Christian Youth Camps: Streamlining HR and Payroll with Employment Hero

From fragmented systems to a unified solution

Running a large-scale business in the hospitality and recreation industry comes with unique workforce challenges. For Christian Youth Camps (CYC), managing a mix of permanent and casual employees across different award levels was becoming increasingly difficult.

CYC is a not-for-profit organisation that operates multiple camp locations, providing outdoor education and holiday programs for children, schools and community groups. Their mission is to create enriching and memorable experiences that foster personal growth, teamwork and faith-based learning. With a workforce made up of camp facilitators, hospitality staff, administrative teams and outdoor educators, ensuring seamless HR and payroll operations is essential to delivering high-quality programs.

Their previous system relied on a combination of Reckon for accounting, Aussie Time Sheets for payroll and multiple rostering and leave management platforms, which led to inefficiencies and extra administrative work.

Rosie Zimmer, CYC’s Financial Controller, recalled the frustration of navigating between different systems. “We had all these separate programs and none of them really talked to each other. It meant extra steps for everything – approving leave, running payroll, rostering shifts. It was just clunky.”

With Employment Hero, CYC found an all-in-one solution that brought HR, payroll, rostering and recruitment together, significantly improving efficiency.

Saving managers’ time with simplified rostering

For CYC, rostering was one of the biggest pain points before transitioning to Employment Hero. Managers spent excessive time approving shifts and ensuring compliance with rounding rules, a tedious manual process that took time away from operational priorities.

“The auto-approval function has been a massive time saver. Instead of managers having to go in and manually check every shift, the system applies the rounding rules automatically. It’s saving us so much time and letting our managers focus on their daily operations.”

This feature has been especially valuable in CYC’s fast-paced environment, where managing rosters efficiently ensures smooth day-to-day operations.

Effortless leave management

Handling leave requests was another source of inefficiency before Employment Hero. Employees had to submit leave requests through Lucidity and managers often struggled to track who was available when planning rosters.

Now, with leave requests integrated into Employment Hero and accessible to their team via the app, the process is much smoother. “Employees can submit their leave directly and managers can approve it in just a few clicks. It’s easier for everyone and it helps when scheduling because you can immediately see who’s available.”

This real-time visibility has not only improved scheduling but also enhanced the overall employee experience by making the leave approval process faster and more transparent.

Managing modern awards with confidence

With 70% of their workforce being casual employees covered under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award,  keeping up with updates and compliance was a daunting task for CYC. Employment Hero’s automated award interpretation simplified this process so that their payroll department could run payroll with ease. 

“The fact that it automatically updates award levels is a massive win for us. It takes out the guess work and we don’t have to worry about manually adjusting pay rates every time there’s a change.”

Enhancing workflow and workplace culture

Beyond the operational efficiencies, CYC has seen a positive impact on workplace culture. Employees now have easier access to their timesheets and payroll processing is faster and more transparent.

“The feedback from our employees using Employment Hero has been really positive. Employees like that they can see their timesheets easily and it’s reassuring to know payroll is always processed correctly and on time.”

Managers have also experienced the benefits of the streamlined recruitment process within Employment Hero, reducing data entry and simplifying onboarding for new hires. This has contributed to a more seamless experience for both employees and for their HR team.

Why Employment Hero stands out

For CYC, the greatest value of Employment Hero lies in its all-in-one HR and Payroll system. Instead of juggling several platforms, everything is now managed in one place, reducing errors and increasing efficiency.

“The fact that you can do everything end to end, from HR, employee documentation and recruitment through to rostering, payroll and tracking leave entitlements within the system is a game-changer. I love that everything is so accessible through the app – it has really streamlined things for us.”

Rosie recommends that any business transitioning to Employment Hero take advantage of the platform’s online resources and training materials to get the most out of the system.

“We found the initial training really helpful. And the HeroAI chatbot and Hero Hub Help Centre has been great for answering questions on the spot.”

A smarter way to manage HR and payroll

For businesses in the service and hospitality industry, managing a diverse workforce efficiently is critical. CYC’s journey with Employment Hero shows how an integrated HR and payroll platform can not only streamline operations but also create a better experience for both managers and employees.

If you’re tired of dealing with multiple disconnected HR systems, CYC’s story makes it clear – Employment Hero is the smarter, simpler solution. Discover the difference for yourself – book a demo with one of our business specialists today.