If the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us something, it is that flexibility and adaptability is vital to the weathering of bad tides. Another business lesson is that now more than ever, the smooth running of administrative services is paramount to the survival of companies. Human Resources and Payroll are at the forefront of this.
OPS responded to the unprecedented challenges almost instantly, buffering clients and carrying them as the Pandemic and its immediate aftermath unfolded. At OPS we’ve had our share of adjustments, but we are a small, streamlined animal that steers quickly in new directions, depending on what the circumstances demand from us. So, we rose to the challenge, adjusted course mid-stride, and proved why we are the perfect payroll partner, especially during the most challenging times.
We hardly missed a beat. Our services are all online. Our team could work remotely immediately without much tweaking. We ran payrolls and paid salaries to our clients’ employees without missing a beat.
“Thanks to Jodie and the team [at OPS], we have not had any delays in payroll despite the challenges of Covid-19,” said Inge Snyman, director finance controller at Mimecast in South Africa.
Instant payroll adjustments
Additionally, OPS could quickly adjust different clients’ payroll needs on the spot. We assisted with the roll out of Resolution 279 of 2020 Regarding the Stability of Employment in Private Sector Companies, During the Period of Applying Precautionary Measures to Contain the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus for several of our clients across a variety of sectors – from medical to tourism to the power sector and beyond.
We could instantly adjust payrolls to reflect partial or complete removal of transport allowances while employees were working from home. We presented a free webinar to our clients to offer clarification on the Resolution, who it applies to and how to respond to it, with all the necessary legal backup to ensure employers responded within the parameters of the Labour Law during unprecedented times.
“Thanks to OPS’s support in coordinating meetings with a lawyer and getting us the required support proactively in this unprecedented situation, we were able to implement salary deductions with adequate legal backup and operational guidance,” commented Abey Alex from Mohre. “[We] appreciate your partnership.”
Tracking work-from-home
We created a work-from-home module as part of our Covid-19 client support responses and offered this free of charge to all our clients to allow them to track employees working from home. The program can distinguish between employees working from home and those on leave.
“[Initially] we [were] able to manually track the movement and number of all our office-based employees working from home,” noted Fatima-Zahra Makhchoumi, HR Manager at Cummins Arabia in Dubai. “But as the situation worsened, I am not sure for how long we [would have been] able to continue doing it manually.”
We advised our clients on government support for local employers and how to apply through respective social security portals. In Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, for example, employers could apply for the government to pay the salaries of citizens for three months, or more.
Our inhouse experts could model different response scenarios for clients and best practices for implementing changes. Without a shadow of a doubt, we have the best experts on our team.
We pay tribute to our clients who trusted us during exceedingly challenging times, and for whom we could come through. We are proud to be of service and to be the perfect payroll partner during any challenging time.
Want to know more about how OPS can help you with your HR & Payroll?