HowardSimon Covid-19 Electronic Access & Response

Electronic Services and Access

If you are fully electronic, no action is required.

We highly recommend that all employees sign-up for direct deposit as soon as possible.

Employees with a Bank Account

Employees with a Bank Account should be encouraged to enroll in direct deposit ASAP. Please contact our office if you wish to waive the customary pre-note period. If you are not currently configured for any of these electronic services or you are not transmitting your payroll electronically, and would like to be, please contact us.

If your employees are not currently receiving Direct Deposit, you can easily set this up in the HowardSimon Portal. If you have Employee Self-Service (ESS) enabled, you can even have employees enter this information themselves to minimize your workload.

How-to update direct deposit in the HowardSimon Portal
Download a physical direct deposit access form

Employees Without a Bank Account

For those employees who do not have a bank account we suggest they immediately secure a loadable debit card, or some account that can be direct deposited to.

Pre-paid debit cards are available at your local Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, or Rite Aid. They can also go online to any number of providers, but here are two:
VISA: https://usa.visa.com/pay-with-visa/find-card/get-prepaid-card
AMEX: https://www.bluebird.com/

Paypal

You can also Direct Deposit to your Paypal account - instructions on how to accomplish this can be found at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=af6VwtyzEV8

Employer Sponsored Paycards

You can sponsor a Paycard program for your employees. However, please note that this option will take some time to get setup. There is no cost for the employer to sponsor a Paycard program. Our partner for paycards is FinFit details on the program - if you wish to get started please email: payroll@hsimon.com as soon as possible and we will begin the setup process.

• Fintwist General Brochure
• Fintwist Fee Scheduled (no employer fees applicable)
• Cardholder Experience

Online Reporting and Employee Check View

If you are fully electronic, we do not anticipate any interference with your payroll processing or report delivery. If you are still receiving paper reports, we encourage you to get signed up for the HowardSimon Portal. This is available anywhere over the Internet and will ensure that you will receive your payroll reports in a timely manner.

If you are still printing physical vouchers, we encourage you to also get your employees signed up for online check view. Like their bank account, they will have uninterrupted access to their pay information.

Physical printing and distribution services could potentially be disrupted, the most significant of which would be check production. Additionally, we don't know what services (such as US Mail, couriers, FedEx, etc.) could be affected as we progress through this unique time, so we encourage the use of direct deposit whenever possible to ensure employees receive their compensation.

If you are not currently configured for any of these electronic services or you are not transmitting your payroll electronically, and would like to be, please contact us.

HowardSimon Workforce Continuity

We have a fully functional and accessible remote work environment. Many of our employees routinely telecommute in the normal course of business, so having an expanded remote workforce would not be a significant change for us operationally.

Services and Communication with our Office

We do not anticipate any disruption with our services or communication channels.

• Our email system is hosted by Microsoft, so it can be accessed from any location.
• Our phone systems and internal communication systems are all internet based and can be accessed by all employees from any location.
• Our Portal is hosted at AWS (Amazon Web Services) and can also be accessed from any location.
• All payroll and 401(k) reporting is currently available electronically through the Portal.
• All of your employees can access their payroll information and pay stubs through the Portal. If you are not currently using the Portal, this can be enabled.

We know that there will be unexpected challenges in the weeks to come, and our management teams are prepared to respond to those challenges as they present themselves. There will be ongoing communications as more details unfold. Please do not hesitate to contact us with questions or concerns.

Retirement Plan Support:	retire@hsimon.com
Payroll Support:	payroll@hsimon.com
General Support:	support@hsimon.com
Phone:	1-847-945-0340
Fax:	1-847-940-8500

Thank you and please be safe during this difficult time.