Payroll Standards Canada: Setting the gold standard for the payroll profession

This article was produced in partnership with the National Payroll Institute.

When it comes to hiring a payroll professional, you want to have confidence that the candidate has the proper skills and training to properly support your organization’s payroll department and keep it compliant.

After all, correct and timely pay is one of the primary factors that drives trust in an organization. It’s the reason employees do the work they do. Trusting that the candidate you hire can carry out this important work with the highest degree of professionalism is non-negotiable.

So how can you be sure your organization is taking the right steps to ensure your candidate will make the grade?

The value of PCP and PLP designations

A good starting place is to make sure candidates hold Canada’s only payroll designations – the Payroll Compliance Professional (PCP) and Payroll Leadership Professional (PLP). The PCP designation delivers “job-ready” professionals who are up to date on all the most recent legislative and regulatory requirements. The PLP designation builds on compliance knowledge and develops payroll management skills to prepare seasoned professionals to manage a payroll department.

As businesses increasingly look to payroll for its expertise and value, there is a growing demand for payroll professionalism and excellence, which are exemplified through the PCP and PLP designations. Make it a policy that all payroll candidates hold this important designation.

Last year, the National Payroll Institute introduced Payroll Standards Canada, a self-regulating body for the payroll profession in Canada to raise the bar for professionalism in payroll. Managed by the Institute, the body upholds the standards for payroll designations and is home to a public registry with over 17,000 listed designated payroll professions.

Designated members are expected to adhere to the professional Code of Conduct, remain a member in good standing with the National Payroll Institute, and complete continuing professional education on an ongoing basis. It’s one of the ways the Institute is setting a gold standard for payroll professionalism.

The Code of Professional Conduct, available at standards.payroll.ca/code outlines the expectations of membership with regards to both knowledge and professional behaviour for all designated professionals. It helps define the common parameters that elevate the profession and can be used as a declaration of what a business owner, leader or executive can expect when they hire someone who has completed the rigorous curriculum to earn a PCP or PLP.

“As the stewards of professional standards in payroll, Payroll Standards Canada is dedicated to elevating the industry's credibility and competency. Our Registry of Payroll Designation holders serves as a record of accomplishment, demonstrating expertise and commitment to excellence.” said Steven Van Alstine, Vice President of Professional Standards & Education, National Payroll Institute.

Consult the Payroll Standards Canada Registry

Payroll Standards Canada has made it easy for HR and recruitment professionals to validate payroll professionals’ credentials. The searchable Registry of over 17,000 designated payroll professionals confirms that those listed have completed the academic and practical requirements to earn a payroll designation, and continue to meet the requirements to maintain that designation – including continuing professional education (CPE).

The PCP and PLP designations represent the skills your payroll team needs and standards you can trust. Before making your next payroll hiring decision, make registry screening a mandatory practice in your team’s recruitment process. Payroll demands professionalism with no room for error.

Consulting the registry is easy. Simply visit standards.payroll.ca/registry and use the search function to look up the member’s first name, last name, and province. The registry will immediately identify whether the member is in good standing and holds either the PCP or PLP designation.

Since the registry was launched last year, it has garnered over 10,000 page views, supporting HR and recruitment professionals by providing them with confidence that the candidate they hire is qualified to support their payroll department with the highest level of professionalism.

Payroll is essential to the long-term health of every business, the financial wellness of workers and the strength of our economy. It matters who you hire. Strive for excellence in your payroll department and make sure your team consults the registry to confirm your candidate is among the 17,000 registered designation holders to hire the best.

Rebecca Logan, Marketing Communications Specialist, National Payroll Institute