Stabilisation project works on better practices
As of October 2022, a new full-time manager was appointed to stabilise the payroll situation. The stabilisation project has sought the sources of errors, described and developed processes, and increased the transparency and monitoring of the payroll administration process.
The payroll stabilisation project has prioritised correcting accumulated payroll glitches and preventing the creation of new payroll glitches. At the same time, efforts have been made to continuously work on better operating practices and processes so that the actual root causes of the payroll problems can be remedied.
The payroll stabilisation project has initiated measures and projects to improve the functioning of the payroll system, to improve the functioning of Financial Management (Talpa), the public enterprise in charge of payroll management, and to stabilise the operating methods related to the salary payment.
Interim assessment recommends follow-up measures
The interim assessment of payroll stabilisation provides recommendations for measures to stabilise the payroll situation in the long term and to normalise the situation. Recommendations are being issued to clarify the city-level payroll operating and management model, to harmonise processes, to guide system development, to secure correct information and to manage personnel.
The interim assessment of the city-level payroll management model recommends, among other things, that the payroll situation as a whole remains the responsibility of one manager and that the roles of the different actors in the city organisation are specified.
With regard to Financial Management, the stabilisation project recommends that Helsinki’s central administration specify more precisely what it requires of Financial Management as the provider of payroll services, and that Financial Management continue to implement its organisational reform and draw up a code of conduct.
In payroll processes, it is recommended that the lifecycle processes of employment relationships be harmonised throughout the organisation as much as possible. In addition, it is recommended to assess whether the city should provide more administrative support services to supervisors.
Thousands of employees affected by payroll glitches
According to the interim assessment of the stabilisation project, the payroll glitches that have occurred since the introduction of the payroll system in April 2022 have affected approximately 16,000 City of Helsinki employees.
From April 2022 until the end of February 2023, 760,000 payslips were paid from the Sarastia system. A total of 37,400 glitches were recorded, of which 31,800 were actual errors in salary payment.
Payroll glitches have been recorded in relation to the total number of payslips. The number of glitches relative to the total number of payslips was at its highest in June 2022 at 12.3%. Actual salary errors amounted to 8.8%. In December 2022, the target state set for the introduction of the system, an overall error rate of less than 5%, was reached for the first time. At the time, the level of actual salary errors also fell below 4% for the first time.