Payroll services
Third-party payments and payroll deductions
Money deducted from employees for someone else must reach that beneficiary in full and on time. Patuza administers third-party deductions and produces reconciled beneficiary schedules with every payroll cycle.
Beneficiaries commonly paid from payroll
- Medical schemes and their administrators
- Pension, provident and retirement annuity funds
- Group risk insurers
- Trade union subscriptions and bargaining council levies
- Garnishee orders and emoluments attachment orders
- Employer loan accounts and other authorised deductions
Legal limits on deductions
Employers may not deduct whatever they choose. The BCEA restricts deductions to those required by law, permitted by a court or council order, or agreed in writing by the employee, and limits the amount that may be recovered. The deduction hierarchy is explained under statutory deductions.
Court and council orders
Garnishee and emoluments attachment orders carry legal obligations for the employer, including verifying the order, applying the correct instalment and stopping when the balance is settled. Patuza tracks balances so deductions cease at the right point instead of over-recovering.
Reconciled beneficiary schedules
Each cycle produces a schedule per beneficiary showing employee-level detail and the total to be paid, reconciled to the payroll register and to the payroll liability accounts in the general ledger.
Frequently asked questions
What are third-party payments in payroll?
They are amounts deducted from employees' pay and paid over to an external beneficiary — a medical scheme, retirement fund, union, bargaining council or a court-ordered creditor — rather than to the employee or SARS.
Can an employer deduct anything from an employee's salary?
No. Deductions must be required by law, ordered by a court or bargaining council, or agreed in writing by the employee, and statutory limits apply to the amount that may be deducted in a period.
Who is liable if a third-party payment is missed?
The employer is. Amounts deducted but not paid over remain the employer's liability and can attract interest, penalties or legal action from the beneficiary, which is why schedules are reconciled to the deductions each cycle.
How are garnishee order balances tracked?
The order's total, instalment and running balance are held against the employee record so deductions stop automatically once the balance is settled, and the employee can be shown the history.
Patuza produces reconciled third-party schedules with every payroll run so deductions and payments always agree.
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