Pay and Payroll Cost Management

Organisation over 20 weeks

Four 5-week blocks (4 weeks of classes, 1 week of assessment). The two course units are taken unchanged from the original degree: same content, same assessments.

• Blocks 1 and 2 (weeks 1 to 10): REM 422 — Pay and Benefits
• Blocks 3 and 4 (weeks 11 to 20): CGS 531 — HR Controlling and Social Performance

REM 422 - Pay and Benefits

Design a fair, attractive and sustainable pay and benefits policy, and ensure it is translated accurately and compliantly into payroll.

Learning outcomes

• Design a pay and benefits policy consistent with the organisation's strategy and financial constraints.
• Assess the internal equity and external competitiveness of pay.
• Check the compliance of payroll and of social security and tax returns.
• Audit the payroll configuration in software or an HR information system and design an internal control plan.

Content

• Components of pay: base salary and collective agreement job classification (to be studied on the 2019 CCNI (Convention collective nationale interprofessionnelle, national inter-occupational collective agreement) and sector agreements), sursalaire (pay above the classification minimum), bonuses, variable pay, benefits in kind and employee benefits.
• Internal equity and external competitiveness: job evaluation, pay scales, pay surveys, equal pay for women and men.
• Employee benefits and supplementary social protection; IPRES supplementary pension scheme for managerial staff.
• Social security contributions (IPRES, CSS) and tax withholdings on salaries, to be studied on the Code général des impôts (General Tax Code) (loi n°2012-31 du 31 décembre 2012, amended in particular by loi n°2025-17 du 27 septembre 2025); rates and ceilings always taken from the source.
• Payroll control: consistency checks, audit of parameters, security and confidentiality.
• Outlook: effects of the new Code de la sécurité sociale (Social Security Code) (projet de loi n°16/2026, bill no. 16/2026), adopted by the Assemblée nationale (National Assembly) on 18 August 2026, promulgation not verified.

Assessment: Project (50%): pay and benefits policy for a fictitious organisation. Practical test (50%): payroll audit and internal control plan, with diagnosis of anomalies. Same arrangements on campus and online.

CGS 531 - HR Controlling and Social Performance

Give human resources managers the tools for economic and social management: controlling the payroll cost, auditing workforce data and measuring the effects of transformations.

Learning outcomes

• Analyse changes in the payroll cost and assess the factors behind them.
• Build a workforce budget and management dashboards suited to the decisions to be informed.
• Conduct an HR audit and assess its results.
• Assess the human, financial, legal and environmental effects of a transformation to inform a decision.

Content

• Payroll cost: components, level, volume and carry-over effects, headcount and skills mix.
• Workforce budget: construction, monitoring, variance analysis, simulations.
• HR dashboards: choice of indicators, visualisation, reporting to decision-makers and staff representatives.
• HR audit: compliance, effectiveness and strategic audit; method, evidence, report.
• Measuring the effects of transformations: hidden costs, absenteeism, staff turnover, workplace climate; reading the organisation's financial information.

Assessment: Continuous assessment (40%): workforce budget and dashboard for a fictitious organisation. Field project (60%): HR audit report and recommendations. Same rubrics for both delivery modes.

Career opportunities

Pay and benefits manager, HR controller, payroll auditor.

At your own pace: the self-paced pathway

In a class, this certificate takes 20 weeks, on the cohort's dates. On the self-paced pathway, you start whenever you like, online, and progress at your own pace. The price is the same.

Admission

Bachelor's degree in management, human resources or a compatible field, or equivalent experience of payroll or management control assessed on application. Admission based on application; detailed requirements set by the school.

The credits you earn are recognised without further assessment if you later join the programme they come from, Professional Master's degree in Human Resources Management, within a period set by the certificate regulations.