53% Of Employees Will Look For Another Job Amidst Payroll Errors, But What Can You Do To Avoid It?

Originally Published: May 12, 2026

When thinking about important business processes, your mind probably jumps to big hitters like consumer invoicing and general production. But did you know that payroll should also be right up there? After all, failing to get this right and payroll errors will prevent you from having a team to manage all of those other processes. And that could leave your business in dire trouble. 

This is an especially pressing problem in light of a recent study that discovered how 44% of employees have noticed payroll issues at some point, while 53% would consider leaving as a result. When you compare these numbers to a study reported back in 2017, which found that 49% of Americans would leave after just two payroll issues, it’s plain to see that the situation’s getting worse. And, as an employer, you should do everything you can to stay on the right side of that divide. 

But how exactly do you perfect payroll? After all, you’re no accountant. But it’s time to start prioritizing payroll at long last, and we’ve got some top tips to help you do that.

Understanding the Problems

On the surface, you might assume that payroll isn’t such a big deal, but try to see this from the perspective of your employees. Payroll issues that see them missing their mortgage payments or having to seek temporary lines of credit can prove crippling, especially if these issues are ongoing. 

With that in mind, we can surely agree that payroll errors need ironing out. It’s the decent thing to do, after all, and it’ll also boost morale and retention across your teams. But before you can leap into the solutions, you first need to understand the problems, the most common of which might include – 

• Inaccuracies: Payroll inaccuracies are a significant problem, and they most often stem from issues such as overtime miscalculations or incorrect taxation. Either way, this is an issue that sees your employees out of pocket, and it’s not enough to rectify that in their next paycheck – you need to avoid the issue in the first place.
• Delays: Payment delays are another common issue, especially if you’re still using manual processes and paper invoicing. Once more, this can see employees going without the money that they planned to have in their accounts for certain payments. Even one delay could see employees looking for jobs elsewhere, so don’t let it happen.
• Confusion: Sometimes, complicated payslips also end up being a problem in themselves. If employees can’t see clearly how much they’ve been paid, or how much tax they’ve paid, then they’ll have no real way of knowing whether you’re paying them correctly. And that uncertainty alone can destroy trust and drive your best workers away. 

How to Amend Your Payroll Processes

As you can see, payroll can veer off course for various reasons, and in each instance, you’ll ruin worker trust, security, and morale overall. Ongoing payroll issues are an especially damaging problem for your reputation and worker retention, but even one or the smallest payroll errors of this nature is too many for the workers involved. Hence, you need to go above and beyond to keep your processes error-free at all times by amending your approach in the following key ways. 

# 1 – Update Your Processes

Pretty much all of the issues mentioned above are more likely if you’re still sticking with outdated payroll processes like paper invoices or manual worksheet entry. After all, human errors can be rife when you do things this way, and seemingly simple mistakes like failing to input one invoice, or mistyping a single zero, can see your employees losing hundreds from their pay packets. This is ineffectual at best. At worst, it’s the driving reason why your employees are starting to look elsewhere. 

And there’s not even any need to keep perpetuating mistakes like these. Why? Because there are now fantastic automated payroll platforms out there, available for fixed payment plans that will soon look like drops in the ocean compared with the work and worry that payroll’s been causing you until now. When you consider that a high staff turnover due to payroll problems can cost you in everything from hiring to training, it’s certainly plain to see that such platforms are more than worthwhile. They’ll also allow you to sit back, scrap those manual processes, and make every member of your team feel more secure as a result. 

# 2 – Consider Outsourcing

While it makes some financial sense to keep payroll in-house, it’s also worth remembering that you’re not experts. Even if you hand this task to your own hired HR team, they’ll deal with it amidst a wealth of other responsibilities. And when distractible team members only have one eye on the job, mistakes are a lot more likely to happen.

Obviously, great software provides a fantastic solution for this, as it automates a lot of the areas where mistakes might happen otherwise, and also simplifies payroll processes overall. But it might also be worth considering outsourcing if you’re still not sure how well you can handle payroll overall. 

Outsourcing means trusting payroll to a dedicated out-of-house team, who should ideally be payroll experts with the time, know-how, and systems in place to ensure that your payroll is error-free at all times. 

# 3 – Communicate With Your Team

Considering that payroll directly impacts employees, it’s surprising how many managers fail to discuss this priority in any way. This can lead to oversight of key problems or make employees feel as though there’s no one to speak with about their concerns. 

In this sense, opening the doors of communication can also help when it comes to payroll. It’s especially important to explain your payment processes, talk employees through payslip layouts and breakdowns, and just generally ask for feedback that could lead to even more improvements than you can understand right now. 

Conclusion

Is payroll currently taking its toll on your company and the teams working within it? Implement these fixes to get the ball rolling again at last!

Special thanks to the following source(s) for the image(s) used in this article:

• Source(s): Image Source: CC0 License

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