No other payroll for David Jones

update Retail giant David Jones has upgraded to an online human resources/payroll system which will process payments for its 8,000 staff around Australia.

Despite reviewing market options for a new system the retailer has stuck with payroll vendor Empower. David Jones -- which has used Empower's payroll service since the late 80s -- inked a deal to use the vendor's online product till mid-2011.

The catalyst for the upgrade was Empower phasing out its Masterpay product, according to Empower CEO Alan Greig. David Jones had run the system on its mainframe for many years.

Empower proposed David Jones adopt its Empower-HR product, part of the trend towards application service provider (ASP) model services.

Under this agreement, Empower hosts the application and assists with the processing of fortnightly pay cycles.

The online system allows the retailer to perform transactions as they occur rather than having to wait till the end of a pay period. Employees can request leave using the online system and have it approved online by their boss.

Greig said the system rollout took about 12 months and was completed at the end of last year.

David Jones did not comment on the value of the deal or the other vendors considered at press time.