Time & Attendance

As many of our longer-term clients are aware, we conduct annual reviews of the performance of our time and attendance systems to ensure that they are providing the best possible automation and accuracy. During a recent review, I asked a client whether there were any features they would like added to the system to enhance user experience or functionality. Jenny (the company accountant) mentioned a few reports that she would like customised, but her main concern was centred more around payroll than time and attendance. I asked Jenny to elaborate on those concerns, and she told me that their weekly payroll is a high-stress event where everything happens in a single day often requiring less experienced staff to assist in meeting the payroll deadline. As Jenny mentions, the actual process of producing the pays happens over just one day because, in most companies, the agreed payday is just a day or two after the payroll cycle finishes.  At the and of the pay cycle, and often in a rush, ...

Proximity Card Security In the Time & Attendance Industry. Proximity card security can be looked at in two ways. Firstly, there are the security issues from misuse by employees and secondly, from misuse by people outside the organisation. Your employees and card security Again, from a time and attendance perspective, the security of employee proximity card is about whether the employee can pass that card to another employee to @clock@ for them when they arrive late or depart early. This is called Time Theft, and it can account for higher labour costs to a business.  Time theft was an issue with older Bundy Clocks which used punch cards kept in a wall rack. It was very easy to punch in for other employees, and this was generally done based on an arrangement between coworkers. Proximity cards and key ring tags which are retained by employees make this considerably harder. This is particularly the case when you consider that the main reason why employees ar...

 Proximity Time Clocks - Which Card Format  Should You Use? There are dozens of proximity (RFID) cards available, and they are incompatible with each other and have their own pros and cons, so the answer to this question is best answered with a few more questions. Do you have an access control system?    If you do then it is best to select a time clock system that can use the same card format. This way, employees are not required to carry two different cards. If you don't have an access control system, is it possible you will invest in one?  If you answered yes to this question, it is possible that you can kill two birds with one stone depending on your access requirements.  If the access requirement is for a single door, then many time clocks will control an entry door with the addition of an electric lock. In any case, if access control is on the agenda, then it will be best to select a card format which is wel...

Attendance Recording for Small Business - Food Retailers Small business in the food retailing industry share some standard operating practices. Finding an employee attendance system which works well in this industry can be challenging but not if you know the right things to consider. Here are some typical characteristics of small retailers.  Typically, these businesses will employ between ten and fifty staff. Employees can work quite varied shifts. Employees are often paid overtime and penalty rates. They often employ casual employees. IT infrastructure on-site is often very basic  The payroll is usually calculated by an offsite bookkeeper or perhaps the partner of the proprietor. Employees are very interdependent, so it is usually very evident when a team member is late. In the case of larger employers, the rostering of staff for budgeting is required.  There can be issues with fingerprint time clocks because employees work with water and occasio...

The most important thing you need to know about employee time clock systems. You want a new employee time and attendance system because it promised to reduce the time and effort required to do the weekly payroll. That makes compete for sense and every company, regardless of size, should be striving to improve business processes. This is the core advantage of a modern time clock system. There are other clear benefits a modern employee time clock system can provide, such as a reduction in employee time theft (when using biometric time clocks) and the complete removal of paper attendance records. Integration with payroll is also a feature of these systems, and certainly, that can save the data entry. But what if I told you there was a single feature that almost certainly will offset the core advantage of a time clock system. Well, there is, and that is a thing called rounding. To understand rounding, you must first understand that an electronic time clock , unlike a ...

Do companies make bad buying decisions? Of course, they do and, the reasons are usually very clear. It most likely because they are not well enough informed. It comes down to the current skills of the individual or team and their ability and motivation to conduct the required research. Generally speaking, we pay more attention to our research and evaluation when the product costs more because clearly making a mistake has more serious financial consequences.  When the investment is less significant, the consequences will likely also be less significant. When considering new management information systems, small businesses usually have a smaller budget and fewer individuals who can contribute to the purchasing decision. Small businesses often do not have the luxury of an internal IT Manager, Accountant or an experienced Project Manager. Unfortunately,  it is often not possible to know what you don't know and, this can lead to overlooking some critical features that you requ...