DSNs allow extracting certain payroll information, but present significant limitations when it comes to obtaining a level of detail comparable to that provided by an HRIS or a payroll tool connected via an API.
Data not available in the DSN
Salary details : Specific payroll items (e.g.: 13th month, vacation bonuses, performance-related bonuses, etc.) are not distinguished individually. They appear as aggregated amounts, which prevents a granular analysis of actual compensation (see the appendix at the end of the article).
Departments : DSNs do not provide the level of detail of departments within the company. Only legal entities and workplaces are available, limiting organizational visibility.
Managers : The DSN contains no information allowing identification of your teams' managers.
Probation periods : The DSN does not contain the dates of validation, renewal or termination of probation periods. However, it does include the details of the reasons for departure of employees who have left.
Nationalities : Only the country of birth is accessible, not the nationality, limiting analysis of international diversity.
Paid leave and RTT : Absences are not detailed. You only have global indicators, which are sufficient to calculate the absenteeism rate, but do not offer an in-depth view of the nature of planned absences.
Situation A : Payroll Tool (without HRIS)
If you do not have an HRIS, Reflect can integrate with your payroll tool in two ways:
Option 1 : DSN
đ Advantages :
No recurring fees related to the API.
đ Disadvantages :
Complex historical import (need to gather all previous DSNs).
Manual, monthly updates; no automatic synchronization.
Impossible to correct the history in case of error.
Partial data: some information is not available in the DSN.
Option 2 : API or flat files
đ Advantages :
Complete data, including details of salaries and bonuses.
Full historical data.
Daily updates.
Maintenance and integration handled by Reflect.
đ Disadvantages :
The API may be chargeable (e.g.: Silae, ADP).
Situation B : HRIS + Payroll Tool
When you also have an HRIS, most of the information missing from the DSN (departments, managers, details of leave) can be retrieved directly from the HRIS, thus limiting the impact of the DSN's shortcomings.
Thus, the DSN is used only to retrieve payroll data, while the HRIS provides the majority of HR information. You therefore benefit from a more complete base, greatly limiting the restrictions encountered in Situation A.
â ď¸ However, the limitations on remuneration details remain. You cannot retrieve all the details of 13th-month payments, vacation bonuses, performance-related bonuses... (see the appendix)
Appendix : Aggregated DSN payroll data
