National Payroll Week - Week Commencing 7th Sept 2020

National Payroll Week was established in 1998 by the CIPP to celebrate the payroll profession and to give it the recognition it deserves. Payroll are Key Workers! Keeping the UK Paid during COVID-19 Our story #keepukpaid #NPW20 On Tuesday March 17th 2020 The Directors and Senior Management of Solo Support Services made the decision that we all needed to prepare to work from home (hopefully for 12 weeks maximum) 

Ingrid Foster, Payroll Manager, explains more:  My Team have never worked from home, this was a daunting as well as a practical challenge. 

Computers were wrapped in blankets and strapped into car seats, printers were purchased and office phone numbers diverted to personal mobile phones. The team set up in spare rooms, conservatories, dining rooms and corners of the lounge. Desks were bought from Ikea. We were ready.

Payroll does not stop. With near 400 payrolls per month to carry on processing we jumped straight in! In addition, we all had to learn the new constantly changing furlough information. We were fielding phone calls from anxious Employees and Employers about all manner of questions. COVID-19 was a mind blowing, challenging, steep learning curve for us all.

My team as always made me proud.

We found new ways to communicate through google meet, enjoyed seeing dogs, children and everyone’s décor during these video chats!

Well everyone got paid, we learnt everything new we had to learn, we supported our Service Users and Employees and we came out the other side.

On June 24th, over 3 months since we had all began to work from home half my team returned to work from the Head Office. This was a celebration certainly for myself who was beginning to really struggle with the isolation of home working. Working from home has proved a success for many but it became clear to me that I flourish working within a Team and needed to separate my work and home life so returning to the office could not come soon enough.

We still do not have everyone back working from Head Office but we are getting there and respecting that everyone is on a slightly different journey and taking their own pace to return to this new normal. I would like to celebrate the Payroll Team who tirelessly worked throughout these unprecedented times whilst juggling home life, children and uncertainty. Tomorrow we will introduce the Team Members . . .