STPS

Is My Payroll Data Safe?

Payroll professionals and HR deal with highly sensitive and private employee data on a daily basis. Contact information, social security numbers, dates of birth, salary data, tax forms, and other sensitive information are included within this data. If this information falls into the wrong hands, it can lead to identity theft. This would be disastrous for the employees, the stakeholders, and the company. 

Considering the dangers, it’s not a surprise that a lot of companies place a high priority on employee security and data protection.  Even within the company, access may be limited to particular users only. This ensures that confidential and personal information is only available to those who truly require it. Sometimes, information is so heavily protected that managers may be unable to see wage levels for their own employees. Here are some steps your company can take to protect the confidentiality and security of its data:

Limit access:

Most people in your organization probably don’t need access to confidential data. If your company has physical files, keep them secured in a specific office or file cabinet that only the appropriate people have access to. If you have digital files, make sure to keep them in a locked folder that is only accessible to people that need to look at them. 

Use the right software:

For good reason, the use of software and cloud-based systems is growing. Numerous records can be stored digitally within those systems. This minimizes the amount of physical space needed for paper files. With remote work becoming more popular within companies, these ‘digital files’ make it simple to access information while still restricting specific roles and permissions for different users. Many cloud systems can also show when files are accessed. That is called an audit trail. Remember, using a secure network is critical. The files are only safe to access if it’s in a secure network. To prevent unauthorized access and data breaches, you can use internal policies such as a VPN software to govern how and when the employees can login.

Inform your employees of payroll data security procedures:

To protect your company and employees, educate everyone in your business about scams. Inform them about suspicious emails and remind them not to send personal or banking information via email. Maybe even have them all read this article or our article on How to Avoid Scams so they can learn everything they need to know. Some companies send out scam emails to test their employees.  If some fail the test they are then required to take a class to learn how not to get  hacked.

Other Procedures: use multi-factor authentication, review domain URLs in emails, check for misspellings in domain names and hyperlinks, don’t send personal information via email, encourage employees to review personal financial accounts for irregularities on a regular basis, keep software up to date, always check email addresses, and update settings to show full email addresses.

Work with a payroll company that you trust:

Outsourced payroll providers frequently have access to programs and technology created to safeguard sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access. Payroll providers frequently work with multiple clients and manage a large amount of personal data, which means they have policies in place to keep data secure and confidential. 

Outsourcing to Superior Trucking Payroll Service will help you with organization and will give you more time to focus on growing your business. Contact us to learn more or visit our services page to see everything we have to offer.

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Written by Tessa Braybrook

Tessa joined Superior Trucking Payroll Service in September 2022. She loves to write and make videos which made her a great asset to the team in her marketing position. 

Before working at Superior Trucking Payroll Service she worked in IT at GVSU which gave her the skills to problem-solve with customers over the phone. 

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