Not all time and attendance solutions are created equal. Perhaps you’re manually keeping track of time cards or your automated time and attendance system isn’t living up to your expectations. Either way, it might be time to make a change. Modern time and attendance software should deliver results—mainly savings and accuracy—for any human resources department.
Accurate Time Tracking Leads To Labor Cost Savings
In any organization, employees usually are both the largest expense and the largest asset. Maintaining control of labor costs is critical to the overall bottom line and it all starts with accurate time tracking.
According to the American Payroll Association (APA), organizations can experience anywhere between a 1% and 7% clerical error rate when totaling employee time. So, if you’re dealing with a million-dollar payroll and average 5% error when entering information into your payroll system, that’s a $50,000 mistake. Multiply that by however many pay periods you have in a fiscal year, and that adds up to quite a chunk of change.
A Time Clock Integrated With Your Payroll Software
A modern automated time and attendance solution should fully integrate with your payroll system. This eliminates the need for duplicate data entry or importing time spreadsheets, thus saving you time and reducing clerical errors. Any new hire data will transfer seamlessly from the onboarding process, and labor hours should automatically flow to payroll.
Reduce Time Theft and Buddy Punching
Time theft and buddy punching are two of the biggest infractions against inefficient time and attendance software. Time theft is simply that—employees “steal” time by claiming to be on the job longer than they are in reality. For instance, an employee writes down that she started her shift at 8:00 a.m. but really didn’t arrive until 8:15 a.m.
Buddy punching occurs when an employee is running late or leaves early and asks a co-worker to physically clock him in or out for the day. According to the APA, businesses lose $373 million each year due to buddy punching.
A credible time tracking solution will reduce time theft if not prevent it all together. To start, consider using a biometric time clock with fingerprint reader in order to eliminate buddy punching. At the very least, any modern time clock should include wi-fi connectivity, PIN entry, badge/proximity entry, multiple languages, badge reader and printer support.
Your timekeeping solution should also contain a mobile app that allows employees to punch in/out, enter daily hours, transfer departments and request time off work. It also allows managers to handle PTO requests and attendance exceptions from his or her phone.
If you’re concerned about employees taking advantage of such a convenience, consider using geo-validation. This allows an employer to establish parameters in regard to where an employee physically must be in order to punch in/out. The location is documented for manager review.
Keep an Eye on Compliance
Wage and hour compliance is critical, especially if you have hourly employees. Your time and attendance solution should keep accurate track of labor hours and overtime, alerting you to any possible Department of Labor violations. Make sure the system offers compliance checks for ACA, FLSA, IRS, unions, EEOC and OSHA.
Recording every hour worked by each employee and maintaining those files is important not only for compliance but also to protect the company from employment lawsuits. Remember, the onus is on the employer to prove the hours worked and each employee is paid accurately. If one employee claims he wasn’t paid correctly, the burden of proof is on you.
Improve Employee Productivity
When selecting time and attendance software, keep the employee experience in mind. A system that offers intuitive self service will give employees convenient access to their attendance information and allow them to not only punch in/out but also request PTO or easily find a shift replacement if necessary, which frees up your time and your inbox.
It also helps employee morale when everyone is paid accurately. If someone works overtime, the time tracking software should take note and pay that individual appropriately. Just as important, you don’t want to underpay anyone. Time and attendance software will help ensure pay accuracy.
An automated attendance management feature allows you to create a disciplinary policy that triggers certain HR actions (like a verbal or written warning) when employees reach certain markers (unexcused absences, repeated tardiness, etc.). You won’t have to worry about keeping track of these incidents manually or with email.
Enhanced Reporting and Scheduling
Scheduling, reporting and exception information should be right at your fingertips. Personalized dashboards for you and your supervisors that give the data you need at a glance should be standard.
This includes the ability to view a complete pay period as well as today’s hours and overtime status. You should have the power to fix time cards easily and track time so you can pay right after a shift if necessary.
To help manage overtime expenses, your time and attendance solution should break down the cost by department, manager, location, etc., as well as predict your expected spend for the rest of the year. It should also be able to integrate with your general ledger.
Of course, any time and attendance software works best when used with a unified human capital management platform. A modern HCM solution integrates every aspect of people management, from the way you recruit and onboard to the way you develop, pay and retain your team. With a single source of truth for all employee data, your everyday HR process is simplified—you’ll never have to toggle between programs or enter the same data over and over again.
Check out Paycor’s Time ROI Calculator to see how we can help make your HR more efficient and impact your bottom line.
