US Workers Want Self-Service Tools From Employers

Employees want to be able to complete HR-related tasks on their own, a new survey from Paychex has shown: Almost three quarters — or 73 percent of full-time U.S. workers — want employee self-service tools from their employers, CPA Practice Advisor reported.

“Today’s society has moved from being tech-enabled to tech-dependent, and with that shift has come an expectation for self-sufficiency in the workplace,” Paychex Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Product Management Tom Hammond said in a statement. “While at work, employees want to interact with tools — and one another — much like they do in their personal lives. That means being given the ability and permission to accomplish simple, common actions such as changing an address, checking a time-off balance, requesting time off, viewing a pay stub, or adjusting a 401(k) balance independently.”

Even so, not all employers provide a level of employee self-service. And the probability that an employer offers access to this option often has to do with the company’s size. While more than 65 percent of business owners with 20-500 employees allow their employees to complete HR tasks by self-service, only 46 percent of business owners with less than 20 employees offer that ability.

The news comes as Paychex found in another study the vast majority — nearly 94 percent — of survey respondents said they receive their paychecks via direct deposit. Coming in at a distant second is the paper paycheck, with only 4.3 percent of employees reporting they receive payroll this way. Even less common are payroll cards and prepaid cards, which, combined, amount to less than 2 percent of payroll vehicles.

Nearly 40 percent of the nearly 35,000 professionals surveyed by the American Payroll Association (APA) said it would be “very difficult” to meet their current financial obligations if their paychecks were to be delayed by a week, with nearly 34 percent adding that it would be “somewhat difficult.”