Introduction

Local authorities employ hundreds – sometimes thousands – of staff working in many different departments. Staff may be paid weekly or monthly and some may work several hours of paid overtime or be in jobs in which car allowances, shift allowances, unsocial hours, stand by and/or bonus payments are made. Some of them work full-time, some part-time and some job share. They may choose to join a pension scheme and have the contributions deducted at source from their pay. The payroll department has to ensure that they are all paid correctly and that records connected with their pay are kept up to date.

In addition, a council may operate a payroll system for locally managed schools, using information supplied by school administrators.

Payroll assistants (sometimes known as payroll clerks) work for county, district/borough, unitary and metropolitan councils.

Work Environment

Payroll assistants work indoors, in offices within council buildings. Most of their work is done seated at their own desks and using their own computer terminals. They do the work allocated to them by their payroll officer.

They normally work a standard 37 hour week from Monday to Friday. There may be opportunities for paid overtime. There are usually opportunities for part time work and for job sharing.

Daily Activities

Payroll assistants feed data into computer terminals in time to meet the council’s date for paying its employees each week/month. (Councils normally have regular day of the week on which employees receive their pay packets or a date toward the end of the month on which salaries are paid in to bank accounts and staff given a payslip.)

They check time sheets and clock cards that show exactly how many and which hours staff have worked. They then calculate the correct salary or wage to be paid, including any additions for overtime and other payments, take off deductions for income tax, national insurance and pension contributions and prepare pay slips, detailing all the information. They also have to make sure that any pay increases or holiday pay are included. They use calculators and computers in their work.

They must also keep accurate records to ensure that employees are not over or underpaid.

They may also carry out general office duties such as photocopying documents and answering the telephone.

Much of the work can be repetitive.

Skills & Interests

Payroll assistants need to be:

• organised
• accurate and methodical
• able to pay attention to detail
• able to concentrate for long periods of time.

They must be able to respect confidentiality of information. For example, they must not discuss employees’ salaries or personal affairs. (Sometimes they may be required to deal with Attachment of Earnings Orders or Judgement Debts made by the courts and ensure that the amount of money in question is deducted from the employee’s pay an d paid to the court office.)

Entry Requirements

Usual minimum entry requirements are four GCSEs/S grades at C or above, including English and maths, or experience in a previous job that required literacy and numeracy skills. However, many entrants have higher qualifications.

It is necessary to have previous experience as a payroll assistant before gaining promotion to payroll officer. (In order to become an assistant payroll officer, previous experience in a local government or private sector payroll office, involving the use of computerised payroll databases is usually required.)

Estimated salary range

£13,200 – £14,500 possibly rising to £16,000+ in some areas.

Please note that salary information is a guide only and there may be local agreements in place. For further information about salaries for particular positions, please contact your local council directly.

Future prospects & opportunities

A small council might employ one or two payroll officers responsible for a small team of two to three assistants.

In a large council there might be two to three principal or senior payroll officers, eight or nine payroll officers and 20 or more payroll assistants.

Related Occupations

Follow this link to view a list of all related occuptions in Supporting Your Community.
Alternatively, follow this link to view all career profiles placed in the same job area.

Further Information & Services

Association of Accounting Technicians www.aat.co.uk

You may find further information about this area of work in your local Connexions service/careers office/school careers library – under AD.

What should I do next?

Look for current local government Payroll Assistant vacancies in the following places:

• LGjobs.com - the official recruitment website for local government.
• Weekly, bi-weekly or monthly jobs bulletins produced by local councils themselves, available from libraries, community centres, town halls/main civic buildings and central council personnel departments.
• Local council websites.
• Local newspapers
• National newspapers – The Guardian is particularly well known for its public sector job advertisements on a Wednesday.

Find out about the council and get some work experience if possible by:

• Making the most of work experience placements arranged through your school, college or university.
• Contacting councils close to your home to find out about the work experience opportunities they offer.
• Talking to someone who does the job you are interested in – ring your local council to see if someone can spare some time.
• Making an appointment to see a careers adviser for more specific information about jobs and training.