Dot matrix printers/payslips

Hello, everyone. I really need some help with this as it’s a lingering issue for me at work and I have to resolve it before I go completely insane.

I’m an executive secretary and my boss wants me to find a way to print payslips in one go: a one-step process in which we don’t have to then proceed to put the payslips in special envelopes and address them. As things stand, he prints out two copies of each payslip on landscape A4 sheets and I chop the sheets in half, put two copies of each slip in an envelope and address the envelope. It’s a lengthy process and it breaches the employees’ privacy because I get to see their detailed pay information.

He mentioned “those slips you get form the bank when you get a new ATM card with your password inside.” Now, I did some research and I think that is multi-ply continuous paper for use with dot-matrix printers. They are used for printing multi-copy payslips. That’s fine.

The problem is this: my boss says there’s a way to print one thing on the cover of these multi-ply continuous-paper slips (say, the employee’s name and the location at which the slip is to be delivered) and have the internal layers be copies of the payslip. Is that possible? The one print-supply place I have got to understand about the dot matrix printer and the continuous paper say it’s not possible. If anybody knows anything about this, please help me. We’re all the way in Egypt and I don’t have the option of buying this stuff online because the shipping costs would be enormous.

Thanks!

It is possible to set up the printing so that when folded the name and address of the employee show through a window envelope. This would speed things up as you would no longer have to hand address envelopes.
Why two copies? Why scissors? Wouldn’t it be faster to print 2 copies and just fold them?
How many employees? A few or a few thousand?

Rick, thank you for answering. The window idea is the only thing I’ve found as well, thank you so much for confirming that that’s the way it can be done. The slips will probably be extra expensive. Any idea what software we will have to use to get the payslips to print right in that format?

I handle some 70-odd payslips a month. I use a paper-slicing machine thingie to do a bunch at a time. I don’t know why we do that, to be honest. And we need two copies because employees keep one and sign the other and send it back to us, like a receipt.

Thank you so much for responding again! I will get onto the paper suppliers I’ve found and see if they have the required type of continuous payslips.

I can think of several ways to do this that don’t involve a dot matrix printer and continuous feed forms.
The best answer probably depends on how much money your boss wants to spend.
One way would be to eliminate forms all together and put everything on line. Employee goes on line and electronically “signs” his time card, and his pay stub is available on line at any time. Many companies in the US use this type of system.
Considering the size of the group, what might work best (assuming you can get the someone to change layout how the pay slips print) would be:
Print the pay slips in portrait on a laser printer with a dotted line half way down, employee cuts/tears off the lower half and returns it to you. The address on the top half is set so it can be read though a window envelope.
You would remove paper from printer, fold in half and half again, put in envelope, and seal.
It would look something like this:

Name
Address

Pay period ending
Payroll info
More payroll info
Blah, blah, blah
------------------------- cut here and return lower part ------------------------------
Name

Pay period ending
Payroll info
More payroll info
Blah, blah, blah

Signature______________________________
Another choice would be an outside vendor that does everything for you.

I didn’t make myself clear in the last post. I hate dot matrix printers. They are loud, take up a lot of space, slow and ribbons wear out often.
I would much rather use a laser for large volume print jobs.

Have you tried outsourcing your payroll processing to a third party provider? Any reputable payroll processor should be able to handle all of your compliance needs, etc.

I get receipts which are a sheet of paper folded in three and glued along the sides which tear off. After tearing off the sides the sheet opens up. The address is printed on the other side which is visible when folded.

They obviously to them by the thousands and have a machine print and another one fold and glue the sides automatically.

But yeah, there is no need to involve paper because this can be done online, either with passwords or, even better, certificates.

Or, like Rick said, but do it in thirds.

Regular letter-size paper, printed in thirds:

  • top 1/3 – employee name & address, to show in window envelope
  • middle 1/3 – employees copy of payslip
  • bottom 1/3 – another copy of payslip, marked to sign & return

Then spend $100 on a desktop folding machine. More confidentiality; you print them & run thru the folder right away, qnd insert into window envelopes – you can only see the amounts if you deliberately open one up to look.

To be fancier, get paper already perforated in thirds, to make it easier to tear off & return the bottom part. And if you format it right, you can have the return address positioned so that it will show thru the window, and the employee can use the same window envelope to return the signed copy.

or to be cheaper, skip the envelope altogether, and just put a bit of tape on the folded sides of the paper. Works fine f they aren’t being mailed.

Thank you so much for your responses, everyone. I really appreciate it. I’m really at the end of my tether here.

I do understand Rick’s aversion to dot matrix printers, but my boss insists on a one-step process in which nobody sees the payslips but him, and HE doesn’t have time to fold the slips and put them in envelopes. Also, I DID propose tracking down this product or something like it plus a folding machine (and just use a regular inkjet), but my boss insists there is a one-step way to print the payslips on multi-ply perforated paper.

He will definitely be against outsourcing the process and we can’t do it online because these payslips mainly go to simple workers and many of them might not have any experience with the Internet.

I’ve been putting off scheduling a meeting with the suppliers I’ve found to discuss it because they’re just going to laugh in our face if I say “I want multi-ply paper that isn’t pre-printed that reads one thing on the outside but has two copies of a different thing on the inside.”
I will see what they say about the multi-ply continuous paper with a window for the name and address. That’s our best bet at this point, but I don’t know how the employees are going to return the signed payslips. As things are, they just put them back in the same envelope and sellotape it shut. And, no, the payslips are distributed through internal post to the workers on site; they’re not mailed.

At any rate, thanks again, everyone! You’ve been a real help.

That’s what I did when I was administrative assistant for a company with part-time and full time employees. I used ADP with no problems.

I think this is done using blockouts: sections of each form that are printed with squiggles so text printed in that area isn’t legible. Each layer of the carbonless forms (aka “NCR forms”) or carbon paper forms gets different blockouts, so different parts of what’s printed can be read on each page. For instance, the front might be all squiggles on the left, with a space for the address on the right. The second page might have a space for the password on the left.

I don’t think with the equipment that you have it will be possible to print a form that can not be read by the person putting it in the envelope. These multi-part forms and printed folded and sealed by special machines.