Payroll services
Employee benefits administration
Benefits only work when the contributions, deductions and payments behind them are accurate. Patuza administers benefit elections in payroll, calculates employee and employer portions and produces the schedules each fund or scheme requires.
Benefits administered through payroll
- Medical scheme contributions, including dependant changes and employer subsidies
- Retirement funding: pension fund and provident fund contributions
- Group risk cover such as group life, disability and funeral benefits
- Allowances forming part of the package, including travel and cellphone allowances
- Employer-funded benefits that carry a payroll tax consequence
Employee and employer portions
Every benefit has two sides: what the employee contributes and what the employer contributes. Both must be reflected accurately because employee amounts affect net pay and employer amounts affect cost to company and, in several cases, taxable income.
Fund and scheme schedules
Each fund or administrator expects a contribution schedule in its own format and by its own deadline. Patuza produces those schedules from the payroll so the amounts paid over always agree with the amounts deducted and contributed.
Changes, joiners and leavers
Membership changes are processed with effective dates so partial-month contributions, arrears and refunds calculate correctly, and terminations are notified to funds along with the final contribution.
Frequently asked questions
What is employee benefits administration?
It is the ongoing management of benefit membership, contributions and payments through payroll: capturing elections and changes, calculating employee and employer portions, producing fund schedules and reconciling what is paid over.
Are employer contributions taxable?
The tax treatment differs by benefit type and is set by the Income Tax Act. Some employer contributions are treated as a taxable fringe benefit for the employee while also being deductible for the employer, so each benefit is configured according to its correct treatment.
Do you pay the funds and schemes on our behalf?
Patuza produces the third-party payment schedules and, where agreed, prepares the payment files. Release of funds remains with the employer's authorised signatories.
What happens when an employee changes medical aid dependants?
The change is captured with an effective date, contributions and any employer subsidy recalculate from that date, and the difference is corrected in the next pay run and in the fund schedule.
Let Patuza administer medical aid, retirement and group risk contributions inside your payroll cycle.
Book a consultationRelated services
- Third-party payments →
Garnishees, medical aid, retirement funds, unions and councils paid from accurate schedules.
- Employee administration →
Employee records, onboarding, changes, banking details and statutory data kept accurate and secure.
- Payroll processing →
Monthly and weekly payroll processing, calculations, payslips and statutory deductions.
Related topics
- Benefits & allowances →
Travel, cellphone, medical, retirement and other package components and their treatment.
- Employee contributions →
What employees contribute to retirement, medical and statutory funds, and its effect on pay.
- Employer cost →
The true cost of employment: contributions, statutory levies and cost beyond the salary line.
Related insights
- Benefits and allowances in a package →
How each package component is taxed and what that means for the employee.
- Understanding total remuneration →
How to read a cost-to-company offer and compare it fairly against another.