Frequently asked questions

Wondering about something? Maybe you are not alone.
Yes, it really is free. We use the latest web technologies which deliver our services efficiently. We also developed this system for our own use and want to make it easily accessible to help small businesses and thus increase employment.
The fastest and easiest way is to use the batch generation function under Services and then Payslips. You can then change the dates of the individual payslips if for some reason an employee worked a shorter period like a termination. The other way is to use the payslip tab in the employee profile, but this wont be linked to a payslip batch and also thus not the batch reports like nett pay lists or batch payslip emails. We offer this to ensure flexibility.
We dont do that. There is no need to change a period. If you want to go to the next period you simply generate your payslips for the period you select. It is flexible and that is what is important. So you also wont have any errors when rolling over or back.
Once you generate your EMP201, the payslip is no longer available for edit. You do not want a mismatch between your system data and data submitted to a tax authority.
Once you generate a payslip which include a deduction for that advance, the advance cannot be changed. Should the advance deduction be voided in the future, you can simply delete the deduction from the payslips for the remaining periods.
If you already generated your EMP201 report and need to add more payslips for that period, the new payslips will simply be included in the next EMP201 report.
Many businesses are required to provide clothing to employees for work. We think this make it easier to manage and keep track. It is also advised that you give an employee a blank information sheet at least once a year for the employee to update their information. This would ensure current information.
This data is required by law for many business to report and the selections are based on the categories provided for by law.
No. But the system is intended for small businesses.
No. Add as many companies as you like.
No. But you are required to have at least one user with company permissions.
Loans may have to be covered under credit legislation. Thus, an advance is more appropriate in an employment setting.
Leave is calculated based on the days and not on a monthly period. Legislation affords an employee leave based on days worked and not calendar months. Other software use the average days per month (365 / 12) and this has resulted the employer or employee being short-changed every single time. The variance from one month to the next is minimal, but it makes sense if you follow the for every x days worked rule as determined by law.
Tax and other statutory deductions are calculated on a daily basis and not monthly except for deductions with ceilings. If an employee works for a period shorter than a full financial year, the tax authority calculates the tax deduction based on the period worked based on days and not months. Other software tries to make the tax deduction as constant as possible from one month to the next. Although this is convenient, in many cases where an employee is terminated before the end of the financial year on the other software an adjustment is made to the tax deduction and if the employee was already paid their final salary, either the employer or employee is short-changed. We believe every cent counts and thus do not want such short-changed issues.
We try to make the system as easy for you as possible. In some instances there are things which need human intervention and the email explains what is required.
Pop-ups and notifications can be helpful, but these are always abused to make the user the product. To advertise rather than assist or inform. Your jobs is hard enough (we know, we also work in HR) and you do not need distracting pop-ups. We send an email if we think you need to take note of something and you can read it when you want to. openHR is the product and YOU are a valued contributor to society.
We could give you a dashboard with information such as how many employees are currently active on the system, but you can count. An information intelligence dashboard is in the works, but it still wont be the thing that greets you. We believe you should be greeted in a nice way.
The software was written for small businesses and a filter function would consume resources for something that is already free. Every browser has a search function which can usually be accessed with ctrl + F and that should work if you need to look for something already loaded on the page.
The system is intended for small businesses. Some items are limited to 20 per page, but more can be loaded by clicking on the load more button at the bottom. The items arent paginated, but rather added to the bottom to help you see the whole picture once more load.
The QR on our payslips provide an encrypted link for a third party like a credit provider to verify your employment remuneration information without the need to contact the employer.
Yes, many of our documents provide a history and notes feature. You can simply click on the Notes/History button next to the document to view any changes made by all users. We call this an audit trail and we made it easily accessible.
An audit trail is a security-relevant chronological record, set of records, and/or destination and source of records that provide documentary evidence of the sequence of activities that have affected at any time a specific operation, procedure, event, or device.
First you can add the new email address as a user to the company and then create a new account on openHR. You can then delete the old user from the company should you wish. A user cannot be deleted as financial data must be kept and the user is linked to the audit trail.
Yes! This is in fact the correct way to do it. You can create a single payslip for just the employee from the payroll tab in the employee profile and just select the actual to and from dates. Our system is flexible and you arent confined to any set periods. This is also why theres no period rollovers.
You can terminate an employee by updating the employee profile with a termination date and reason.
You will receive an email to confirm it. Once you clicked the link and signed in, you can create a company with the Create Company link.
Updating the leave opening balance date and values in the employee profile is often overlooked when adding take on employees.
Yes, you do get free support as well! The best way to reach us would be via WhatsApp where you can expect a response within minutes. The next would be email where you can expect a response within hours. Responses via social media can take a few days.
Once an employee has been terminated (termination date added to profile) you can refresh the profile and you will see a link to the UI19. Some information is already completed if it is on the employee and company profile like the period, business name, UIF reference, PAYE number, telephone, email, fax, address, employee name, ID, dates worked and termination reason. You just need to confirm the owner full name, ID and the remuneration of the employee.
Most of the information is added on the UI19, you just need to confirm the owner's name and ID and the employee's monthly salary and monthly hours worked.
As many people who work in HR know, the Department of Labour is not always helpful and many times they send employees back to the employer to get a manual UI19 form as well on top of three months' payslips and a confirmation of employment. This is why we added all these ready to be printed with a simple click already completed.
There's no SDL number in the company profile.
To overcome this, you can add a negative deduction for the same amount to balance it out. You are welcome to create a pay transaction template "Self paid medical deduction" and add it as a pay rate under the employee profile. The negative deduction will balance out the employee self paid medical contribution.
You must first add pay rates before creating payslips. Once a payslip is created, changes to pay rates won't affect payslips already created.
You can rehire an employee by going to the terminated employee's profile and clicking on the green rehire button. Please select a new appointment date and then click on save. Once you navigate back to the employee index page, your rehire will be listed. Please note all prior documents will still be linked to the prior terminated profile.
To automatically add remuneration for leave on termination may cause some employers to be out of pocket because not all leave should always be paid out as annual leave expire after 18 months according to South African labour law and some employers although would allow the employee to still take it after 18 months, do not pay it out on termination. Thus, allowing edit of payslips after termination but before requesting the EMP201 report.
You can add a payslip to the employee that was already terminated from the terminated employee's payroll profile payslip tab and clicking on the new button. This feature was added to accommodate awards made to the employee after termination but can also be used for other purposes.
Yes, you can. It is recommended to add the opening balances of the prior payslips in the same financial year either as one payslip as a whole for the totals or the individual payslips. You can override the statutory calculations should there be variances by viewing a payslip and clicking on the amount. It is important to have opening balances so that the PAYE is calculated correctly for next payslips as it is calculated as a whole for the tax year.
You either started payroll in the middle of the tax year with the employee being employed prior with no take on balances/payslips or the employee earns below the threshold.