"Our commitment to continual further development led us to the idea of digitalising the sending of payslips. The savings are already evident in the initial implementation phase. We plan to continue with the changeover promptly."
Heiko Abbenseth, Head of Business Management and Processes.
Company
Piepenbrock Unternehmensgruppe
Location: Osnabrück, Germany
Employees: Approx 27,000 (2012)
Internet: www.piepenbrock.de
Industry sector
Facility management, building cleaning, maintenance, security, mechanical engineering
Challenges
- Optimisation of payslip processes
- Time and cost savings
- Compliance with legal requirements (German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), employment law)
- Good reception among employees
- Integration in existing SAP environment
Solution
- regipay® as a service for the legally compliant electronic sending of payslips
Advantages
- Low investment costs (no additional hardware)
- High level of confidentiality/security thanks to end-to-end encryption and three-tier security architecture
- Cost and time benefits
- Integration in existing processes
In order to optimise all the monthly payslip processes, Piepenbrock Service GmbH + Co. KG recently introduced regipay®, a solution for electronic document sending. Right from the first step, a large number of the 27,000 employees agreed to the electronic procedure. Considerable security and efficiency advantages were evident for the staff and management almost immediately.
With over 27,000 employees, the Piepenbrock Group from Osnabrück is one of the largest in its sector in Germany. For the HR department, however, that also means the need to print out, put in envelopes and send 27,000 payslips every month. The largest cost factor is the postage, followed by the labour and material costs. "Our commitment to continual further development led us to the idea of digitalising the sending of payslips. The savings offered by the regipay® solution were evident right from the first implementation phase", said Heiko Abbenseth, Head of Business Management and Processes at Piepenbrock. "We intend to continue with the changeover promptly, particularly as it has been so well received among our staff."
Legal compliance important
The basic requirement for the electronic sending of payslips is that it is legally compliant. Legal compliance is ensured if the legal specifications of the German Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and employment law as well as any existing collective wage agreements are fulfilled. Employment law states that employers must provide the payslips in text format, while the BDSG stipulates that the employees' personal data must be protected against unauthorised access. It must not be possible to read, copy, change or delete them without authority during electronic transmission. Consequently, appropriate encryption technologies must be employed in electronic payslip processes to guarantee the integrity of the message. "Even the slightest security vulnerability in the transmission process can result in legal disputes between the employer and employee and have severe consequences for the mutual trust", said Holger Born, DACH Sales Manager of the regify Group, which offers a range of services for the secure exchange of electronic documents. For this reason, payslips sent with regipay® are encrypted from end to end and sent via a three-tier security architecture.
SAP interface
At Piepenbrock, the regify service was integrated in the existing SAP wage environment via an interface. The HR department enters the private e-mail addresses of the employees who wish to receive their payslips electronically into the SAP software's master data. Each employee then receives an e-mail with a link to their personal password, with which they can decrypt and view their payslips via a number of channels (Windows, Mac, IOS, Android, Piepenbrock employee service portal). "We wanted to make the electronic path as easy and secure as possible", said Heiko Abbenseth. "That's why the employee service portal saves on unnecessary steps and allows the saving, display and – where necessary – even printing of the documents." If employees forget their passwords, they can reset it with the aid of a self-service function. For data protection reasons, only private e-mail addresses are permitted, in order to guarantee that only the intended individual receives the mail. Electronic sending also offers considerable cost savings over traditional mail, both in terms of postage and material costs. The employees have quicker access to their payslips and can store them electronically more simply – which does justice to their expectations in today's digital world.
Questions for Mr Heiko Abbenseth,
Head of Business Management and Processes, Piepenbrock Service GmbH + Co. KG
Mr Abbenseth, why did Piepenbrock decide to digitalise the sending of payslips?
In a large company like Piepenbrock, the payslip logistics require considerable efforts. A year ago we began to seriously consider digitalisation for efficiency and cost reasons and to check out a number of providers. The regify solution was the one that we were most impressed with, as it can be used without enormous efforts and can be tailored flexibly. At the same time it is secure and employs state-of-the-art technology.
What were the biggest challenges you faced during its introduction?
In an initial step, we contacted the employees on the payroll. Special emphasis was placed on the user-friendliness and high security of the service. That allowed us to convince more than 50% of the employees directly. In the next three years we hope to reach a quota of 70% receiving their payslips electronically.
In your opinion, what advantages does regipay® offer the employees/management?
The employees benefit by receiving their payslips more quickly and having the opportunity of storing them simply electronically. From the company's perspective, there are clear cost savings in terms of printing, envelopes and postage – with potential savings of 70% – as well as increased environmental protection, as we save on paper, toner and electricity. This also leads to sustainable reduction in the use of resources in the company.