Scheduling Practices: Hallway Test!

Today marks two weeks of my internship at PayrollHero. To celebrate my two-week-erversary, I went out to do a little survey. The aim was to understand what systems businesses have set up to manage scheduling, measure attendance and calculate payrolls.

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The Costa Coffee crew.

I surveyed 10 cafés in the Central Business District in Singapore to find out how they schedule workers in their outlets. Some of the outlets I visited were Cedele, Starbucks, Joe & Dough and Costa Coffee. They all had similar systems set up to schedule workers, with a few interesting anomalies:

  • With the exception of one cafe, everyone uses the punch card system or a regular excel sheet for workers to clock in and clock out. The exception in question has software set up to monitor attendance.
  • Scheduling is done on a weekly basis. The worst case scenario is when a worker notifies the admin that he or she can’t show up just a few hours before the shift begins.
  • Usually, the outlet manager calls another outlet to find a substitute. In the case of one cafe, Whatsapp groups are used to coordinate and find substitutes. Most outlet managers believe that the best way to reach someone is to call them. Texting or emailing is not a common communication channel.
  • The HR admin in every outlet takes around 2 to 3 days to calculate payrolls.

With that simple survey, it was evident that cafés in Singapore use conventional ways to schedule shifts. While workers rarely drop shifts, outlet managers need to be on standby to call nearby outlets for substitutes immediately.

Using Data Analytics to Improve Productivity

When the weather is bad, or there is an MRT breakdown, the situation is worse because all outlets in the same region are affected equally. While an outlet manager is calling multiple outlets for substitutes, customers are walking in and waiting for service before walking out, disappointed and unhappy. That directly affects the bottom line. Managers should be able to access an online database and use data analytics to see which outlet is on top of things in real time in order to call that outlet directly and ask for a substitute.

The top priority for every outlet manager is to make sure the day runs smoothly. It becomes much harder when the manager is not equipped with the right data to plan ahead of time. In a country like Singapore that has high internet penetration rates and high cell phone penetration rates, installing an application that stores this data in the cloud is easy and inevitable. If managers had access to this data, it would also be a way to motivate workers to be regular in order to move higher up in the rankings among outlets.

Calculating Payrolls

The systems put in place for measuring hours worked per employee in order to calculate payrolls should also be revamped. It should not take a manager 2 or 3 days to calculate payrolls when she has a million other things to look after. What’s more, the hassle of buddy punching, human errors and shifts in multiple locations add to complications for the manager. More errors equal higher costs. Higher costs equal lower profits. The bottom line is affected by inefficiencies that can be wiped out by a one-time change in the basic infrastructure.

Finally, the idea behind having an app that does all of the above is predicaSingapore Payrollted on increasing productivity: be it that of your rank and file workers or your manager. Higher productivity leads to a better workplace environment and happier people, which further leads to higher productivity. That is a virtuous cycle, if ever I saw one. In effect: optimizing work productivity with happiness.

Now, where have I heard that before…

5 Things Restaurants Need to Do Attract Top Employees

Tips to Attract Top Talent to your Restaurant

Image by themuse.com

Drawing from my past stint working as a waitress back in 2013 in NYC, I have learned that in the service or restaurant business, not everyone works just for the money. Indeed money is one of the key motivators, but people are looking for so much more.

Thankfully, the owner of the restaurant I worked at paid attention to his employees in order to keep us happy and working at his restaurant. Hiring the right talent isn’t easy (not everybody is good at service based roles) and retaining the finest employees is even harder.

What can make it even more frustrating is the fact that the restaurant business has one of the highest turn over rates in the private sector- at 66.3% by 2014.

In this article, you will find tips for making your restaurant more appealing to better employees.

To attract the A-players to come work for you, you will need:

  1.  A Clear Path to Advancement
    It’s important to remember that people are not working for you only because of the money. Most times it is much more than that. Employees want to know if there is a clear path to advancement in your restaurant. Whether it is moving up to a management position or to the next better paying position on the line, they want to know that the job rewards them based on growth and merit, not who they have to suck up to.
  2. The Work Itself
    It pays to be at a job that rewards and makes people happy. A great employee culture makes a great first impression where potential employees will think “Wow, what a great place to work in!”. It shows that you care about your employees and treat them like family. It also let’s your customers know that you run a quality restaurant with staff proudly working with you.
  3. Offer a Fair Salary Package.
    Restaurant owners should offer a competitive salary package to the employees. Keep in mind that while it does not have to be the highest, it definitely should not be at the bottom.
  4. Well-trained management/ leadership team
    Have great team leader or managers. Take the time to teach them to value each employee and guide them to succeed at their jobs. Great leaders also motivate your employees and create loyalty. When people know that your establishment has a superb leadership team and the ideal working environment, people will be waiting in line to come work for you.
  5. Recognition and Take Care of Your Current Employees
    It is good to feature your employees on your restaurant website and social media platforms. Focusing on your staff creates a positive environment, where they are happy to be at work. Giving praise for good work is also a good motivator. Sharing this information with the public will let potential employees know that you value good work.


