How SMD cut payroll time by 65% and gained full compliance visibility with Employment Hero
65%
reduction in weekly payroll
processing time
£5,000+
saved annually from
reduced payroll admin costs
5 days
added to finance’s month-end window for decision making
Company
Structural Metal Decks
Industry
Construction
Employees
50
Location
UK
Favourite Features
About the business
Structural Metal Decks (SMD) is a construction company supplying, manufacturing and installing specialist building products across a multitude of sectors including commercial and industrial developments. With over 50 employees across two different payroll groups; monthly salaried office staff and weekly paid mobile site teams, managing people processes is far from simple. Finance and Technical Director Jamie Turner talked about how the company needed a solution that could bring payroll, HR and compliance together in one platform, whilst reducing costs and saving time.
The challenge
Juggling different payroll groups with disconnected systems was slowing things down and costing more than it should. Jamie’s finance team was spending up to a day each week manually processing weekly pay runs for site staff. And on top of that, office payroll was outsourced, increasing expenses and reducing transparency. The homegrown HR system they’d built in-house lacked flexibility, so their HR Manager began their search for a new system.
Key challenges included:
- Time-intensive weekly pay runs for site operatives.
- Limited visibility and control with outsourced office payroll.
- Clunky, DIY HR tools that couldn’t scale or support remote use.
- Increased compliance risk from manual data entry.
“We were spending half a day to a day each week just processing payroll. The steps were long, messy and hard to hand over if someone was off.”
The solution
Employment Hero’s Employment Operating System has helped SMD take control by bringing HR and payroll together in one system, eliminating back-and-forth and saving serious time.
Payroll now integrates directly with SMD’s internal database via Employment Hero’s API and timesheets feed straight into the platform, so payroll is no longer a black box or a multi-step slog. Instead, it’s a simple review and approval process. In fact, the weekly payroll that used to take up to a full day now takes a couple of hours – a reduction of over 65%. The outsourced office payroll has been brought in-house too, giving the team better oversight and reducing external costs.
“Before, there were numerous processes for someone to follow if they were covering payroll. Now there are only a few!”
Meanwhile, HR processes got an upgrade. New starters are onboarded remotely, documents are signed and stored digitally and benefits reporting improves transparency. And when it comes to compliance like tracking wage thresholds or applying deductions, the system keeps everyone on track with built-in alerts and smart automation.
“Knowing Employment Hero automatically picks up minimum wage changes and compliance updates is a huge relief, especially when thresholds shift after instances like the Budget announcement.”
The ROI
Employment Hero has driven measurable time and cost savings, improved compliance and made the business look at existing processes to improve and embed better and more efficient ways of doing things.
- £5,000+ saved annually from reduced payroll admin costs.
- 65% time reduction in weekly pay runs (from ~7 hours to 2 hours).
- 5 days added to finance’s month-end window for decision making due to quicker payroll processing.
- Improved compliance with alerts for changes like statutory or minimum wage pay.
- Simplified payroll and benefits reporting, supporting transparency and employee trust.
- Reduced admin load with digitised HR processes, including onboarding, documents and surveys.
Why it matters
With Employment Hero in place, SMD’s finance and HR teams have more control and less risk. Faster payroll processes have unlocked time for better financial strategy. By cutting admin, Jamie’s team can now focus on tighter month-end timelines, sharper decision-making and supporting smarter business growth.
“Whilst implementing a new system seems painful at the time due to change management and getting up to speed, Employment Hero forced us to look at how we do things, and improve them. We’ve tightened up our month-end, made faster decisions with real numbers and the whole team feels more in control.”
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Frequently Asked Questions
SMD needed a smarter way to manage weekly payroll, track timesheets and stay compliant without relying on clunky workarounds or costly outsourcing. With site operatives spread across locations and multiple pay types to manage, the finance and HR teams needed more visibility, control and flexibility. Employment Hero offered a single, integrated platform that could connect their internal systems, automate payroll and reduce risk, saving them time, money and manual effort every week.
While SMD operates in construction, their challenges, like manual timesheet tracking, complex payroll and compliance risk, are common across industries with field-based teams. Employment Hero helped them connect existing systems, automate weekly payroll and stay compliant with evolving regulations, including minimum wage changes. For construction businesses juggling site staff, shifting rosters and multiple pay types, the platform offers real control, visibility and flexibility. All without the admin overload.
For SMD, the return on investment came in both time and control. By automating weekly payroll and integrating timesheet data via API, they reduced a 4–8 hour process to under two hour, saving up to 65% of their time. Financially, they saved £5,000 a year by bringing payroll in-house and eliminating third-party costs. Plus, with clearer processes and built-in compliance tools, they’ve reduced risk and improved accuracy across every pay run.
SMD’s Financial and Technical Director described Employment Hero as “a relief” when it came to staying compliant. With automatic updates for statutory changes, like minimum wage increases, and built-in audit trails, the platform ensures every pay run meets HMRC standards. Features like attachment of earnings, backdated pay and benefit reporting are handled with ease, reducing risk and giving the finance team confidence that nothing will fall through the cracks.
Yes. SMD has around 50 staff split across office and site teams and Employment Hero has helped them streamline both. For their Financial and Technical Director, the platform delivered serious ROI at this size, saving time on weekly pay runs, improving payroll accuracy and bringing outsourced processes in-house. With features like timesheet integration, compliance alerts and mobile self-service, it’s ideal for businesses balancing operational complexity with lean teams.
