Managing Unionized Workforce

Haldimand County selected StarGarden because it provided the flexibility and functionality needed to handle payroll for employees working in a variety of roles and union groups.

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Marnie Larson

StarGarden

Union agreement renegotiations means updating complex calculations for payroll :

Haldimand County has large number of union based employees. As Haldimand grows its workforce and its agreements get renegotiated, the need for more flexible, complex calculations for payroll increases.

The HR department at Haldimand has to:

  • Ensure payroll abides by new union contracts
  • Calculate retroactive payments for payroll that are back dated to some contract expiration
  • Set up new rules in the system
  • Maintain old rules to process retroactive payments
How StarGarden helps Haldimand’s HR for unionized workforce management
  • StarGarden HCM 5.0 helps manage both the new rules and the old payroll rules so retroactive payments are possible
  • StarGarden’s position-based system means each position has set of HR and payroll rules, so organizations don’t have to limit resources to a single job definition. People and positions are identified separately and united when a person performs a certain job under certain parameters
  • StarGarden system assists with pay changes every time the County’s agreement with its unions are up for renegotiation
  • StarGarden allows Haldimand to put in the data the way they need it and then analyze it using the embedded adhoc report writer

Haldimand’s payroll team is now able to spend more time on strategic activities rather than having to troubleshoot difficulties in correctly implementing new pay structures.

Being able to view unlimited amounts of employee information is one of the best aspects of working with StarGarden. We found the time to set up the modules and then put in the data the way we needed it. Now we can build our own history for analysis purposes. I am really glad we followed StarGarden’s recommendations with investing the time to add our history in to the database.

Heather Scott

Hadimand County

StarGarden’s HR/payroll gets the job done in a fraction of the time that legacy systems can. It can do more than the HR and payroll modules in standard financial packages and enterprise systems. Functionality doesn’t have to cost a fortune but you have to know how to design for it. StarGarden's integrated HR software has been road tested and enhanced based on client recommendations for over 30 years.

Haldimand County managing unionized payroll across multiple agreements in StarGarden

Union payroll

Running new and old union rules in parallel at Haldimand County

Haldimand County chose StarGarden to run payroll for a large unionized workforce spread across many roles and union groups. Every time an agreement is renegotiated the calculations change, often backdated to the day the old contract expired. StarGarden applies the new rules while still running retroactive pay under the old ones, so the team keeps payroll accurate through every round of bargaining.

Managing a unionized workforce? Our Unionized Industry guide shows how to handle renegotiations and retroactive pay without the usual scramble.

Get the Unionized Industry Guide

The challenge

Haldimand County employs a large unionized workforce, and as it grows and renegotiates agreements, payroll gets more complex. With each new contract, the HR team has to:

  • Keep payroll compliant with the new union contracts
  • Calculate retroactive pay backdated to the previous contract's expiry
  • Set up the new rules in the system
  • Keep the old rules running to process those retroactive payments

How StarGarden helps

StarGarden's position-based, date-effective design is built for exactly this:

  • Holds the old contract's rules and the new ones at the same time, so retroactive pay calculates correctly across the change
  • Attaches HR and payroll rules to each position with effective dates, so you are not locked into a single job definition; people and positions stay separate and connect when someone fills a role
  • Recalculates pay each time the County renegotiates with its unions
  • Lets the team structure data their way and analyze it with the built-in ad hoc report writer

Today, Haldimand's payroll team spends more time on strategic work and less time troubleshooting new pay structures.

Being able to view unlimited amounts of employee information is one of the best aspects of working with StarGarden. We found the time to set up the modules and then put in the data the way we needed it. Now we can build our own history for analysis purposes.

Heather Scott

Haldimand County

Managing a unionized workforce? See how StarGarden keeps payroll accurate through every renegotiation and retroactive adjustment.

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