    Did you find this blog post useful? Give your comments below.


    Find out how PayrollHero can create a great work place culture for your restaurant. We are happy to setup a time to speak further.

The Employer’s Guide to Singapore Work Visas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjkXCsMXY-0&feature=youtu.be&rel=0

This video provides an introduction to hiring foreign workers in Singapore- types of visas available to the employee according to skill level, application criteria and levies due to the employer. More information is available on the Ministry of Manpower website

After you have incorporated your business in Singapore, you will need to hire employees, both local or foreign to work for your company. If you are employing non-resident employees in Singapore, as an employer you have to make sure that they hold a valid work pass (also known as work visa).

Professional Work Visa

Pass type

Who is it for

Employment Pass

For foreign professionals, managers and executives. Candidates need to earn at least S$3,300 a month and have acceptable qualifications.

EntrePass

For eligible foreign entrepreneurs wanting to start and operate a new business in Singapore.

Personalised Employment Pass

For high-earning existing Employment Pass holders or overseas foreign professionals. The PEP offers greater flexibility than an Employment Pass.
 Skilled or Semi- Skilled Workers
Pass type Who is it for

S Pass

For mid-level skilled staff. Candidates need to earn at least S$2,200 a month and meet the assessment criteria.

Work Permit for foreign worker

For semi-skilled foreign workers in the construction, manufacturing, marine, process or services sector.

The Foreign Worker Levy

singapore work passesIt is important to note that Singapore companies are required to pay Foreign Worker Levy (FWL) for the Work Pass and S Pass holders. This levy is imposed by the Singapore Government to regulate foreign workers numbers in the country.

The amount of levy due to the employer is determined by the sector the company belongs to and the educational level and skills of the employees. Employing workers with relevant qualifications and skill-based test certificates will count towards your skilled workers, which will entitle you to a concession in the worker’s levy.

Look at this example on the FWL scheme for manufacturing and service sectors. 


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PayrollHero is live in Singapore. We are completely localized to Singapore’s itemized payroll requirement. We are able to effectively compute the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) taxes on employee remuneration, CPF employer contributions and deductions, bonuses, contributions to community funds (MDMF, SINDA, CDAC), Foreign Worker Levy and others- for your business in 5 Minutes!

Find out how PayrollHero can provide you the solution you need to optimise your payroll process. Write to us!

Singapore Payroll Software | Video

Our newest video for Singapore Restaurants and Retailer’s looking to learn more about our time, attendance, roster and payroll platform. What do you think the video? Let us know in the comments below. (PayrollHero.sg)
(30 seconds)

PayrollHero Singapore:

– PayrollHero is eligible for Singapore’s Spring Innovation & Capability Voucher (ICV) – Integrated Solutions (IS) (more details)

– Check out our Singapore specific website at PayrollHero.sg

Ukrainian Adventure Engineer in PayrollHero Singapore

Announcing Our Latest Import
Capture MYKOLA KYRYK

Our #AdventureEngineering message has reached far and wide! Software developers who have heard about PayrollHero’s Adventure Engineering have written to us, aspiring to be part of the team.

“I felt like it was a perfect match
from the moment I saw this video”
Mykola Kyryk

Here’s what Mykola did to catch our attention from his point of view:

Mykola: We had a couple sessions of remote pairing/discussion sessions. All people I talked to were very interesting interlocutors and I felt like I could bring a lot of value into the team.

Mykola spills the beans about his home country and moving to Singapore.

Tell me about your hometown. How many people are there?
Mykola: I’m from Lviv, Ukraine. It is a nice ancient city (founded in 1256). This city was part of Poland, Hungary, Austria and Russia for many years. So the country side has mixed architecture and culture with a population of around 850,000.

What kind of things you like to do back at home?
Mykola: Besides IT? Well a lot actually. I play basketball and travel a lot. In the last 2 years I’ve been to 8 different countries. I like different extreme activities. I’ve already tried scuba diving, skydiving and caving. I also like to ride my bike and go skiing.

