Since 2017, Luxembourg's APSAL software has been helping to improve payroll management for Delhaize's 700 employees/ collaborators in Luxembourg.
Today, Delhaize is a major player in the Luxembourg retail sector. The Belgian-Dutch group has 12 directly-operated stores throughout the country and employs some 700 people/workers.
Until 2017, the company's payroll was calculated and managed by relying on the solutions and services of a fiduciary. “Before, however, there was a need for greater autonomy in these areas," explains Marine Cardé, HR & Admin Senior Manager at Delhaize Luxembourg. The solution proposed by the fiduciary no longer met our needs. It involved a lot of manual tasks to be carried out by our teams, linked, for example, to entry and exit declarations or the management of work certificates. We also wanted to be able to offer our staff greater responsiveness.
Gain autonomy
For any employer/boss, if he wants to preserve the trust of his employees, it is important to be able to carry out rigorous payroll management, ensuring that everyone is paid within the legal deadlines. “With a part-time employee provided by the trustee, we often experienced delays, leading to dissatisfaction on the part of our employees, complaints from the unions and even ITM checks, continues Marine Cardé. What's more, any changes would expose us to significant additional costs."
To improve payroll management, Delhaize decided on a different approach. The HR team looked at IT solutions that could meet its needs. "The people we consulted regularly referred us to APSAL, Telindus' payroll calculation solution, describing it as reliable, robust and easy to use," comments Marine Cardé.
A solution that evolves with the regulations
Although part of an international group, Delhaize opted for a local solution, integrating the country's specific social, tax and legislative requirements. "We preferred to rely on a Luxembourg solution and partner. Opting for a group solution would have meant keeping a close eye on regulations and adapting the parameters ourselves in line with legislative developments, explains the HR manager. In recent months, however, we have noticed that the framework is evolving very rapidly, with the recent introduction of an economic tax credit, for example. By relying on APSAL, these changes are directly integrated into the solution by the Telindus teams at no extra cost.” The work of interpreting regulatory changes is carried out by the solution's editor, giving Delhaize the utmost peace of mind.
A reliable/trust partner
The solution was also easy to deploy. All employee/collaborator data was integrated into the solution by the Telindus teams, along with certain variables specific to Delhaize's business. The solution was configured prior to implementation. "We ran the solution for three months, while continuing to calculate payroll with the trustee to check that the settings were correct. This period was used to familiarize ourselves with the software," continues the manager. Everything went very smoothly. From January 2017, payroll was managed entirely from APSAL. At all times, we could count on the Telindus teams and their responsiveness to answer our questions."
The solution is hosted in the Telindus data center and is accessible in Software as a service mode. Teams from the Luxembourg operator maintain the solution and its environment to guarantee the availability of the tool.
Save time and money
Since the installation, Delhaize Luxembourg's payroll management has been handled from APSAL, with an error and complaint rate close to 0. The retailer's business in Luxembourg has continued to grow in this time, with the integration of 200 additional employees. "Today, we are independent in payroll management. Everything is organized in-house/internally, with the fiduciary acting only as a consultant. Having our own solution has enabled us/allowed us to improve our processes and gain in efficiency. We have almost halved the time spent on payroll, even though the number of employees has increased. Managing all payrolls takes up no more than half a full-time equivalent, explains Marine Cardé. Updates and modifications can be made without delay, very simply. We are much more reactive in the event of an error or the end of a contract, so that we can quickly regularize the situation.”
“The solution offers other advantages. In particular, it enables better monitoring of vacation balances and hours worked. It facilitates the production of reports and the preparation of future budgets. At this level, it enables the HR function to position itself as a real business partner, supporting management's decision-making".
MARINE CARDE - HR & Admin Senior Manager at DELHAIZE Luxembourg