Employee time management – Buying guide

Automated employee time management systems can make a critical contribution to your company’s bottom line. Time and attendance systems allow you to monitor staff sick leave, holidays and absences, and some staff management systems can link directly with payroll software to permit seamless (and paperless) pay administration. They streamline HR processes, reduce timesheet fraud, and improve payroll accuracy. It’s not about snooping; it’s about saving!

Time and attendance systems: the basics

Automated time and attendance systems perform two essential functions:

• Accurate record keeping: an automated clocking in and out system will accurately capture and record employees’ working time and help your business eliminate over-payment for hours not worked and benefits not earned. It will also reduce the workload of your HR and payroll staffs by automating payroll and benefits calculations.
• Access control: clocking in systems sometimes double as access control systems, linking access points installed throughout the work place to a central server. When an employee swipes his badge or ID card at the entrance, you have a record of when and where he entered the premises. Individual badges can also be programmed to allow access to some areas but not others, thereby ensuring that sensitive areas remain off limits to non-authorised personnel.

A 2011 study from a renowned management consultancy firm concluded that unscheduled employee absences cost UK businesses £32 billion per year. With a proper clocking in system, your business can avoid such costly waste by streamlining your time and attendance management processes.

A time and attendance system (aka clocking in system) is the most effective deterrent to employee time fraud. Such a system saves your business money!