Especially in the age of automatic deposits, payroll content is too often overlooked. Payroll processors produce highly personal and relevant information for users. And yet, very few make their products, and the content they create, accessible. It’s a huge, missed opportunity — and potential liability.
While there are numerous reasons to make payroll content accessible, in this blog post we’re going to focus on three: inclusivity, privacy / security, and risk mitigation.
1. Inclusivity
All employees deserve equal footing in the workplace. Imagine you are a person who relies on a screen reader or braille display to ingest information. You need these tools to understand digital files. For payroll info, this includes information on your available vacation time and your pay stub documents.
If your payroll company doesn’t make this information screen reader friendly, it puts you at a distinct disadvantage. But if you put systems in place to ensure delivery of accessible content, all employees will get the information they need.
2. Privacy / Security
Keeping with our scenario above, imagine again that you are an employee who is blind or partially sighted. But now, you work for a business that doesn’t ensure payroll documents are accessible. So, each time you want to check your vacation balance or certify something on your pay stub, you must decide what level of privacy and security you’re willing to give up. Do you go to HR and ask for help? Do you ask a co-worker, roommate, or partner? Any of these impose obstacles on you that you shouldn’t have to deal with.
And this doesn’t stop at the personal level. If an employee can’t access the information they need — and to which they should have access — but they feel uncomfortable going to HR, they may bring in a third party to interpret. This opens the company up to security risks as well. The better, and more secure, option is to make payroll information accessible to begin with.
3. Risk Mitigation
As mentioned above, not providing accessible payroll info puts you at risk. But the risks are more far-reaching than you may anticipate. Beyond the security risk of bringing in third party interpreters, you risk damage to your finances and reputation.
If employees want access to their information and can’t get it, they will go elsewhere. This means losing out on talented workers. Alternately, workers may rightfully turn litigious. Employees have a right to their information. If you’re not providing it in a format they can understand, it opens you up to legal risk. This can escalate into fees and fines and damage your company’s reputation.
Ultimately, the best choice is to make payroll content accessible now. And fortunately, it’s easier than you might think. With modern automation solutions, you can make payroll content work for everyone. And we’d love to show you how!
Watch our webinar, “Make Your Payroll Content Accessible – It’s a Must.” The experts at CrawfordTech can help you get ahead of the game and put accessibility plans in place.
