brightpay, BrightPayLast updated: 22 February 2023

Protecting your business from a payroll data breach

Ross Graham

Ross Graham10 February 2023

As a small business owner, you have many responsibilities where you have to ensure you’re staying compliant with GDPR. It can be stressful at times making sure everything is above board, and it’s easy to slip up once in a while. But making a mistake such as emailing a payslip to the wrong email address could damage your business. If an employee’s personal details were to fall into the wrong hands, your business could be hit with a big penalty, and possibly hurt your reputation. To avoid this from happening, using a GDPR compliant payroll software is of the utmost importance. Cloud payroll extension BrightPay Connect, works alongside Bright’s payroll software, BrightPay, and can help improve your GDPR compliance. Here are 3 ways BrightPay Connect can help make sure you are staying compliant, and that your employees’ data is protected.  

  1. Employee self-service portal 

As a busy business owner, you are always looking for ways to save time and reduce some of your workload. On top of your day-to-day duties, you may have to deal with requests from employees looking for copies of their past payslips – they may need these for a loan or mortgage application, for example. Adding more work to your admin pile is the last thing you need. Cloud-extension, BrightPay Connect includes an easy-to-use, employee self-service app that can be downloaded on any android or iOS device. The portal can also be accessed online through an internet browser. 

The app allows your employees to have instant access to their payslips from their smartphone, tablet or computer, wherever they may be. The self-service app also allows you to share important company documents with employees, such as the staff handbook and contracts of employment. The app also helps with GDPR compliance as it means you’re not sending sensitive employee data via email. This helps reduce the risk of your employees’ data falling into the wrong hands. 

  1. Updating employees’ personal information 

When an employee’s personal details need updating, usually it means the employee contacting you and you manually updating the details in the system. This can take time if there are multiple employees' files to update. BrightPay Connect allows employees to request edits to their personal details themselves, through the self-service portal. This information can then be synced back to Bright’s payroll software BrightPay. This provides employees with visibility and control over the data the employer has on file for them. It also means the employees’ data is kept safe and secure, following GDPR best practices. 

  1. Cloud backup 

In 2021, the Health Service Executive (HSE) suffered a major ransomware cyberattack. Their IT systems were shut down and tens of thousands of patients’ data was breached. This caused major disruptions and delays to patients’ medical appointments. A data breach could cause disruption to your own business when it comes to payroll. Imagine your computer was hacked, stolen or damaged. If your computer’s hard drive is the only place you store your employees’ payroll data, it could be lost forever and cause major disruption to employees getting paid. Luckily, with the right software in place, you can be sure that your employees' details will be safe and secure.  

BrightPay Connect automatically backs up and secures your payroll data to the cloud every 15-minutes, and once again when you close down the software. If your computer is damaged or stolen, there will be a backup of your data stored on your BrightPay Connect account online. This means less stress for payroll processors, and more peace of mind that your employees’ data is safe.  

Your next steps

BrightPay Connect, has a whole suite of features to help business owners reduce their workload and save time. Features such as annual leave management, Revenue payment schedules and much more. To find out more about BrightPay Connect, why not book a free 15-minute demo and see just how much time you can save on your day-to-day responsibilities.  

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Protect your business from a payroll data breach