A new statutory minimum wage entered in the bureau's Google Sheets rates table is checked at once against every employee's rate in the latest payroll export, and each payroll clerk gets an email listing the employees below the new rate, by employer.
Typical results
Under 10 min
Full check across all 60 employers
≈2 days
Clerk time saved per minimum wage change
100%
Employees checked against the new rate
≈0
Back-pay corrections from missed rate changes
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
When the statutory minimum wage rises, a payroll bureau serving 60 small employers has to find every employee whose hourly or monthly rate falls below the new figure. Clerks scroll through each employer's pay table by hand, a task that takes about two days, and a missed employee means back pay, a correction run and an unhappy client.
Before and after
Clerk hours per minimum wage change
−94%Back-pay corrections per rate change
−100%The automation
The bureau keeps its statutory rates in a Google Sheets table. When a new minimum wage row is added, a Make scenario loads the latest payroll export and compares every hourly and monthly rate with the new figure, with monthly rates scaled to each employee's job percentage. Each payroll clerk receives an email listing, employer by employer, the employees below the new rate and the size of each gap, so pay tables are corrected before the next run.
How it works
- 01
New rate entered
A clerk adds the new statutory minimum wage and its effective date to the rates table in Google Sheets.
- 02
Payroll export loaded
The automation loads the latest payroll export with each employee's employer, pay type, rate and job percentage.
- 03
Rates compared
Each rate is compared with the new minimum, with monthly rates scaled to the employee's job percentage.
- 04
Gap list emailed
Each payroll clerk gets an email listing, employer by employer, the employees below the new rate and the size of each gap.
- 05
Tables corrected
Clerks update the pay tables before the next payroll run, and the email stays on file as a record of the check.
Starts from
- New minimum wage in Sheets
- Latest payroll export
Delivers
- Gap list email per clerk
- Pay tables fixed before run
The impact
The full check across 60 employers takes minutes instead of about two days, and every employee below the new rate is listed before the next payroll run. Back-pay corrections caused by missed rate changes drop to near zero, and clerks fix only the lines that need it.
Questions about this automation
What does the automation need to compare rates?
It needs the rates table in Google Sheets and a payroll export that includes each employee's employer, pay type, hourly or monthly rate and job percentage. Most payroll software can produce this as a CSV or Excel file. Simple automations like this are usually live within days.
How are part-time and monthly-paid employees handled?
For monthly-paid employees, the new monthly minimum is scaled by the job percentage in the export, so a half-time position is compared with half the full-time figure. Hourly employees are compared directly with the new hourly rate. Employees with missing data are listed separately for a manual check.
Does it change pay rates in the payroll software?
No. It only reads the export and reports the gaps. Clerks review the list and update the pay tables themselves, which keeps every pay change under human control. The email and the sheet stay on file as a record that the check was done for each employer.