Data protection and privacy are never far from the news these days-there's a new story every week about some multinational corporation or major brand name suffering a data breach that results in weeks and months of investigative work, reputational damage and possible loss of income and revenue.
There are also many other stories which focus on government authorities and regulators clamping down on insufficient data protection and privacy standards at organizations, often doing so via significant financial penalties.
As a result of all of this, the vast majority of organization do take data protection and privacy seriously, however, many of them still struggle to implement the necessary high standards to ensure data structures and infrastructure are in place to adequately support start data protection priorities.
In this article, we will examine how the Payslip global payroll control platform prioritizes client data protection and privacy, and we will take a look at some of the digital tools and platform security features that help us do this.
Clients in control of their data
Payslip take data security very seriously and prioritize all internal procedures around the security of personal data and payroll data. Payslip is a technology partner and global payroll control platform where the global employer remains the data controller of the data subject. This means that user access rights and authorizations are controlled by them and the responsibility for who is given access to the Personally identifiable information (PII) lies with the employer.
This is good news for global employers who want to hear that they remain in control of their own data security. We talk them through the very high internal security standards we observe when it comes to interacting with and transferring client data, and we work with them to help them align their own data security policies with the data requirements of our global payroll control platform. This is a collaboration between the global employer, their internal data security specialists and the Payslip data security experts.
International security standards
One of the ways we prioritize information protection and privacy management standards is by adhering to international regulation and industry recognized standards for this activity. We follow the ISO 27001 framework, an internationally recognized standard used across multiple different industries around the world. Payslip is officially ISO 27001:2013 certified and we work to ensure our systems and processes adhere to all ISO protocols, which are recognized globally as the highest data privacy and information security standards.
Our technology and data are hosted and maintained within the EU and our information security technology infrastructure protects data in line with ISO27001:2013 principles and internal data protection policies. Complying with ISO 27001 requirements also helps us to meet all our obligations around data privacy legislation such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Prioritizing privacy
There are subtle, yet very important differences between data protection and data privacy. Payslip attaches the same level of importance to both. We are Privacy Information Management Systems (PIMS) certified- this is the first international standard for privacy information management and an official confirmation that Payslip has in place a recognized framework for managing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and proves that we have industry standard protections in place to manage data and safeguard privacy for clients, suppliers and employees.
This certification is proof of Payslip’s commitment to ongoing vigilance and continuous improvement when it comes to privacy management and safeguarding data. As a global company with international clients, it helps us to maintain the integrity of client, supplier and employee data - this is essential for building trust.
Our clients place a high value on data privacy and information security. Global payroll data often contains sensitive and personally identifiable information, and this certification ensures we can provide clarity and confidence to all clients that we operate to very high standards when it comes to data privacy and the management of any processes which involve client data. PIMS confirms that Payslip has in place a recognized framework for managing people, processes and IT systems in a way that safeguards the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our data.
Platform security features
At Payslip, security and data protection are key components of our technology platform and global payroll delivery processes. We fully understand the sensitive nature of payroll information and our platform operates with a range of appropriate security features to protect employee’s personal data. These features help us to identify and manage risks as part of ongoing organisational measures and strategies around information security.
User roles and rights
On our platform, our clients are empowered to set up specific users and make their own decisions around which members of their global payroll team have access to which specific payrolls. The setup ensures only fully authorized individuals have access to potentially sensitive information. Visibility is restricted and access denied or granted based upon rights assigned to the user such as country, business unit, payroll, reporting unit, input area, etc.
Company Repository
The platform offers secure and structured storage for sensitive information like corporate data, tax and VAT numbers, organizational information, director information and other corporate information required for the payroll entity and payroll to be established.
Sharing information
From a data security perspective, it is far more secure to share information about payruns and international payrolls inside a secure digital cloud platform, The alternative is excel spreadsheet or email data transfers-these are risky, error prone and subject to interception or manipulation. On Payslip, all information can be shared with authorized individuals only using our secure and confidential system alerts and notifications tools. Clients can enforce rule types and approval authorizations needed per payroll, country, or report.
Digital audit trails
Our platform also features digital audit trails which helped provide security and transparency while also enabling global employers to meet their compliance responsibilities. These digital audit trails have the capacity to outline who interacted with the data, when and for what reason. These can be very helpful when it comes to tracking activity for security reasons.
Employee Self Service Portal
Payslip enables employee access, to their personal payroll data anytime they want to, anywhere in the world. Global employers can protect employee pay and personal data in a secure cloud-based environment. Two factor authentication is easily enabled within this portal for increased password protection and privacy.
Payslip take data security very seriously and the ongoing protection of company and customer data is central to everything we do. Our platform and products have built-in data protection features to safeguard client data during the payroll process.
Our information security & governance teams as well as our data protection officer continue to monitor all data protection legislation and industry best practices to ensure our platform always remains up to date with the latest industry innovations when it comes to data protection, information management and privacy.
For information on the Payslip Platform contact us today.
