You have agreed that your new employee will start on Monday. Pay and duties have been discussed, and the contract is being prepared. If the payroll accountant only learns about the new starter on Monday morning, very little time remains for some of the necessary steps.
Treat the first hire as a separate piece of preparation for the company. Alongside calculating pay, you need to arrange registrations, information sharing and working time records. This article covers the information needed for payroll processing. The employment contract, workplace safety and other employment obligations may require separate assessment for the particular role.
Agree on who will handle each part of onboarding
Accounting and a complete HR administration service are not necessarily the same thing. Before hiring your first employee, check what your arrangement covers. Who prepares the employee information form? Who completes registrations? Who processes pay and gives the employee the relevant documents?
The company also needs someone responsible for providing information on time and confirming its accuracy. In a small s.r.o., this is often the managing director. They do not have to calculate payroll themselves, but they need to communicate the start date, agreed terms and changes during the month.
Tell the payroll provider if this will be the company's first employee. Employer registration and access to electronic services may need setting up before use. Agree on preparation time before confirming the start date.
Prepare the details of the employment arrangement
Payroll processing requires the actual agreed terms. The basic information includes the start date, type of employment arrangement, working hours and method of remuneration. If pay includes a variable element, it must be clear which records determine it.
For an employment relationship, the terms are based on the employment contract. Slovakia's National Labour Inspectorate states that employment is established by a written employment contract. Its preparation requires attention to the agreed type of work, place of work, start date and pay terms under the applicable rules. National Labour Inspectorate: employment contracts.
Give the accountant the final agreed version of the information. If the start date or pay changes after your first notification, point out the change explicitly. Sending a new attachment without an explanation increases the risk of an earlier figure being used.
Do not wait until after the employee starts to send registration details
Slovakia's Social Insurance Agency states that an employee must be registered before they begin performing work. The necessary information therefore needs to be ready in advance. An arrangement between the employer and accountant does not change this requirement. Social Insurance Agency: registering an employee.
Ask the payroll provider for the information required for the particular arrangement. This will include identification details and information for the relevant registrations, such as the employee's health insurer. Share any relevant individual circumstances through the agreed secure channel, limited to what processing requires.
For the first employee, the Social Insurance Agency offers a service for the initial registration of both the employer and the first employee. Its portal explains the conditions and electronic procedure. Initial registration of an employer and first employee.
Budget for the employer's total cost
Agreed gross pay, the employee's net pay and the employer's total cost are different figures. Before hiring, request a calculation based on the specific agreed terms. To plan cash needs, you must know which employment-related payments the company will make.
Other costs may also arise depending on the job and company arrangements. These can include workplace equipment or meal provision under the applicable rules. Gross salary alone may therefore fail to represent the full operating budget.
If a conversation uses an indicative net salary, ask which assumptions support the calculation. The result may change with the employee's circumstances and the particular month. A general figure from an online calculator may not reflect that person's position.
Keep working time records from the first day
Agree on a recording method before the employee starts. Decide where working periods will be entered and who will check them. Reconstructing a whole month from memory can miss a change, overtime or an absence.
According to the National Labour Inspectorate, records must capture the start and end of the relevant working periods. They also cover other recorded types of time, such as overtime and night work. National Labour Inspectorate: working time records.
The payroll accountant also needs information about absences and changes relevant to the calculation. Agree on how annual leave, sickness or other situations will be reported. Even where some information is transferred electronically, the company needs to know which details it must provide itself.
Set a monthly deadline for information and checks
Choose the date by which the previous month's information will be delivered. Identify who approves variable payments. A bonus reported after payroll has been processed may require a further adjustment.
Before payment, check the number of employees processed and the changes supplied. If someone started halfway through the month or was absent, confirm that this was communicated. Use a verified process for checking bank details, especially when a request to change an account arrives.
Agree on how payslips and related documents will reach employees. Payroll information should not be accessible to everyone in the company. A shared folder for general invoices may be unsuitable for the full personnel file.
Deal with new circumstances as they arise
After the first month, note which information had to be added later. Adjust the initial checklist and handover method. The next hire will be easier to manage with a defined process and named responsibilities.
Contact the payroll provider in advance about changes to employment terms, the end of an employment arrangement or an unusual situation. Such events can affect more than one payslip. For related company documents, you can also use the monthly checklist.
If your s.r.o. is preparing to employ someone for the first time, include the planned start date and basic type of arrangement in your message to Hanesy. Do not put the employee's sensitive personal information in the initial contact form. Detailed records should be provided later through the agreed channel.