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"Payroll is no longer just an administrative function,” says Gurjeev Bagga, Business Head, Ramco, Malaysia. With AI and automation transforming compliance and accuracy, he shares how enterprises can simplify complex, multi-country payroll.
This article is brought to you by Ramco.
Payroll in Malaysia is more than just processing salaries – it’s about navigating a multi-layered regulatory framework, state-specific rules, and workforce complexities. For HR teams, the stakes are high: even a small payroll error can trigger penalties, audit risks, and employee dissatisfaction.
Unlike countries with centralised systems, Malaysia’s payroll framework spans multiple statutory bodies and frequent policy updates. From the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Social Security Organisation (SOCSO) to the Employment Insurance System (EIS) and Monthly Tax Deduction (PCB), the onus is on employers to keep pace with evolving requirements while managing operational complexity across states and sectors.
As Gurjeev Singh Bagga, Business Head, Ramco, Malaysia, notes, many Malaysian organisations operate across multiple ASEAN countries – each with its own statutory regulations, tax codes, and social security requirements. Therefore, intelligent payroll solutions are no longer optional; they’re essential to stay compliant and efficient, he highlights.
In this article, we find ways for employers and payroll leaders in Malaysia to streamline operations, automate compliance, and gain real-time visibility across multi-country teams.
Top four payroll pain points Malaysian businesses face today
#1: Statutory compliance overload
Malaysia has strict labour laws governing payroll, including the Employment Act, and rules set out by EPF and SOCSO, among others. Compliance is no doubt critical, but many leaders would agree that keeping up with constant updates can be demanding.
Non-compliance attracts penalties, while recent changes, such as the 2025 EPF rule changes for foreign workers, require swift system adjustments to stay in line.
#2: Regional payroll complexity
Businesses operating across multiple states and even multiple countries may face different statutory regulations, tax codes, and social security requirements. Multinationals also face an added layer – for instance in managing currency exchange rates for expatriates or regional offices, which can complicate payroll calculations.
#3: Employee benefits and allowances
Administering employee benefits – whether across Malaysia or regionally – can be tricky. This can weigh on HR’s workload, while also increasing the risk of inconsistencies.
#4: Lack of automation and integration
Technology plays a vital role in ensuring compliance and data security. Yet, many organisations still rely on fragmented as well as manual systems. Building a payroll solution that integrates with existing HR, finance, and operations platforms remains a top challenge – and a top priority.
Based on Bagga’s observations, companies that have been addressing these four challenges have put in place a centralised payroll management system, standardised processes across entities, and are leveraging technology to reduce manual interventions.
“Companies that adopt cloud-based, integrated payroll systems can manage regional complexities more efficiently, ensuring accuracy, timely processing and employee trust,” he adds.
Best practices: How enterprises are transforming payroll
For Malaysian enterprises – whether local or multinational, payroll transformation is no longer a nice-to-have. Moving away from spreadsheets and fragmented systems to automated and integrated platforms is key to achieving accuracy, compliance, and agility.
That’s where Ramco’s unified global payroll solution, Ramco Payce, comes in – bringing the capability to support organisations in the country in modernising their payroll operations, especially those managing multi-country teams, diverse workforce types, and evolving statutory requirements.
Some of the standout capabilities, according to Bagga, include:
- AI & ML driven reasoning engine: Payroll errors, even small ones, can have significant financial and compliance impacts. Ramco Payce’s AI & ML driven reasoning engine identifies anomalies and variances before payroll is processed, drastically reducing errors.
The no-code & low-code based set-up allows HR and payroll teams to configure rules and workflows without IT dependency, enabling quick adaptation to local policies or changes in business requirements. - Statutory compliance across more than 150 countries: The Ramco Compliance Portal keeps pace with evolving statutory rules, tax updates, and social security regulations across more than 150 countries, ensuring that companies remain compliant automatically. This reduces risk and frees payroll teams to focus on value-added activities.
- Analytics and payroll workspace: Payroll workspace and BInGO empower HR & payroll teams with complete data visibility and proactive decision-making from managing payroll costs to monitoring compliance metrics, helping organisations operate with confidence and agility.
Real-world impact: Local precision, regional scale
One thing we can all agree on is: Payroll transformation isn’t just about digitisation – it’s about building resilience and trust across regulations, operations, and structures. Bagga affirms that Malaysian enterprises adopting Ramco Payce have reported measurable gains in compliance, accuracy, and scalability.
Hitachi Energy is one such example. Operating across multiple countries including Malaysia, the company previously struggled with payroll complexity, scalability, and integration challenges.
By implementing Ramco Payce, Hitachi Energy was able to:
- Avoid payroll failures and penalties across 20 countries,
- Unify its processes, reporting, and employee experience,
- Enable a timely, compliant exit from ABB systems, and
- Build a scalable, resilient model to support growth, M&A, and centralisation.
Another success story comes from a leading Malaysian retail group that was running multiple HR and payroll systems across different countries. The company faced fragmented data, manual scheduling, and compliance gaps, and needed a single, integrated platform to manage workforce visibility, time and attendance, and multi-country payroll.
Bagga tells us: “By implementing Ramco payroll, the enterprise unified its HR and payroll operations, automated statutory compliance, and gained real-time visibility into workforce data across all locations.”
“With automated payroll processing and intuitive features like smart notifications, the organisation now runs a stable, scalable, and future-ready payroll operation.”
Payroll as a strategic advantage: Why now is the time to modernise
All in all, for oganisations in Malaysia managing diverse workforce types, operating across multiple states, or expanding regionally, the need for smarter payroll systems has never been clearer.
With platforms like Ramco Payce, payroll has evolved from a reactive function into one that is proactive, intelligence-driven, and supports broader business objectives.
As Bagga puts it: “Payroll is no longer just an administrative function. AI and automation are transforming payroll into a strategic enabler of HR transformation.
“By reducing manual interventions, detecting errors early, and providing real-time insights, payroll systems free HR teams to focus on employee engagement, talent management, and strategic workforce planning.”
Take the next step
With payroll coverage for more than 150 countries, generating over 36mn payslips annually for more than 500 large MNCs & Fortune customers, Ramco has been at the forefront of delivering global payroll transformation for more than 25 years.
For more details, write to the team at contact@ramco.com or find out more about Ramco Payce here.
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