Time saved is now part of employee experience
Employees now protect time as their scarcest resource, but upcoming payrolling changes will increase admin demands on both HR and employees. Organisations that reduce admin friction won’t just stay compliant, they’ll protect wellbeing, strengthen trust and improve engagement. Read on for the challenges and risks associated with this policy and reporting change, and how to tackle them.
In a hurry? Here are our top three takeaways from our blog on time becoming the new currency of the employee experience.
1. Payrolling benefits in kind will turn compliance into an employee experience issue: The shift to in-year benefits reporting from April 2027 means HR, payroll and finance will need cleaner data, tighter workflows and clearer ownership. If poorly managed, it could increase payslip queries, admin pressure and employee confusion.
2. Time is now a core part of the employee value proposition: Employees are increasingly protective of their time, with admin friction competing directly with wellbeing, family time, health and meaningful work. Reducing avoidable admin isn’t just operationally useful, it helps protect trust, motivation and engagement.
3. Clarity and simplicity are the biggest levers HR can control: Employers can reduce friction by mapping benefits data flows, creating one source of truth, preparing FAQs and manager talking points, and tracking time-related metrics such as query volume, handoffs and payroll rework. The commercial payoff is fewer queries, less drag and a better employee experience.
Got time to stick around? Let's dive a little deeper.
Payrolling benefits in kind: Time is the new currency
Benefits in Kind (BiK) reporting is changing, but what exactly does this mean for employers? This is a shift away from year-end processes toward more frequent, accurate capture of benefits data.
In practice, Benefits in Kind reporting means employees will see the tax impact of their benefits in real time through payroll, rather than after the fact.
This change means more moving parts, more data dependencies, and more employee questions, all of which increase the HR admin burden. When processes are unclear, that burden doesn’t just sit with HR; it spills over into employee time, trust and overall engagement.
Employees protect time because it underpins wellbeing
When it comes to employee wellbeing and work-life balance, time has become the ultimate currency, and one of the most visible ways employers impact both. In The New Rules of Engagement report, we uncovered that most employees would spend any extra time they have on their personal lives.
When asked what they’d do with an extra 4 hours per week, an overwhelming majority (37%) said they’d spend more time with family and loved ones, followed by doing exercise to stay in good health (15%), getting an additional job to earn more money (14%) and having some good times (12%).
Employee time poverty is an issue, and right now, time feels tighter than ever. Between March 2020 and March 2023, the average adult's entertainment, socialising and free time fell from 4 hours and 30 minutes per day to 3 hours and 44 minutes per day (Office for National Statistics).
Time is a practical employee value proposition: fewer avoidable admin steps mean more time for family, health, recovery, learning or earning.
Engagement is still there; it just has boundaries
From The New Rules of Engagement report, we know that employees invest energy “but not at any cost,” and are willing to set boundaries. It’s not disengagement by default: employees are still willing to contribute, but they’re more deliberate about where they direct their time and energy.
It’s why unnecessary admin feels more costly now – low-value tasks compete directly with employees’ protected time and personal boundaries. The challenge? Reduce administrative burden, make expectations clearer, and ensure benefits processes don’t demand extra invisible labour from your employees.
This shift in employee expectations is happening at the same time as significant regulatory change.
The Budget-era reality: More compliance change, more admin load
With the shift to PAYE RTI benefits reporting, HR, payroll and finance will need cleaner data, tighter deadlines and more coordinated processes.
If you don’t design this well, the impact is immediate: more employee confusion, more payslip queries and more time spent chasing answers. Meanwhile, HR teams absorb extra admin pressure.
It’s not just a payroll update; it’s a workflow challenge. Unless you manage it carefully, it’ll increase admin burden across the entire employee experience.
What’s changing for UK employers
Benefits data is shifting closer to real-time payroll processes and PAYE RTI benefits reporting, which is mandatory from April 2027. Initially, this applies to specified benefits such as company cars, vans and fuel, and private medical benefits, with most remaining benefits expected to follow later.
Reporting will move into the Full Payment Submission process, meaning payroll systems must capture benefit values, Income Tax, and Class 1A NIC information in-year rather than relying on annual P11D-only cycles.
Wondering how to prepare for this change? You’ll need to review the following:
- Benefit inventories
- Data owners
- Payroll software readiness
- Provider data feeds
- Joiner and leaver processes
- Employee communications
Why it creates friction for HR teams
This change isn’t just a tax update; it’s a cross-functional workflow challenge: HR, payroll, finance, benefits providers and managers all need shared ownership of clean data and employee-facing clarity.
On top of this, you can expect more employee queries as payslips and tax positions change.
Admin friction is not neutral; it’s a wellbeing and engagement problem
Administrative complexity has a human cost: it takes time, creates uncertainty and increases the number of small tasks employees and HR teams must manage.
