The majority of payroll departments spend between one and four hours researching and answering general questions from employees, according to a survey on payroll department efficiencies recently conducted by Accero in conjunction with the American Payroll Association (APA). There were 1,638 respondents to the 2010 Accero Trendline Survey.

Answering questions is part of payroll's standard duties, and it cannot be totally automated, even with FAQs. More than 61 percent of the survey respondents said they spend between one and four hours each week performing this duty.

To increase efficiency, many employers are offering self-service access that allows employees to make changes to their personal information. But only 40.29 percent of the survey respondents have implemented such a system. Twelve percent of the respondents are currently in the process of implementing employee self-service portals, but 47.68 percent are still without this efficient technology.

Copyright 2010, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.