosing to hand a number of additional processes over to EQ in order to build on the efficiencies, cost savings and enhanced service that EQ was delivering.

Establishing an efficient payroll service

EQ began by providing Leeds Building Society with a bureau payroll service for each of Leeds’ three payrolls, carrying out certin processes involved in the payroll function while Leeds retained responsibility for others. However, a year into the contract, Leeds chose to outsource a role to EQ, bringing a number of benefits:

  • Increased efficiency
  • Cost savings
  • Assurance of the right skills being brought to each task
  • Continuity in the case of absence or holiday
quote

Our relationship with our payroll controller is brilliant;
she’s very flexible and helpful”

— Becky Hewitt, Head of HR, Leeds Building Society

Expanding a successful partnership

This transition took the payroll service from a bureau service to a managed service, with EQ providing a comprehensive offering covering everything from retro runs, calculations and validation to BACS processing, producing reports, printing payslips and proactively implementing legislative changes.

As an organisation operating in the highly regulated financial services sector, Leeds Building Society also benefits from the data security EQ provides; EQ ensures full compliance on behalf of Leeds by, for example, facilitating auditors’ visits. The HR element of the system has also progressed, with the introduction of EQ’s employee self-service software, reducing administration for the HR department as managers can carry out absence management on behalf of staff.

Outsourcing auto-enrolment administration

Most recently, with the impending introduction of auto-enrolment as part of the government’s pensions reform strategy, has been working with Leeds Building Society to prepare for the changes this will bring. EQ will take on all of the administration involved in assessing employees’ eligibility, managing opt-outs, communicating with employees and the pension scheme provider and undertaking mandatory re-enrolment of staff every three years.

With the recruitment, training and time that would be involved in carrying this out in-house, EQ provides assurance that the process will be completed ahead of Leeds’ staging date, will be compliant and delivered at a much lower cost than would be possible in-house.

quote

We are more than satisfied with the service EQ has provided. From the start their flexible partnership approach has been key to building the relationship - it’s much more responsive than is typically found in outsourced arrangements, and has enabled us to entrust an increasing number of processes to them. A prime example of this is the outsourcing of our pensions auto-enrolment administration to EQ.”

— Becky Hewitt, Head of HR, Leeds Building Society

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