Operational drag damages trust when employees can’t easily understand what’s changing, what it means for pay, or who can answer their questions. This is just one pressure among many that can drain attention and motivation, ultimately creating the risk of harming wellbeing and engagement.
Friction steals time, energy and goodwill
A huge obstacle for employees is the energy lost to inefficient processes, low-value tasks, administrative duties, and what feels like pointless meetings, rather than carrying out meaningful work. These inefficiencies only increase time spent at work, sucking energy and stealing time away from personal life… which is a one-way ticket to disengagement, burnout and resentment.
Unclear payslip changes, repeated queries and slow processes consume attention and reduce trust, affecting both HR admin burden and employee wellbeing.
A 2026 survey of Employees and Self-Employed Workers found 58% worked despite not feeling well enough, and 49% had taken sickness absence in the last year (Department for Work & Pensions).
In addition, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Employee View Report reveals that wellbeing at work is already a live issue for UK employees. This is why HR teams should treat benefits administration not just as a compliance task, but as part of the wider employee experience.
“Collabureaucracy” is what admin friction looks like at scale
The Global Workplace Happiness Report shows that time lost in meetings, chasing information, stakeholder alignment and coordination layers all create friction, often described as collaboration overload, or what the report calls ‘collabureaucracy’.
In practice, collaboration overload shows up as too many handoffs, approvals and time spent aligning, rather than progressing work. This links directly to the upcoming benefits change: multiple teams need the same information, but unclear handoffs can slow decisions and increase rework.
Clarity is a performance lever (not a comms nice-to-have)
Clarity is a performance lever since uncertainty breeds stress, and is a productivity killer. We’ve all felt the cognitive smog caused by a lack of clarity at work, where time is lost second-guessing, and stress rises. Clarity reduces the mental effort employees spend interpreting payslip changes, tax language or benefit updates.
Here are some practical tools you can apply to address this:
- A one-page explainer
- Manager talking points
- Payroll FAQs
- A clear escalation route
Where there is clarity, there are fewer repeated questions, fewer misunderstandings, faster resolution and more confidence in you as an employer.
What actually drives happiness and motivation (and what HR can control)
The Global Workplace Happiness Report found that inspiration and belonging are the true drivers of workplace happiness.
Now that we know what the problem is, it’s time to look at what HR can influence: belonging, inspiration, clarity, autonomy, and friction reduction — all key employee engagement drivers.
Happiness and motivation don’t come from offering throwaway perks; it’s about offering a life-stage relevant benefits package as part of the wider employee experience. There’s a strong link between operational design and motivation: better systems help employees feel respected, informed and able to focus on meaningful work.
Inspiration and belonging matter most
According to the Global Workplace Happiness Report, the strongest drivers of employee engagement are inspiration and belonging (as well as clarity and autonomy), yet this is where many organisations underinvest.
From an HR perspective, reducing friction supports belonging because employees feel considered, and supports inspiration because people have more capacity for meaningful work
Reciprocity: employees expect the organisation to give back
Engagement is a two-way street – as outlined in The New Rules of Employee Engagement report – a caring work atmosphere is the leading source of fulfilment, closely followed by recognition for employee commitment. Employees expect practical support, not just messages about engagement or wellbeing.
An organisation that values employees’ time and attention should also focus on reducing admin friction, such as:
- Clear benefit choices
- Quick answers
- Fewer duplicate forms
- Visible recognition of employees’ effort
Time scarcity blocks growth, not just rest
Lost time doesn’t just affect rest, but it also impacts development. Overloaded employees may not have the capacity for learning, reflection or career growth. If upskilling, internal mobility, retention and performance are high on your agenda, then this is another reason to reduce low-value admin before it crowds out higher-value work.
In short: what’s changing
- In-year reporting
- More data accuracy is required
- Increased cross-team coordination
- Greater employee visibility
Practical playbook: Reduce friction before it becomes pain
Payrolling Benefits in Kind means collecting income tax on employee benefits through payroll during the year, rather than at year-end. For the UK, mandatory payrolling is expected from 6 April 2027.
Ready to prepare for this policy change – with reduced admin, clearer communication and less employee uncertainty? Read on for 4 practical steps that HR, payroll and finance can act on immediately.
Step 1: Map your benefits data flow
Start with a full benefits inventory, detailing what you offer, how it’s valued and where it’s stored. Identify any manual touch points and risk hotspots.
