Q&A: Exclusive Compliance Expert Insight

We know compliance can be tough.  It is just one more thing on your laundry list of tasks. We sat down with two of Paylocity’s experts to chat about the importance of compliance, challenges you may be facing, how it can impact culture, and how to use the Compliance Dashboard to fit your needs.  Check out what they had to say: 

Understanding Compliance with Employment Law Research Manager Corinne Tirone 

Corinne is a legal professional with over 10 years of experience in compliance and research. She leads a team of talented and passionate compliance professionals who provide proactive compliance guidance, ongoing legislative updates, and product functionality reviews. Corinne also represents Paylocity at the National Payroll Reporting Consortium and the IRS Reporting Agent Forum, two organizations working to connect the payroll industry with lawmakers. 

What is compliance? 

For a long time, when people in the payroll industry said “compliance” they meant employment tax compliance. However, over the last few years, the definition of compliance has shifted in response to the increasing regulatory demands placed on employers. Now, in addition to tax compliance, employers must be cognizant of employment eligibility, as well as the corresponding paperwork and verification. They also need to be aware of the demographics of their workforce and the affordability of the benefits they offer. To add to the already long list, employers must also comply with various state and local laws, which can encompass the entire employment relationship from the interview all the way through the employee’s last paycheck. Because there are so many different requirements any one employer might have to comply with, repercussions for non-compliance are varied as well. Some common repercussions include audits by the enforcing agency, penalties for failure to properly report, and in some cases, wage and hour lawsuits. 

What compliance-related challenges are companies facing today? 

One of the biggest compliance challenges employers face today is maintaining compliance in multiple locations. New laws pass all the time, so employers with employees in many places may have a hard time remaining aware of all of the applicable requirements and updating policies and procedures as needed. Even when an employer is aware of all laws that apply to their workforce, there is a lack of uniformity in the laws at the state and local level, making it difficult to implement a single policy across an organization that satisfies all requirements. 

How does Paylocity’s Compliance Dashboard help clients overcome compliance challenges? 

The Dashboard allows employers to view demographic data needed to complete the EEO-1, review the I-9 statuses of their employees, launch compliance-related trainings to their workforce, and read articles regarding recent compliance changes that may impact their organizations. 

Why is it important for companies to launch a compliance program?  

It is important for companies to be proactive and deliberate about their compliance, especially as employer compliance becomes more regulated and complicated over the years. The best way to maintain a compliant workplace is to face these challenges head on with as much information as possible. 

What role does compliance play in culture? 

Many companies promote a culture of proactivity and integrity and focusing on compliance allows companies to lead by example on those values. Showing employees that the organization is committed to operating within the law helps employees feel safe and aligned to the values of the company as a whole. 

Q&A Product Developer’s Take on Compliance with Compliance Product Owner Bradley Trost 

With more than 20 years of experience, Bradly is a strategic partner within Paylocity’s Product Development department. He is responsible for creating the product vision for the Compliance Dashboard, as well championing this vision to the product team through creative business objectives, epics, and user stories. Bradley is committed to driving exceptional results and continuing to expand Paylocity’s innovative, market-leading product suite. 

What compliance-related challenges are companies facing today? 

In my opinion, companies are challenged with increased scrutiny in several areas. Take for instance the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Back in October, CNN released an article saying that the ICE chief pledges to quadruple the number of employment verification audits, which would include Form I-9 audits. Other areas where companies have increasing exposure to compliance risks include wrongful terminations related to Sexual Harassment claims and an uptick in the number of cyber-security breaches. 

What features make up Paylocity’s Compliance dashboard? 

The Compliance Dashboard is made up of several modules. We support a compliance news feed, work authorization module, compliance courses, equal employment opportunity module, document acknowledgement and affordable care act module. 

How can you take full advantage of Paylocity’s Compliance dashboard? 

I recommend clients make it a habit to visit their Compliance Dashboard frequently. It can be overwhelming visiting once every six months and seeing a large number of alerts requiring your attention, but if you tackle it a little at a time, it’s much more manageable. 

How does Paylocity’s Compliance Dashboard help clients overcome compliance challenges?  

The work authorization module keeps administrators abreast of missing I-9s or those that require re-verification and helps them collect the information. With our recent addition of Compliance Courses to the Compliance Dashboard, clients can assign and track interactive online courses on a variety of topics such as sexual harassment and cyber security. 

How can companies use Paylocity’s Compliance Dashboard to establish an effective corporate compliance program?  

I think the hardest part of establishing an effective compliance program is just getting started–it’s a daunting task. The Compliance Dashboard makes it easy by consolidating many compliance topics in a single place and allows administrators to take action. The EEO module is a great example! As an administrator, not only can I see that I’m missing EEO data, but I can also update the data and run an EEO-1 report to submit to the EEOC. 

What role does compliance play in culture?  

Compliance can play a huge role in company culture by helping to create a safe and productive work environment. Employee training in the areas such as Anti-Discrimination, Diversity and Inclusion and Anti-Bullying create awareness and can reduce the risk of these types of issues. 

How can companies use Paylocity’s Compliance Dashboard to engage employees? 

I rarely hear the words “compliance” and “engage employees” in the same sentence, but I think it makes sense in the context of our Compliance Dashboard. From the employee perspective, our goal has been to make compliance more self-service. Instead of attending a two-hour long scheduled Sexual Harassment training session, an employee can complete and interactive online course when it works best for them. Instead of printing out an employee handbook, signing, scanning, and then sending it back to HR, an employee can sign electronically through the Document Acknowledgement module. 

Paylocity embraces a “client as a co-creator” mentality when designing products. 

The concept of the Compliance Dashboard originated from our clients and their requests for enhancements to our custom reports. We released our first version of the Compliance Dashboard in April, and based on their feedback, added the Compliance Course module. Client input is invaluable to Paylocity – it inspires and motivates us and will help mold the future of our Compliance Dashboard. 

Can you think of any instance in which Paylocity’s Compliance Dashboard could evolve to add continued value to clients? 

I can’t think of a scenario in which the Compliance Dashboard wouldn’t continue to evolve and grow; there is so much opportunity in compliance to add value to our clients! 

Learn more about the how the Compliance Dashboard can start making your life easier today.