As the year draws to a close, companies have faced unprecedented challenges that will unfortunately most likely continue into early next year. Countries around the world have adapted regulations and compliance requirements to account for the ongoing pandemic, and multi-national companies have had to adapt to the changes in real-time. What does this mean for 2021 business operations?
Many countries have created job retention schemes and other government-funded programs to prevent unemployment and to help companies from closing permanently. As a result, payroll requirements have changed rapidly, and depending on the country, are continually evolving each month. This makes it very difficult for global payroll teams to keep up with the unique and often-changing regulations. Just one example is in the UK, where the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has changed for the last several months and has now been extended until March with new thresholds and company requirements.
The challenges related to global payroll in 2021 will be managing the unique regulations, compliance requirements, and deadlines that vary between countries. Compliance will be a huge factor for many businesses, as governments across the globe are trying to protect workers. Technology will be a key factor to ensuring success in many markets, to avoid fraud, mis-management of payroll, and ensure accurate filing with local government agencies.
If your global payroll is relying on manual processes to manage payroll each month, now is the time to make a change. Payroll and compliance are not getting easier, and with evolving changes it will be even more difficult to maintain control over the process. Having access to in-country experts is more important than ever, and technology with real-time views of your payroll across all countries and currencies is essential.
Author – Julie Gaertner – Blue Marble Payroll
