Update December 2014 In this issue _ Facts & Figures The Shared Services Centre Facts & Figures Successful Waves 1 & 2 Rollout €69 M the value of Our People What Changes Can You Expect payments made to Wave 3 Schedule date. 84,398 the number of individual payments made to date 99% Accuracy Level exceeded in Year 1 €4.3M savings per annum anticipated 28 the current number of staff 72 the projected number of staff required Live Sites Offaly, Laois, Longford Roscommon, Westmeath, Leitrim, Galway County, Carlow, Cavan & Monaghan County Councils Wave 3 Sites Kildare, Kilkenny, Meath, Louth and Standardising Payroll and Superannuation Functions The Public Service Reform Plan (November 2011) identified the implementation of shared services as a major element in the Reform Programme. The concept of shared services is to consolidate transactional activities, ideally using optimised and automated processes that add value allowing concentration on core/strategic activities. The focus of the payroll and Superannuation shared service initiative is the consolidation of the transactional Payroll/superannuation activity that exists in the Local Government Sector with a view to achieving efficiencies and creating a centre of excellence. While it is recognised that local authority payroll departments have always operated to the highest standards, the move to a shared service will allow savings through economies of scale/access to technologies. The Local Authority Shared Services Payroll & Superannuation Evaluation Committee, after a competitive bidding process, recommended that Laois County Council provide Shared Payroll and Superannuation services on behalf of all local authorities. We are now well into our implementation schedule, having just completed the Wave 2 rollout. This is a key milestone in the project plan and was delivered on time and within budget. We have already commenced the planning of the Wave 3 rollout and plan to have a further 5 local authorities live by the end April 2015. I am very proud of the fact that the vast majority of our staff are IPASS certified I wish to acknowledge the support and co-operation we received from all the staff from the local authorities who have come on board to date. I would like to thank the CCMA, LGMA, Core Int., the PMO, DPER and the DECLG for their continued assistance in keeping the project on schedule. Notwithstanding the significant challenges we look forward to meeting the key targets set out in our project plan for 2015. John Forde, Director, MyPay The new local authority shared service centre, MyPay, based on the top floor in Block 1 of County Hall began operation in October 2013. Following a successful rollout to 10 counties in 2014 we will continue in January 2015 with Wave 3 as part of the 3 year implementation plan. There are currently 28 staff all based on the third floor. They are tasked with the delivery of the service in the counties that are live and preparing the incoming counties of each wave to avail of the service. Staff numbers will continue increase as each wave joins the shared services centre. We are delighted to have achieved our most recent major milestone in bringing all the wave 2 counties live before the end of December. We are confident that a further 15 counties will be availing of our services by the end of next year. South Dublin January 2015 Wave 3 Start Date Shared services are an important element of the Government’s public service reform agenda and can provide much needed cost savings and efficiencies while also fully standardising and improving services. The sharing of back-office functions such as payroll and superannuation will in turn allow local authorities to concentrate on providing services to citizens. Update on our People At present we have 28 people working at our newly refurbished office in Laois County Council buildings. This will increase to 52 in 2015 to facilitate the rollout of 3 further waves. These staff will be made up from internal Laois Co. Co. transfers and redeployments of staff members from other authorities. We expect to recruit a further 30 staff in 2015 to facilitate a further 15 LA’s in Payroll and to commence the Superannuation What changes can local Authority staff expect Naturally you can expect some changes when the shared services centre takes over the running of payroll and superannuation for your county, but we will endeavour to keep them to a minimum. If you already receive an electronic transfer and payslip you will not notice much change in your payroll service. All payments must be made by EFT when being processed by the Shared Services Centre. Your payroll enquiries will be dealt with in the shared services centre, just email [email protected] or call 057 8600555. Those currently receiving printed payslips will continue to do so, though we intend to extend the use of online payslips as we progress through the project. Successful Implementation in Carlow wave rollout. Carlow County Council commenced our move to MyPay in September 2014 as part of Wave 2 of the Project. The transfer was extremely successful due to the commitment of the payroll staff and the support of the MyPay team. As part of the move to MyPay, an issue was raised in relation to weekly wages and the certification of timesheets in advance due to the MyPay timeframes. This resulted in an alteration to the wages week moving from a Saturday to Friday basis to a Thursday to Wednesday basis through agreement with the unions. The new deadlines and procedures are working well and have been particularly embraced by Carlow’s General Services Supervisors. f office space/ staff members Carlow, since implementation have also moved our quarterly salary payees to our monthly pay group for greater efficiency, as there was always difficulties in making quarterly payments and this has worked well. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the HR & Payroll staff in Carlow County Council and also the MyPay team for their assistance during our transition. Avril Oakes/Margaret O’Toole – Carlow County Council Contacts: John Forde SSC Director & Project Manager [email protected] Dermot O’Loughlin – Operations Manager [email protected] MyPay Shared Services Centre, Áras an Contae, Portlaoise, Co. Laois. Email: [email protected] HelpDesk: 057 860 0555 My focus at present is on learning and re-skilling since my appointment here to MyPay , the Payroll & Superannuation Shared Services Centre in late September 2014. I began my career in Local Government back in 1999 working for Dublin City in the Finance Accounts Section, where i spent 6 years. From there I moved to the Environment & Engineering Administration Section where I spent another 7 years and then I returned to Finance and to the Finance Administration Section for a further 2 years prior to joining MyPay . All in all, I had been travelling to Dublin for the past 15 years, so when the opportunity arose for re-deployment to the MyPay Shared Services here in Portlaoise, it was very much welcomed. Being so near work has given me a great work/life balance. Considering I had spent such a long time working for one Local Authority and with no previous Payroll experience, I was a little apprehensive beginning a new chapter of my life here in the MyPay Shared Services Centre but all Staff here have been very friendly, super helpful and supportive in my transition. I would like to think I can bring something beneficial to the MyPay Team with my many years working in Local Government and my life experiences. The opportunities for training here is extensive and the focus is on providing an efficient quality service for all the Local Authorities within our remit. I would have no hesitation in recommending the MyPay Shared Services Centre as a fine workplace to any future applicant seeking a new career challenge. I look forward to embracing my new role and the future challenges that enfold over the coming years. Tom Nolan, Staff Officer, MyPay.
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