How to Build an Employee Benefits Package | OPS Gone are the days when employees would work for a company that pays a salary and perhaps a bonus. Today’s workforce want more tailored benefits. Work is more integrated into our day-to-day living than ever before. Culturally we’ve evolved as workers. Therefore companies who keep their talent engaged by offering more comprehensive benefits are likely more successful in their sectors. The work comes down to HR to create the benefits package that suits the business needs and culture, vision of growth, and is not only in tune with the talent market’s needs, but also ahead of the competition. The basics The basic benefits are a good starting point. This includes not only a competitive salary and monetary incentives, but also other valuable add-ons like medical insurance and a good pension contribution. Then look broader. Mandatory and standard UAE benefits In the UAE, employers must include certain benefits mandated by Labour Law, and standard benefits offered to employees. 1. Social Security – Employers must contribute 12.5% for Emiratis. This does not apply to expat employees.2. Special holidays – During Ramadan, the workday is two hours shorter. Additionally, the UAE celebrates seven public holidays, entitling employees to 14 days of leave on top of normal leave entitlement.3. Paid leave – If an employee has work at least one year at a company, the employer must grant 30 days of paid leave annually to the employee.4. Work and residency permits – Employers must arrange and pay for employees’ work and residency visas where applicable.5. Health insurance – Employers are required to...
Top 12 Compliance Tips for Your Business | OPS Payroll compliance is not as complicated as one thinks. If you know what to do, you will ensure that your company does not incur any penalties. Tips and tricks are what gets us through our daily lives and what good would those be if not making business and following tax laws a little easier for us. Just like those self-help and home living tips that we use in our personal lives, in business these tips can help you explore how to avoid expenses and keep yourself and employees happy. Here are 12 of these tips to avoid your penalties: 1. Keep accurate personal records Records, records, records… A word we hear all the time in business and when said multiple times becomes lost to meaning but in relation to compliance, this word holds a lot of value because it is what makes the company and its filing credible. Your records are breadcrumbs that you can use to go back and forth in time whenever your need and these allow you to compare your company past and present. Every change with the employee, from promotion to personal details need to be processed immediately and correctly so that it upholds the credibility of the company and is the basis of every payroll. Every employee record also holds this breadcrumb trail because it can be used to trace their personal successes and progress and their progress in their personal which is very important during audits and appraisals. 2. Manage employee expectations As the employer, one needs to ensure that your employees...
Key Insights on Saudi Arabia Labour Law for Employers | OPS Saudi Arabia, officially named The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is one of the six countries that form the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council). It is located between the Red Sea and The Arabian Gulf and grew its financial influence after discovering substantial petroleum deposits in 1938. Since then, it has become an attractive place for companies to expand their businesses, and as a result a popular place for expats to move and work there. As with all other GCC countries, employment is governed by the local Labour Law, and in Saudi Arabia, the Labour Law is governed by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development. Employment Before you can hire an employee, you must first make sure you have the right to hire employees and the legal documentation (such as a valid trade license from the appropriate authority). All employers in Saudi Arabia must provide a valid employment contract in Arabic (and English depending on their native tongue) to any new employee they wish to hire. When operating in the Private sector of KSA, you must also be aware of the Saudization programme: Nitaqat, which aims to increase the employment of Saudi Nationals in the private sector. Nitaqat requires employers with over nine employees to a hire a percentage of Saudi Nationals. The percentages are dependant on the company’s industry and number of employees. Salary In November 2020, the General Organisation for Social Security (GOSI) announced a minimum wage for Saudi Nationals who are 50 years of age or older of SR 3,000 per month. This...
What Is a GL and How It Links to Payroll Operations | OPS The ins and outs of payroll and how this can affect both HR and the wider company can be both complex and confusing, thankfully (as always…) we’re here to help! So, no more lengthy rabbit holes down the never-ending internet vacuum trying to find the answer, simply sit back and relax as we give you all the information you need to know. GL Definition Firstly, let’s start with a definition, GL stands for General Ledger and refers to a company’s organisational system that tracks all of the company’s financial transactions in one organised account. Matters normally recorded in the company’s general ledger include but isn’t limited to: assets, liabilities, expenses, income, revenue etc. This is important to keep both up to date and factually correct as it’s used to create the company’s financial statements at the end of the financial year. How does it link with payroll? So now you have a brief understanding of what GL is, you’re probably wondering how this links to payroll? Well within the general ledger the payroll also needs to be accounted for. Firstly, your company needs a payroll software, this will track and process all of the information regarding pay within your company such as hours worked, rates of pay, any deductions etc. Then your payroll needs, or in an ideal world should be, integrated to your general ledger. By integrating the two systems you’ll provide a seamless and efficient HR process which frees up your employee’s time to work on larger projects and allows the reduction...
The Difference Between USA and UAE Payroll Explained | OPS The Taxation journey can be very much like Dorothy venturing into OZ if you think of business as the hot air balloon and the hurricane as compliance and tax regulation. It can be a very confusing journey at first, and your wicked witch of the west – we can all figure out who this is – is constantly being right behind you, waiting for you to make a mistake. Just like Dorothy’s journey, tax can be, for a lack of a better phrase, complicated in its complexities. These complexities can also be seen in the payroll tax practices of the US and the Middle East alike. Whilst they have different procedures and rules, each of these have their own specific set of regulations which one needs to comply with every time. Payroll in the USA The aspect of US payroll that causes the most problems is taxation. The USA has two main branches of taxes within their system; Income tax and Social security tax – this includes Medicare taxes. The employer is allowed to retain income taxes at the rates of about 10%-37% depending on the earning of the employee and these taxes rates are set by each individual state, additionally, the wages that are subject to income tax include holiday allowances, salaries, commissions, bonuses, and fringe benefits. Similarly, the social security tax is contributed by both the employee and employer but the tax is still withheld from the employees wages. Their tax regulatory, the Federal Income Contributions Act [FICA], states that taxes should include Old age survivors and...
How Payroll Outsourcing Can Increase HR Productivity | OPS Payroll management is complex, but critical to any organisation. Payroll outsourcing can not only save time, labour and money, but also offers an array of benefits that can clearly improve any business. HR and other business resources can focus on driving the company strategy, increasing productivity in all areas of the business. Why outsource? Payroll outsourcing means that a company tasks an external services provider with the payroll function of the business. 1. Save time and increase efficiency Payroll management demands a lot of time, understanding country-specific legislation, keeping up to date with any legislative changes, collating and managing all payroll information. This function is often on top of other in-house responsibilities and can be burdensome. Often the in-house payroll function would fall to HR. Outsourcing the function means HR staff have time to focus on their core responsibilities, aligning and managing the company’s dearest resource, its people. 2. Secure Outsourcing also adds another layer of security to your employees’ data. The HR manager has peace of mind that the employees’ information is secure and safe. Outsourcing payroll means the employer does not manage data storage, ensure appropriate ISO certification and worry about the latest updates to safeguard the payroll data from malware or malfunction. Payroll outsourcing companies offer secure data storage in the Cloud, which is highly secure, utilising gold-standard encryption and backup. Additionally, HR no longer carries the responsibility to regularly train payroll staff and update payroll software. 3. Mitigate payroll risks HR avoids issues like errors on payslips, administrative audits and late payments...
