What’s New in Multi-Country Payroll: Your September 2026 Asia Compliance & Tech Briefing
The September 2026 ePayslip release introduces targeted compliance updates, more efficient employee data processing, improved time-tracking functionality, and important platform fixes. The changes primarily affect payroll operations in Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan.
Key Takeaways
Hong Kong payroll logic now reflects the transition from the 418 Rule to the 468 Rule.
Japan year-end tax adjustment forms, questionnaires, tax slips, and eL-Tax reporting have been updated for 2026.
Thailand Employee Welfare Fund calculations and reporting have been added.
Japan payroll teams can upload Employee My Number information in bulk with validation and masking.
A new QR clock mode supports shared time-tracking kiosks.
Fixes improve payslip downloads, account switching, approval workflows, notifications, and country-specific calculations.
Introduction
Payroll platforms must keep pace with regulatory changes while remaining dependable for everyday processing. The September 2026 payroll software updates focus on those two priorities: supporting evolving requirements across Asian markets and removing friction from routine payroll and HR workflows.
This release covers ePayslip’s e-HR, Employee Self-Service, SaaS, and PayAdmin environments. Here are the changes most relevant to payroll administrators, HR teams, and regional operations leaders.
Compliance Updates Across Key Asian Markets
Hong Kong continuous-contract calculations
The release corrects eligibility logic for Hong Kong’s transition from the previous 418 Rule to the new 468 Rule.
For work periods before 18 January 2026, the earlier requirement continues to apply. From 18 January 2026, an employee may meet the revised continuous-contract requirement by working at least 17 hours each week or at least 68 hours over a specified four-week period.
This transition is now reflected more accurately in the platform’s calculations. The change aligns with guidance from the Hong Kong Labour Department.
Eligibility calculations for paid paternity leave have also been adjusted so that the required service period is assessed against the actual leave date. Under Hong Kong rules, eligibility for paternity leave pay generally requires at least 40 weeks of continuous employment before the day of leave.
Japan year-end tax updates
Japan’s 2026 Year-End Tax Adjustment functionality has been updated across the relevant payroll and employee self-service environments.
The main changes cover:
Withholding tax slip generation and layouts
Updated questionnaire questions and validation
Spouse deduction response synchronization
eL-Tax field calculations and formatting
Japanese era and character formatting
Updated PDF and submission-file outputs
These changes support payroll teams preparing for the 2026 year-end process. Employers should still review the latest National Tax Agency guidance when completing statutory submissions.
Thailand Employee Welfare Fund support
The release introduces system support for Thailand’s Employee Welfare Fund, including:
Employee and employer contribution calculations
New statutory pay items
Employee Welfare Fund reports
Statutory export files
Updated payroll input templates
Thailand’s Ministry of Labour stated that contributions were scheduled to begin on 1 October 2026 at 0.25% from employers and 0.25% from employees under the applicable rules.
Employers should confirm their obligations and any subsequent regulatory announcements with official sources or professional advisers. Thailand Ministry of Labour
Faster and More Controlled Payroll Administration
Bulk upload for Japan Employee My Number
Payroll administrators can now upload Employee My Number information through an Excel template instead of entering records individually.
The upload process includes:
Validation of the required 12-digit format
Masking of sensitive identification numbers
Clear error reporting for invalid records
This provides a more structured way to manage employee tax identification data while reducing repetitive data entry.
QR clock mode for shared kiosks
A new eTimesheet Kiosk QR Clock mode supports shared tablet-based attendance recording.
The first phase includes session-independent operation, multi-device synchronization, caching, and rate limiting. These controls are intended to support more consistent clock-in and clock-out activity when a device is used continuously by multiple employees.
Reliability Improvements for Daily Payroll Work
The release also resolves several issues that could interrupt routine payroll and employee-service processes.
Important fixes include:
Clearer file names for combined payslip downloads
Correct account and entity information after users switch sessions
Accurate approver names within active workflows
Termination reminder emails stopping after an employee leaves
More reliable employee information upload validation in Malaysia
Overtime calculations in Taiwan using the month when the overtime occurred
Corrections to selected statutory contribution and tax calculations
Improved Japanese tax-slip character formatting and eL-Tax data handling
More reliable template, bank-file, and report generation in Thailand
Together, these fixes strengthen the accuracy and usability of frequently used payroll functions without requiring major changes to established processes.
What Payroll Teams Should Review
Following the release, payroll and HR administrators should:
Confirm that the latest statutory configurations are active for the markets they manage.
Review Hong Kong eligibility results that span the 18 January 2026 transition date.
Test Japan year-end tax questionnaires, tax slips, and submission outputs before final processing.
Validate Thailand Employee Welfare Fund settings against the organisation’s statutory obligations.
Check payslip downloads, approval workflows, and employee uploads during the next payroll cycle.
Report unexpected results through the appropriate support channel.
Final Thoughts
The September 2026 release concentrates on practical improvements rather than broad feature expansion. Its most important changes strengthen statutory processing in Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand while improving the reliability of everyday payroll, time-tracking, and employee-service workflows.
Regional payroll teams should review the changes relevant to their operating markets and complete normal validation before finalising statutory submissions or payroll runs.
For guidance on how these updates apply to your payroll environment, contact ePayslip.
What I like about Basket Bros is how quickly I can jump into another game after a surprising loss. I usually have a new strategy in mind before the next match even starts.