Here’s a simple audit checklist to help you get started:
- Benefit type
- Taxable value method
- Data owner
- Source system
- Update frequency
- Payroll cut-off
- Exception process
- Employee communication owner
Then, call out complex cases to test early, including:
- Fluctuating benefits
- Renewals
- Salary sacrifice interactions
- Joiners
- Leavers
- Globally mobile employees
- Benefits where values are not known at the start of the tax year
Step 2: Simplify the employee experience
Your employees need one source of truth for “what I get” plus “what it means on my payslip.” It’s also worth pre-empting questions, such as what changes, when, and why, and having answers prepared.
Add employee-facing copy prompts: what's changing, when it starts, why it matters, what employees may see on payslips or tax codes, and where to go for help. If people can understand the change without chasing answers, HR protects both time and trust.
Step 3: Design clarity into comms
Remember: clarity reduces cognitive load, giving people the headspace to focus on important tasks rather than trying to wrap their heads around confusing information. This is why it’s worth building a short employee explainer alongside a manager FAQ pack. The clearer you are from the start, the fewer questions you’ll face later down the line.
Step 4: Treat time as an outcome metric
Time saved is both an operational metric and an employee experience metric, meaning reduced collabureaucracy and greater clarity at work.
Tracking “time-to-complete” key HR tasks is crucial if you want to measure the effectiveness of your processes. Suggested metrics include:
- Query volume after communication
- First-contact resolution
- Time to answer benefits queries
- Manual payroll adjustments
- Number of handoffs
- Employee self-service completion rate
- Payroll error rework
The commercial payoff: Happier people, stronger engagement, less drag
Time saved doesn’t just improve experience, it reduces operational drag, lowers support queries and protects productivity. Organisations that simplify benefits administration aren’t just more compliant, they’re more efficient and easier to work for.
When you give time back, you give energy back!
There’s an emotional and practical payoff of giving time back: employees have more capacity for focus, recovery, family, health and meaningful work. This makes time both a wellbeing and performance resource that cannot be overlooked.
More time for what matters most with Pluxee UK
Policy compliance readiness is an engagement opportunity: you can either pass complexity on to your employees or absorb it through better design.
Pluxee UK helps organisations simplify benefits delivery, making them easier to understand and access, and less time-consuming to manage. The result: fewer queries, less admin and more time for your people to focus on what matters.
Practical benefits experiences, clear communication and reduced admin friction.
FAQs
What does “payrolling Benefits in Kind” mean?
Payrolling benefits in kind is the process of collecting tax on certain benefits through payroll during the year, rather than only at year-end.
When does payrolling BiK become mandatory in the UK?
In the UK, benefits in kind reporting is expected to become mandatory for company cars, vans, fuel and private medical benefits from 6 April 2027. The expectation is that reporting for most other remaining benefits will become mandatory in April 2028. The deadline for voluntary payrolling closed on 5 April 2026.
Employers should always check the latest HMRC and professional guidance before acting.
Why will payrolling BiK create extra admin for HR and payroll?
Benefits in kind reporting will create extra admin for HR and payroll because it increases the need for accurate, ongoing benefit data capture, valuation updates and employee communications. This adds operational dependency across HR, payroll and benefit providers.
It’ll also increase the number of employee questions that HR will need to respond to. The admin pressure increases further when systems and owners are unclear. HR admin burden matters because it consumes time and attention that could be spent elsewhere.
What’s the biggest risk if we leave preparation for payrolling Benefits in Kind too late?
If you leave your preparation for payroll too late, this is likely to result in manual workarounds, payroll errors, unclear accountability, inconsistent data and a rise in employee queries.
This will create friction and exactly the kind of coordination load linked to wasted time and reduced enablement. Late preparation will create time pressure across several teams at once, so it’s important to prevent this by mapping data and communication early.
How does admin friction affect engagement and wellbeing?
Admin friction contributes to engagement and wellbeing pressure because it results in lost time, drained energy and disengagement. Repeated admin tasks and unclear processes reduce available attention, create frustration and weaken trust.
The Global Workplace Happiness Report shows that time lost in meetings, chasing information, stakeholder alignment and coordination layers all create friction – or “collabureaucracy” – resulting in slow decisions and increased rework.
What do employees want more than another perk right now?
Our engagement research shows that employees want time back more than anything. When surveyed, most participants said if they were given an extra 4 hours per week, they’d prioritise family time, followed by health-related activities.
Time is becoming a more visible employee value. While perks are a vital part of your employee benefits experience, timesaving and clarity are as essential as cashback schemes, gym discounts and salary-sacrifice schemes.
What should HR do first to reduce friction?
To reduce HR friction, you should first map the current data flow and identify where your employees currently have to chase, wait or repeat information.
Some quick wins for reducing friction include developing a single source of information with clear FAQs, named data owners and fewer handoffs, so employees understand changes without chasing answers.
Preparation for benefits in kind reporting changes will result in a broader employee experience improvement.
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