Summer means vacation, sunshine… and serious stress for HR.
From planning team absences and managing time-off balances, to adjusting payroll for holidays, bonuses, and temporary replacements, the summer season is a high-risk period for payroll errors.
And those mistakes don’t just cost money — they affect trust, motivation, and retention.
Here are the 5 most common payroll traps to avoid this summer, with tips to keep your HR operations running smoothly.
❌ 1. Mismanaging floating holidays
Not all holidays are equal — and not all are recoverable.
A statutory holiday that falls on a Saturday? Depending on your province or agreement, it may not be carried over.
➡️ What to do: Make sure your payroll system accounts for floating or non-standard holidays, based on your company or industry rules.
❌ 2. Failing to plan for long employee absences
A missed leave request.
An outdated vacation balance.
One small oversight can throw off an entire pay cycle — and damage employee trust.
➡️ What to do: Build a real-time absence tracking dashboard before summer begins. Sync it with your payroll and scheduling tools.
❌ 3. Temporary hires not properly set up
Summer often brings in temporary or seasonal employees.
But if the contract is missing, incomplete, or late in the system, it often leads to incorrect payslips and last-minute corrections.
➡️ What to do: Treat every temporary employee as if they’re staying. Contract, schedule, hours — lock it in and integrate it fully.
❌ 4. Overloading your HR/payroll manager
Most payroll errors aren’t due to lack of skill — but to a lack of bandwidth.
If one person is juggling time-off planning, replacements, bonus calculations and payroll? Errors are inevitable.
➡️ What to do: Consider assigning a backup or outsourcing part of your payroll process for the summer months.
❌ 5. Lack of automated controls or verification tools
Still using spreadsheets + email reminders to prep payroll?
That works… until it doesn’t. Missing bonuses, duplicate entries, wrong calculations — it’s all too easy to overlook.
➡️ What to do: Use payroll software with built-in checks. Many tools flag anomalies in real-time — if they’re configured properly.
Before you approve your July or August payroll:
Ask a third party (external consultant or partner) to review your files.
A 30-minute audit now can save you hours of recovery — or a legal issue later.
At Axxel HR, we don’t just fix payroll errors.
We help companies prevent them — with the right systems, smart tools, and real-world HR expertise.
📩 Feeling unsure about your July payroll?
Understaffed or overwhelmed?
Need help onboarding a summer hire?
