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Without wanting to toot our own horn too loudly, PayCaptain is a payroll company that’s committed to social responsibility with demonstrable results.
We’re the world’s first payroll solution to be B Corporation certified (January 2022) and we’ve operated using the B Corporation framework since we launched in early 2020. Being a B Corporation (or ‘B Corp’) means that PayCaptain meets high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency.
At PayCaptain, we use the latest thinking to provide a payroll and financial wellness solution for innovative and socially responsible companies that understand the importance of good financial wellbeing for their workforce.
Our mission is to put people in control of the money they earn by empowering them to manage their money in the best possible way. This helps them towards a better standard of living, a longer, healthier, happier and more financially-secure life and helps them plan for a better retirement.
Having a more engaged workforce also helps reduce the negative effects of financial stress in the workplace for employers, which is closely associated with higher levels of absenteeism, reduced productivity and increased staff turnover.
Our commitment to social responsibility, however, goes beyond just our product and services. The company is also committed to responsible behaviour towards the environment, our stakeholders and the community.
PayCaptain’s commitment to the environment.
What are Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions?
Scope 1 emissions
Scope 1 covers emissions from sources that we own or directly control – for example from burning fuel in our fleet of vehicles (if they’re not electrically-powered).
Scope 2 emissions
Scope 2 are emissions that a company causes indirectly and come from where the energy it purchases and uses is produced. For example, the emissions caused when generating the electricity that we use in our buildings would fall into this category or the energy used by our employees who are remote workers.
Scope 3 emissions
Scope 3 emissions are those that are not produced by PayCaptain itself and are not the result of activities from our owned or controlled assets. They're emissions that we’re indirectly responsible for up and down our value chain. An example of this is when we buy, use and/or dispose of products from suppliers. Scope 3 emissions include all sources not within the scope 1 and 2 boundaries.
At PayCaptain, we know and acknowledge there’s a climate emergency and we operate our business accordingly. We’re a carbon-neutral company and are working towards being a net-zero company. We have net zero residual emissions across our full value chain and we’ve publicly committed to being fully Net Zero by 2030.
We have zero Scope 1 emissions.
We constantly strive to reduce our Scope 2 and 3 emissions and then compensate for emissions we can’t reduce by purchasing Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGO) certificates. We also fund high-quality carbon avoidance and removal projects to cover any remaining emissions.
Our employees are all remote workers. We support, encourage and incentivise our employees to use sustainable energy in their homes. Through our partner Ecologi we offset 9 tonnes of CO2 per year for every employee regardless of their personal efforts to reduce their own carbon footprint.
In consideration of the emissions related to how PayCaptain is used by our customers, we also fund projects to avoid or remove 10kg of CO2 emissions and plant a tree in the PayCaptain Ecologi forest for every 10 payslips we produce.
At the time of writing, September 2023, we have planted 11,679 trees and funded 42 projects to offset CO2. By funding these planting projects, we significantly overcompensate for the emissions produced by our customers when using the PayCaptain software via mobile app and on desktop computers and servers.
Our Carbon Offsetting and tree planting can be seen here: https://ecologi.com/paycaptain
In relation to Scope 3 emissions, in 2022 we purchased 48 Megawatt hours of Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs) certificates. This covered 11 servers in data centres running 24 hours a day (@ 500w per hour). This is in consideration for the software that we purchase from third parties, excluding our existing net-zero suppliers like Salesforce and Microsoft.
PayCaptain’s commitment to the community:
Our sister organisation, PayCaptain.Org, is a registered UK charity and an HMRC-authorised Payroll Giving Agency (‘PGA’).
PayCaptain.Org allows PayCaptain to provide payroll giving schemes (also known as ‘Give as Your Earn’ or ‘GAYE’) to our customers. We also partner with GoodPAYE, a simple and efficient payroll giving platform that works to help generate funds for UK charities. PayCaptain.Org is the PGA for all the companies using GoodPAYE’s platform.
Members of the PayCaptain team give their time and energy to the PayCaptain.Org charity for free – in particular Sarah Rayment (Head of Operations), Anna Buckle (Head of Employee Experience) and Simon Bocca (CEO and Founder).
Payroll Giving Agencies usually deduct a percentage of all donations they process before sending the funds to the charities. Demonstrating the commitment to social responsibility, PayCaptain.Org does not make any deduction from the funds donated through payroll giving.
PayCaptain’s commitment to our employees:
PayCaptain is an accredited real Living Wage employer. The real Living Wage aims to be a wage that meets employees everyday needs, covering workers’ realistic cost of living and is paid voluntarily by nearly 14,000 employers in the UK.
The real Living Wage is different to the national Living Wage (‘NLW’) and the national Minimum Wage (‘NMW’), which are rates of pay that must be paid, by law, to all employees over school leaving age.
Not only is PayCaptain an accredited Living Wage employer, but we can also help other social responsible companies who want to be a part of this voluntary payroll movement for the benefit of their employees.
PayCaptain’s commitment to good Governance:
PayCaptain is an accredited Good Business Charter company (‘GBC’). UK companies can sign up to in recognition of responsible business practices.
The GBC measures behaviour over 10 components: real living wage; fairer hours and contracts; employee wellbeing; employee representation; diversity and inclusion; environmental responsibility; paying fair tax; commitment to customers; ethical sourcing and prompt payment.
Not only is PayCaptain an accredited GBC company, but, as a B Corporation, we have built the B Corp framework into the foundations of the business and it’s a consideration for everything we do. To achieve (and retain) B Corp status, B Corps must:
- Achieve a B Impact score of over 80, which is an assessment of high social and environmental performance (PayCaptain scored 101.4 with two Best for the World Awards for being in the top 5% of businesses in the Governance and Workers Impact areas)
- Must change their corporate governance so that they are accountable to all stakeholders. Stakeholders include employees, the local community, their shareholders and the environment.
- Allow B Lab to publicly display their performance against accreditation standards, demonstrating transparency and commitment to the movement for change.
So, when you contact PayCaptain, you can be assured that we’re a socially responsible company, dedicated to improving the lives of workers, particularly those who are vulnerable or low-income employees. But not only that, we have a commitment built into our organisation to positively contribute to the fight against climate change, make a change in our community and ensure that our employees are paid fairly and recognised for what they do!
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