What did the people closest to you say about your plan to move to Singapore to be a PayrollHero Adventure Engineer?
Mykola: That I was mad 😉  Some were surprised that I’m going that far away from my homeland. Most knew nothing about Singapore at all.

What were your first thoughts on Singapore after you’ve arrived?
Mykola: It is hot here! I went from +12 to +32 in 20 hours. Now I don’t find it hot anymore. I was also amazed with how structured and well organized everything is. Really convenient place to be.

What you think about the food and the hawker centers?
Mykola: Like nothing like I’m used to. Ton of options, any cuisine, for any taste. I’m still far from saying I’m used to all of this, but I love the adventure of it all. Hawker centers are great and also cheap!

Do you like the beaches in Singapore?
Mykola: That was the first thing I did when I arrived. I didn’t know how to get to the beaches so I spent almost 2 hours walking there. Night swimming is prohibited here, but I got what I came for. Beaches are really nice, especially at Sentosa island.

Was it easy for your to get your Singapore Employment Pass (EP)?
Mykola: I got mine while I was still in Ukraine. It was really a really quick and straightforward process. Once I arrived I had to go to the Ministry of Manpower to finalize the paperwork and got my EP card in 5 days. Amazingly quick and efficient.

What do you miss about home?
Mykola: I don’t really have time to miss about anything. Singapore is an amazing place. And there is still so many places I want to go and things I want to try. Of course, miss my family, but Skype helps to stay in touch. Hope to see them soon.


Did you know,… We’re Hiring! 

Wanna be an Adventure Engineer with PayrollHero? Check out our job openings and get in touch!

Getting a Liquor Licence in Singapore

drinks_0

Speaking with a few entrepreneurs who are setting up a new F&B outlet here in Singapore, I found that a few shared similar problems- mostly about the liquor licence for their restaurant and how to go about getting it.

We though it will be helpful to provide a guide to getting the liquor licence for your new establishment.

Before Sending your Application

It’s good to have the required paper work in order before applying for the liquor licence. You will need to be in compliance with laws & regulations from the relevant authorities and get approval for your establishment. Find out if your premises are approved for F&B here. 

Liquor Licence Fast Facts:

  • License agency: Liquors Licensing Unit
  • Cost Of Licence: S$220 – S$1,760 (2-year licence)
  • Minimum Licence Processing Time: 14 working days

Got it? Great! Let’s get into the necessary details. 

There are 2 types of liquor licences available in Singapore. If you are carrying out any of these activities:

  • To retail intoxicating liquor which is consumed on your premises (e.g. pubs, clubs, discos and hawker stalls)
  • To retail and/or wholesale intoxicating liquor that is consumed off your premises (e.g. wine specialty shops, alcohol importers and food caterers)

For more than 30 consecutive days, you will need to obtain liquor licence for your establishment.

If your activities is shorter than 30 consecutive days (1-30 days), you can apply for a temporary liquor licence instead.

Should your activities do not run on consecutive days, you will need to obtain more than one liquor licence for operation.

The Licence Fees

Types Of Liquor Licences
Licences for liquor sold and consumed on your premises
Name Of Licence Permitted Hours Licence Fees
(2-Year Licence)
Public House Licence 1st Class
(6am-12am)
S$1,760
2nd Class
(6am-10pm)
S$1,320
Beer House Licence 6am-12am S$920
Outdoor Beer Stall Licence 6am-3am
(Permitted hours to be decided based on the location)
S$570
Licences for liquor sold and consumed off your premises
Retail Liquor Shop Licence 6am-12am S$220
Wholesale Liquor Shop Licence 6am-12am S$220
Retail Beer Shop Licence 6am-12am S$220
Wholesale Beer Shop Licence 6am-12am S$220

Note that the licences only permits you to sell liquor within the stipulated hours. If your establishment requires sale of alcohol past these hours, you will need to get the Liquor License (Extension of Operating Hours).

Application, Processing Time and Payment Method 

All applications for liquor licence are to be submitted through electronic filing (e-filing) via the Online Business Licensing Service (OBLS) at http://business.gov.sg.

The processing time for these licences takes up to 12 working days.

There are three online payment modes available-
Credit card (Visa or Mastercard), Direct Debit through your internet banking account. Payment modes available at our counter are NETS or cheque.
If the amount payable is more than S$2000/-, payment by cheque is preferable.


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Be in touch with us. Find out how you PayrollHero can improve productivity for your business with our time, attendance, scheduling and payroll management system in the cloud.

The New Employer’s Guide to CPF

Further the blog post on what CPF is. We thought it will be helpful to post a general guide to how CPF works (with useful links to CPF Website), for the new entrepreneurs setting up business in Singapore.

