Datapay payroll giving Alden aged care team peace of mind

• Datapay provides reliable, compliant payroll that the Alden aged care team trusts to deliver consistently in a complex aged care environment.

• Managed payroll gives Alden full control without administrative burden, freeing HR to focus on people.

• A long-term partnership and continuity ensure payroll never distracts from what matters most – quality resident care.

Alden's HR Manager, Susan Carter, has a simple answer when asked why they've stayed with Datapay for eight years: "It delivers. It's easy. The people are great and, as a business and a product, Datacom and the Datapay team really keep up to date with what's happening." 

For an organisation running 20 rest homes and 10 retirement villages across New Zealand – with 1,200 staff caring for 1,000 elder residents around the clock – having a reliable payroll system means the team has one less critical thing to worry about. It means never worrying whether staff will be paid correctly. Never questioning compliance.

Alden isn't like other businesses. It is a family-owned, values-driven organisation and its mission is focused entirely on care. 

"We're literally all about people and that makes it a really satisfying organisation to be a part of," says Carter. 

With 24/7 operations, pay equity legislation, and the complexity of the Holidays Act, payroll could easily become a constant source of stress. Instead, it's one of their most reliable functions. 

"The ability to trust in the security of it is just... you can't replace it. I know we're always compliant. I know our payroll provider is really good payroll. With all the holidays act and all the rest of the complexities, it's so good to know that we're OK." 

Joseph Paki, General Manager of Customer and Managed Services at Datapay, sees this trust as fundamental. 

"In aged care, payroll isn't just about compliance – it's about ensuring the people who provide essential care services can focus on what matters. When Susan describes Datapay as 'easy’ and that ‘it delivers’, that's the highest endorsement we could receive. It reflects eight years of consistent delivery when it matters most." 

Before Datapay, Alden outsourced payroll to a provider that "managed it as they wanted to." Now, Carter has found the perfect balance. 

"The great thing with Datapay is that we actually have full control of it, but we don't have to worry about all the day-to-day things. It's kind of like all care, no responsibility. I know you guys will get it right, so I don't need to worry about that. But I still have full control over what happens." 

This approach has freed the HR team to focus on people. 

"As an HR team, we're looking for better ways to do things so that we can spend more time with people and less on process. That's where Datapay's really good – it streamlines what it's doing so we can do that in our team too." 

For growing organisations, continuity matters. As Alden expands – they're adding another rest home next Monday – the payroll foundation remains solid. 

"Employing people takes a lot of work," says Carter. "If I had someone here doing payroll and they go on holiday, that's planned and OK, but then they'll leave and that can be frustrating, or they'll get sick. For a business our size where you don't need a big payroll team, it just makes so much more sense. You just know you're covered all the time." 

The relationship extends beyond systems to genuine partnership. Carter values the first-name basis with consultants. 

"I'll often just email the consultants going 'I've done this. Is it correct?' It's that first-name basis thing that you can actually say anything and they always help you out." 

Paki agrees. “Managed payroll isn't just about technology or compliance – it's about ensuring organisations like Alden never have to worry about payroll continuity. That stability is invaluable in healthcare, where the focus must always remain on resident care."

After eight years, Carter's verdict is unequivocal: "If I went to any other business, I would absolutely put them on to this. I would never do it any other way." 

In an industry where every decision affects the residents in their care and compliance is non-negotiable, Alden has found something invaluable: a payroll partner that lets them forget about payroll.