American workers are quite confident in their corporate payroll department’s ability to figure out their checks properly.

Most of them are now paid via direct deposit, a sign of confidence in the online financial transaction system. And nearly 9 in 10 can go online to access their pay and benefits information.

But with the new overtime rules soon to be the law of the land, more than a third are apparently not logging their hours in any formal way.

The latest employee payroll survey by the American Payroll Association, “Getting Paid In America,” validates corporate payroll department efforts to modernize operations both for the benefit of employees and their employers.

Basing their findings on information from more than 27,000 working adults, the APA charted the rapid progress being made in such areas as the availability of online employee portals, where the percent rose in a single year from 82 percent to 88 percent.

Judging by the numbers, employees are content with the direction payroll is headed. When asked how certain they were that payroll was accurately managing withholding and net amounts in their paychecks, 70 percent say they were “very certain” and another 22 percent reported being “somewhat certain.”

But an occasional screw-up that delayed their check for a week wasn’t very concerning to a large chunk of those surveyed. Only 28 percent say a delayed paycheck would make it “very difficult” for them to meet their financial obligations. More than a third (36 percent) said they could shrug it off.

The online/mobile numbers were impressive: 97 percent say they receive their pay via direct deposit (only 2 percent still get a paper check). More than half (52 percent) have deposited a check of some type via their smartphone or tablet, and 71 percent have used a smartphone or tablet for some type of banking transaction.

But when it comes to inputting hours worked, an important metric for meeting the new overtime rules, employers aren’t so accommodating. Fully 36 percent said they weren’t required by their employer to input hours worked anywhere. For those who do track their hours, the most common method was via desktop or laptop computer — 36 percent. Barely 2 percent track them on their phone or tablet; 14 percent still track with a time card or time sheet.

APA asked respondents whether better health benefits or higher wages were more important to them, and found that 56 percent wanted more cash in the paycheck. However, health benefits were still by far the most important piece of the benefits package, cited by 42 percent as their most important benefit. Vacation time and flexible schedule each got the top spot from 20 percent of respondents; retirement benefits were most important to 9 percent.

Instant Insights /

More than a third of employers aren&rsquo;t tracking worker hours

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More than a third of employers aren’t tracking worker hours