Simplifying payroll for Singapore’s dynamic workforce

In the dynamic landscape of HR management, payroll remains a cornerstone function, vital for ensuring employee satisfaction and regulatory compliance. Despite its deemed importance, however, more than 45% of organisations still use two to five solutions to manage their payroll. Recognising the evolving needs of businesses, Dayforce released Dayforce Payroll in Singapore, representing a significant milestone in the company’s growth journey in the region.

Brian Donn, Managing Director for Asia Pacific and Japan, Dayforce, highlighted the intricate challenges faced by organisations in Singapore’s diverse market. Speaking with HRM Asia, he said, “Singapore is known as the gateway to Asia because it is the home to many regional headquarters for multinational organisations. However, managing multi-country payroll and compliance across Asia is a time-consuming task, and juggling remote teams, multiple payroll systems, and vendors to deliver compliant pay can often lead to errors and frustrations.”

Donn further highlighted the complexity crisis faced by organisations amidst a workforce that is fluid, geographically dispersed, and interconnected. The proliferation of diverse work arrangements and employees, coupled with regulatory nuances, exacerbates the challenges.

Drawing from the insights of the 2023 Dayforce Executive Survey, Donn emphasised the prevalence of contingent/gig employees and the associated impact on organisations. “66% of Singapore respondents are using contingent/gig employees, but 61% are having challenges integrating these employees into their operations. Meanwhile, 54% of Singapore respondents are dealing with increasing compliance and regulatory changes and 43% are dealing with engagement and retention issues.”

Moreover, he pointed out the burdensome nature of manual processes and outdated technology hindering the efficiency of payroll teams, leading to errors and inflated costs. He stressed the necessity for real-time data to proactively address issues and comprehend organisational performance.

Compliance at the forefront

The release of Dayforce Payroll in Singapore is set to alleviate much of the complexity faced by organisations across Asia – starting with compliance and extending through to labour spend optimisation and support with strategic decision-making.

As Donn explained, Dayforce Payroll is differentiated by its adaptability to regulatory changes. “We know how important it is for our customers to stay up to date with regulatory changes. Dayforce is designed with comprehensive payroll and regulatory support for local and multinational organisations in accordance with local legislative requirements. Its flexible rules engine means the platform can handle regulatory changes on the fly, from updates to policies to entering new markets.”

Key features include accounting for mandatory monthly levies, contributions, and statutory requirements such as the Central Provident Fund (CPF), the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC), the Eurasian Community Fund (ECF), the Mosque Building and Mendaki Fund (MBMF), the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), the Foreign Worker Levy (FWL), and Skills Development Levy (SDL), as well as supporting all leave types identified by the Ministry of Manpower. It also provides direct reporting to the Inland Revenue Agency of Singapore (IRAS).

By harnessing AI-driven intelligence, the capabilities of Dayforce Payroll extend beyond compliance to help organisations unlock deeper insights, optimise labour spending, and drive strategic decision-making.

“Dayforce Payroll helps teams move faster and minimise errors by moving away from traditional batch processing. This unlocks greater flexibility in processing pay and eliminates routine tasks, which in turn, makes room for higher-value analysis work.” – Brian Donn, Managing Director for Asia Pacific and Japan, Dayforce

According to Donn, “Dayforce Payroll helps teams move faster and minimise errors by moving away from traditional batch processing. This unlocks greater flexibility in processing pay and eliminates routine tasks, which in turn, makes room for higher-value analysis work.”

“With the growing complexity crisis, organisations need a single source of truth for workforce data. Dayforce enables payroll teams to become partners across the business by providing data-driven insights that inform compensation strategy, optimise labour spend, and even identify workforce patterns such as absenteeism. By consolidating operations into one unified platform, Dayforce enables organisations to access global payroll data seamlessly while catering to country-specific intricacies down to the employee level.”

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“With its continuous calculation engine, Dayforce gives organisations real-time insights into human capital management performance using sophisticated predictive technology that equips leaders with the right metrics and insights to build an engaged and productive workforce,” Donn concluded.