Iris News

Done well, payroll builds trust, but on the flip side, mistakes in payroll can damage the employee experience and incur massive penalties. With that in mind, the findings from the Global Payroll Association are all the more concerning. Their research found that a quarter of UK PAYE employees have received an incorrect pay cheque from their employer, and of those, 78% were underpaid. To help you reduce payroll errors, we’ve covered the top risks, showcasing how software can help.

Client Due Diligence (CDD) is the process UK accountancy firms use to identify and verify clients, understand who owns or controls them, assess AML risk, and maintain appropriate records before and during the engagement. It is a core control under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, not a paperwork exercise. In 2026, the operational picture has changed.

Is your head spinning? Mine too. As HR professionals, I think we can all agree that we’re currently living through an especially disruptive period. On one end, AI is transforming everything, with many businesses pouring heaps of money into new tools with the hope that it’ll revolutionise the way they work. Then we have the Employment Rights Act 2025, which rewrote the legal framework overnight, with even more changes coming later this year.

The new Department for Education’s (DfE) Estates Strategy sets out clear expectations for how schools need to manage, report, and evidence their estate. What it doesn’t fully explore is the gap between those expectations and the reality for many schools – where compliance data is often spread across spreadsheets, inboxes, and standalone tools In many cases, the foundations are already there – it’s about bringing them together in a way that supports reporting and oversight.

4 minutes length 62% of HR professionals have seriously considered leaving their role or reducing responsibilities in the past 12 months, with 85% saying better HR technology could make them more likely to stay. Nearly half a working day is lost each week to inefficient systems, as HR teams struggle with fragmented tools, manual processes and constantly shifting priorities.

2026 brings meaningful employment law changes for UK employers. Several provisions of the Employment Rights Act 2025 have now taken effect, statutory rates have been uprated, and the Fair Work Agency is operational with proactive enforcement powers. HR teams need to review policies, payroll settings, leave processes, and record-keeping — not as a one-off exercise, but as the start of a compliance cycle that will continue into 2027 and beyond.

TUPE, or the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, protects employees when the business or service they work for transfers to a new employer. For UK HR managers, a TUPE transfer requires careful planning, consultation, secure data handling, and payroll continuity to protect both compliance and employee trust.

Did you know your payroll is costing you more than you think? No, this isn’t a brash sales tactic, but rather an unfortunate truth. When most businesses think about payroll, they only consider costs like employee salaries, software and paying a payroll manager. However, the reality is that payroll can be one of the most costly functions when operating inefficiently, with payroll issues silently plaguing a huge number of businesses.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law requiring covered employers to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for specific family and medical reasons. For HR and payroll leaders, managing FMLA — especially when it overlaps with a growing number of state-mandated paid leave programs — creates a complex compliance burden that requires automated tracking software to avoid Department of Labor (DOL) penalties.

Employer 401(k) administration involves managing a company-sponsored retirement plan in compliance with IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) regulations. This includes accurately deducting employee contributions from payroll, calculating employer matches, and passing annual non-discrimination tests. For HR and finance leaders, failing these fiduciary duties carries severe financial penalties, making automated payroll software essential for seamless 401(k) management.