Nov 23, 2011

Ecolab Payroll Earns Prism Award From The American Payroll Association

Ecolab’s Payroll Services was recently honored by the American Payroll Association (APA) with a Prism Award in Management. Prism Awards recognize extraordinary payroll departments for their best practices.

“This award is the pinnacle of success,” said Kris Nelson, senior manager of Corporate Payroll Services & Relocation. “It’s an honor to be recognized by payroll professionals across the nation as an industry leader in best practices.”

Ecolab’s payroll department earned the recognition after taking on broader responsibilities beyond wage payments and withholding taxes. In 2011, Payroll transitioned into “Payroll Services” and now handles the broader responsibilities of relocation, unemployment claims and tax management.

The department implemented technology solutions to help manage the additional workload, such as 100 percent electronic deposits and 100 percent online pay statements. The changes led to a 70 percent decrease in required data entry and phone time volume, freeing up staff to work as strategic business partners and provide expertise on cross-functional teams. Payroll Services’ continued goal is to consistently deliver a premier product and service to all Ecolab employees.

Additionally, Payroll Services centralized the management of unemployment claims and tax management, reviewed relocation vendor contracts and recommended policy changes that were aligned with best practices for relocation. The proposed policy changes and process improvements are on track to save Ecolab $2.9 million.