There is such a lot of general information that is to be shared between the payroll and HR departments and it makes sense for them to work more closely together. Fusion is a trend that is progressing by improving accuracy, reducing duplication of data and quickening processes, technology is making this possible.

With the development of technology, Time & Attendance systems are perfectly suitable to improve communication and integration of these two departments. Many users of the Softworks' ClockWise T&A solution have discovered that, by freeing up precious time, payroll and HR employees can do away with monotonous tasks and concentrate on more strategic issues that will add value to the organisation as a whole.

Talking to customers in relation to ClockWise Time & Attendance, the consensus is that because T&A solutions integrate seamlessly with payroll systems, they free up valuable time. (They also integrate with HR systems to give a complete solution). According to Maria Kemp, Payroll Manager at Britax, the main benefit of ClockWise is the import into payroll. "It takes so little time and is so easy and quick. When you got accustomed to doing manual entry for more than 400 people, it saves so much time on the monthly payroll " she says.

Lorraine Flynn, Systems Administrator at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, and user of ClockWise, says "human resource and payroll staff no longer deal with as many routine questions as before. This decentralization has freed up key time and allows personnel to focus on more important issues which at the end of the day benefit staff, and therefore, the patients."

In addition to certain queries, both HR and Payroll departments face tons of paperwork on a daily basis. The introduction of employee self-service has dramatically reduced the amount of time that payroll and HR staff spends dealing with administrative tasks. Time and Attendance solutions have reduced the number of calls to payroll in relation to overtime, holiday balances etc. Employees can use the system to check the status of requests with regard to approval. Not only this empowers employees but a self-service option like this saves time and money. It also reduces the number of routine queries to HR and payroll personnel and to supervisors as well.

There are many opportunities to make cost and time savings, and implementing a Time and Attendance system brings many benefits:

• By bridging the gap between payroll and HR, they become an important source of valuable employee information, helping to eliminate duplication of data and streamline processes

• By making real-time reports available to both payroll and HR professionals, they make the process of extracting information easy and instant

• By embracing web technology, they are easy to install and provide users with access to information whenever and wherever they need it

• By facilitating employee self service, they allow employees to access certain payroll and personnel information - holiday balances, overtime, approval status etc., reducing the number of queries, reducing costs and improving bottom line performance

• By managing all types of flexible working arrangements, payroll runs are less of a headache and errors are reduced while HR has the means to put proper flexible working practices in place

• By minimizing the negative effects and expense of sick leave and by simplifying the process for calculating and reclaiming sick pay and tracking social welfare in your organisation, the logistics of leave entitlements are looked after, freeing up HR & payroll time, so you can concentrate on the strategic elements of absence management.