HARDA Limited employs 650 workers in ten different departments. These workers work in various capacities, including the manufacturing workers, technician, and janitorial workers. Each department has a supervisor who is responsible for supervising departmental activities. In addition to supervising operations, the supervisors of the departments are responsible for recruiting, hiring, and firing workers within their areas of responsibility. The organization attracts casual labour and experiences a 20 to 30 per cent turnover rate in employees per year.

Employees clock on and off the job each day to record their attendance on time cards. Each department has its clock machine located in an unattended room away from the main production area. Each week, the supervisors gather the time cards, review them for accuracy, and sign and submit them to the payroll department for processing. Besides, the supervisors submit personnel action forms to reflect newly hired and terminated employees. From these documents, the payroll department signs the paychecks, which are drawn on the general cash account, and sends them to the department supervisors for distribution to the employees. A payroll register is sent to the cash disbursements department where it is filed.

Required:

a) Discuss the risks for payroll fraud in the HARDA Limited payroll system.

b) What controls would you implement to reduce the risks