Payroll officer
Payroll officers make sure every member of staff is paid accurately and on time. They process starters, leavers, and changes, calculate pay and deductions, run payroll checks, and answer pay queries. In a digital health care organisation the payroll may include clinical, digital, and corporate staff on different contracts and pay rules, and it is often run on a shared or outsourced payroll system that the team must check and assure.
- Family
- Finance
- UK GDaD PCF role
- None: this reference defines the role
- ESCO occupations
- payroll clerk (ISCO-08 4313)
- On GitHub
- Role document · Role data
Levels
| Band | Role level | UK GDaD PCF level | Civil Service grades | Job evaluation points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Payroll officer | — | — | 232 |
| 4 | Senior payroll officer | — | — | 286 |
| 5 | Payroll team leader | — | — | 376 |
| 6 | Payroll manager | — | — | 457 |
In a digital health care organisation
- Clinical staff may have complex pay, such as unsocial hours, on-call, and multiple contracts, which payroll must calculate correctly.
- Pay rules and annual pay awards are often set nationally or by funders, and must be applied promptly and accurately.
- Payroll is usually the organisation's largest single cost, so errors and fraud have a big effect on public money and on staff trust.
- Payroll data is highly sensitive personal information, including health, family, and bank details, so information governance is central to the job.
- Payroll depends on accurate data from workforce and rostering systems, so officers work closely with HR and system teams.
ESCO occupations and skills
ESCO lists the skills and knowledge that employers usually need (essential) or may need (optional) for each occupation. Use them as a checklist for development conversations.
payroll clerk
Payroll clerks manage the time sheets and pay checks of the employees and ensure the accuracy and correctness of the information. They check overtime, sick days and vacations and distribute the pay checks.
Essential skills and knowledge (9)
Skills and competences
- calculate wages
- carry out financial transactions
- check payrolls
- examine budgets
- manage payroll
- prepare paychecks
- procure time sheet approval
- trace financial transactions
Knowledge
Optional skills and knowledge (12)
Skills and competences
- allocate paychecks
- calculate employee benefits
- calculate sales commission
- calculate tax
- estimate duration of work
- liaise with union officials
- maintain data entry requirements
- maintain financial records
- manage payroll reports
- prepare financial statements
Knowledge
Contains ESCO v1.2.1 data (https://esco.ec.europa.eu/). © European Union. Reuse authorised under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.