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You are an employer, and employing Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents (PR) in your company- you are required contribute to CPF for your employees at the end of each month.

Know your role as an employer. CPF conducts regular audits on employers to ensure that CPF contributions are paid correctly and on time (14 days grace period is given at end month). CPF also takes feedback from employees on incidences where employers have not paid or under-paid their CPF contributions. Note that the penalty to employers breaching the CPF Act may be taken to court and if convicted, fined up to $10,000 or imprisonment, or both.

With that in mind, let’s get this right. 

Contribution on Employee Wages and Age Group
CPF contributions should be determined based on the employee’s total wages for the entire month. This includes overtime pay, allowances, cash awards, commissions and bonuses. Find out which types of payment attracts CPF Contributions here.

The CPF contribution rate is determined by different age groups. There are 6 defined age groups and the CPF contribution rates decreases as an employee moves to the next age group.

Here are the 6 age groups:

  • 35 years and below
  • Above 35 and below 50 years
  • Above 50 and below 55 years
  • Above 55 and below 60 years
  • Above 60 and below 65 years
  • Above 65 years

As of 1 January 2015, the CPF contribution rates have increased to help employees save more for retirement and medical.

Click to find out the updated contribution rates. CPF website also offers a contribution calculator.

When to Pay Contributions
The CPF contributions are due at the end of every month with 14 days grace period given at the end month. Should the last day of the grace period falls on a weekend or public holiday, your payment will be due on the next business day.

You are required to pay the employer’s and employee’s share of CPF contributions monthly for all employees (Singapore Citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents) at the rates set out in the CPF Act. The CPF contributions payable should be based on the employee’s actual total wages earned for the calendar month.

How to Make Your Payment
CPF has made payment easy for new employers via online Direct Debit. As soon as you started the process of hiring your first employee, you should submit your CPF details using CPF e-Submit@web using the Singpass and Unique Entity Number (UEN).

Once you are approved, you will receive the an email and a welcome letter containing your CPF Submission Number, Payment Advice (CPF91) and Direct Debit Authorisation Form.

Here’s more details on Direct Debit deductions and FAQs 


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Want to learn more about how PayrollHero can help you get your Singapore time, attendance, scheduling and payroll setup? Contact us for a one on one demo.

Singapore Payroll Software Show & Tell

Singapore Payroll EventWe are holding another event at our office in the Ocean Financial Centre at Raffles Place in Singapore on May 14th 2015. At this free event you will learn about the pitfalls of manual time and attendance systems, how PayrollHero can help and the amazing business intelligence that can be delivered to your iPhone in real time.

The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, RedMart, BGC and many others are happy clients… come learn why they and many others subscribe to PayrollHero for their time, attendance, scheduling, HR and payroll needs.

Register Here

3 Dissatisfactions With Traditional Retail Punch Clock Systems

Aulia Soegiantoro SingaporeGetting Ridiculously Client Focused!

As part of getting to know PayrollHero and our clients we decided that it was time for me get out of the office and do some “hallway testing” with Singapore retailers. At PayrollHero the team is constantly talking about “getting out of the office”, “hallway testing” and “being ridiculously client focused”. Today, it was my turn.

Getting to know our customer segment in Singapore is important as we continue to get our product out there. We want to know what these retail businesses do for time, attendance, scheduling and payroll. And we really want to get to the bottom of the pains store managers have with their current system.

I set out to speak to outlet or store managers of F&B businesses around the Ocean Financial Center @ Raffles Place.

A lot of Pain!

Indeed! My conversations revealed that out of 6 outlet managers I spoke with today, all of them mentioned dissatisfaction with their current time clock systems for time and attendance.

Here’s why:

  1. The Biometric System (Thumbprint Scanners)

    Using this system to clock in and out at the workplace seem to be the most common with majority (4 of 6) of the outlet managers I spoke with today. They revealed that they have been using the biometric systems for employees clocking in and out at work, and are not happy about it. A manager at a salad outlet says that it is an ‘imperfect system’ because the system itself is inaccurate. This comment is also shared with a manager of a bakery chain; who complained that the system sometimes don’t read the thumbprint accurately and records the time down for the wrong employee.Frustrating? Yes! The same outlet manager adds on saying that at times system reads as ‘absent’ as the employee clocks in.
  2. The Punch Card Machine 

    The major problem one manager at a sushi outlet has with the attendance system is that the punch machine always broken down. In the days it takes for the machine to get fixed, he has to make time to manually clocking in and out his workers on an excel spreadsheet.Security is another concern with punch card machines. The time sheets are collected, then sent to the HR department for payroll processing via post or using a delivery person. What happens if the mail goes missing? All the data on the time sheets is not backed up on a system.

