National Payroll Week is a national awareness campaign held annually during the week of Labor Day, hosted by the American Payroll Association in the United States, the Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals in the UK and the Canadian Payroll Association in Canada. The campaign has two aspects, first as a national awareness campaign to recognize the efforts of professionals in the payroll industry. It is also an educational campaign designed to help workers learn more about their paychecks, the payroll withholding system, and payroll-related benefits. The campaign is also known for its highly visible “Getting Paid In America” online survey. The survey is available yearly from early May through the end of National Payroll Week, and one participant is chosen to win a grand prize of a free paycheck and trip to Las Vegas. The survey is meant to help the APA evaluate current payroll methods and also to identify trends within the payroll industry. Results from the survey have been quoted in numerous locations including USA Today and the New York Times.
Awareness
The NPW slogan, AMERICA WORKS BECAUSE WE’RE WORKING FOR AMERICA illustrates the importance of the payroll withholding system to the American way of life. The week celebrates the unique partnership among America's workers, companies, the payroll professionals who pay us, and critical government programs their contributions support such as social security, Medicare, fair labor standards, and child support. Through the payroll withholding system, payroll professionals contribute, collect, report and deposit approximately $1.7 trillion, or 64.2%, of the annual revenue of the U.S. Treasury. To build awareness of the important role payroll professionals play in America’s economy, the American Payroll Association employs a number of methods including extensive media and advertising campaigns. Media pushes have resulted in highly visible placements for the campaign, including stories in the Associated Press, on the CBS Early Show, and many other outlets. The annual advertising campaign promotes NPW in leading publications, websites and TV stations before and during National Payroll Week.
In 1999, the Dayton Daily News published an article on National Payroll Week. In 2007, Jet published an article.
Educational campaign
APA’s 152 chapters and its members head out into their local communities to teach workers and teens all about their paychecks and payroll-related benefits during National Payroll Week. The educational efforts focus on helping employees better manage their paychecks to put more money in their pockets each payday. Money Matters National Education Day is a national volunteer effort by APA members to teach teens new to the workforce or about to enter the workforce all about their paychecks.