  3. Point-of-Sale (POS) System 

    This POS system gives employees a 4-digit code to use over the register to clock in and out of work. So what’s the issue? Well, for an outlet manager of a smoothie chain store here at Raffles Place, she is unhappy that she has to do double work – where she will manually keys in the clock in and out data of each employee again on a different system at the end of each week for payroll.She hopes she has a system that connects the time and attendance with payroll to save time!

The Take- Away

This test has revealed to me that plenty of time can be saved if redundancies and “double-work” for the purpose of verification are eliminated. Managers are delighted to work more productively if they had a system that could shorten the process for time and attendance at the outlet and worry less about payroll.


Want to learn more about PayrollHero? 

Check out our Singapore Payroll Software website or attend our next event on May 14th 2015.

Singapore Payroll Software | PayrollHero

If you have ever worked in human resources and admin, you would know what a pain payroll management can be!

Inflated time sheets, overtime and time-off.

How do you calculate the 43 odd minutes an employee has been showing up for work late for the past 2 weeks? Or the minutes they left work too early? How do you add up the tax on commissions earned for the past week?  These are just the beginning of your troubles.

What about tracking down which employees have had their teammate clock in for them? And the hassle of going after those who do not submit their time sheets at all! 

No More Timesheets!

The days where you would spend hours racking your brain computing payroll into an outdated software or excel spreadsheets are gone. This is where PayrollHero saves the day!

PayrollHero is a cloud-based HR and payroll management software that tracks time, attendance and scheduling for businesses of any size. #payrollhero_sg

And you would be so grateful: employees are happy to clock in and out of work in seconds. The Selfie TeamClock uses the employee’s face as the biometric for clocking in and out. Say goodbye to misaligned timestamps and impossible-to-read handwriting.

The system ensures that employees are really at their workstation or desks on time as the software computes, tracks and reports to optimise payroll management. Just enter all the information you need, like: employee records, roster schedule, hourly rate, per diems, benefits, CPF and other tax calculations. PayrollHero will assist you with set up from start to finish.

Eliminate Fraud!

PayrollHero takes care of annoying time-in problems with a nifty innovation: facial TimeClockrecognition technology.

To clock in and out at work, employees just need to take a picture of themselves at their workstation. They can use this on their laptop or desktop, iOS and Android devices.

PayrollHero system will match the photo to the employee records and track their time against the correct schedule and GPS location, to make sure that the person is at the right place and the right time.

Sure, you’re thinking that any thumbprint and other biometric systems can achieve the same results. But that requires additional employee information and thumb/ palm scanners. Here, all you need is a camera.

Share the Load!

Each employee is responsible for their own hours, and the app is designed to inform them if they are late, early, undertime or over. They can view their schedule and record using the WebApp or #MyClock app on iOS.

All the information is stored in the cloud and updated in real time, anywhere. So, the manager getting to an offsite meeting can still check-in to see what’s happening at the office at any time on the phone.

When it’s time to run the payroll, the system computes everything down to the last minute. All the payroll administrator needs to do is review and approve the payroll.

Runs On Any Device

PayrollHero does not require you to purchase any new hardware or expensive licenses. The system works great on your existing hardware: desktop, laptop, iOS and Android devices.

PayrollHero for Singapore Businesses

The PayrollHero Team has made the app awesome for Singapore businesses. The app is now localised and updated to fit Singapore payroll requirements including: Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) taxes on employee remuneration, CPF employer contributions and deductions, bonuses, contributions to community funds (MDMF, SINDA, CDAC), Foreign Worker Levy and others.

We Are Doing It Right!

We are excited to launch our amazing product in Singapore. Having enjoyed success in the Philippines, the market here poses as a friendly challenge.

“ We are much more than just payroll. We are what we like to call ‘ridiculously client focused,’ and that means working to ensure HR and payroll professionals have the tools they need to do their jobs better […] Our focus is on the much bigger picture of helping clients utilize our platform to run their businesses better.” -Steve Jagger, Co-Founder PayrollHero.com

Happy clients in Singapore!

We are off to a great start with a few big brand names already using PayrollHero.

singapore payroll clients

Check Us Out!

Inhouse Event Flyer

 

Click to Register!

Did you know PayrollHero can qualify for Singapore’s Spring Innovation & Capability Voucher (ICV) – Integrated Solutions (IS). (Read More)