Employee time management: Benefits of time attendance systems

Time attendance systems perform two essential functions: they generate an accurate record of employees’ working time for payroll and benefits calculation, and provide automated access control and monitoring of your premises.

Managing working time more effectively

Traditional time-keeping techniques are rife with inefficiency. A timesheet for an absent worker might be filled out by a friendly colleague, while another may be inaccurately transcribed by a payroll clerk. Chances are good that an error will be detected only after a paycheck has been issued – if it is detected at all!

An automated system for recording attendance time can help eliminate these and other errors. The UK market is well-stocked with providers of time attendance systems that accurately capture and record employees’ working time. They help eliminate over-payment for hours not worked and benefits not earned. They also reduce the workload of human resources personnel by automating calculation of payroll and benefits. Such systems can also compile cumulative data to generate reports to be used for employee evaluations.

Controlling access for heightened security

Time attendance systems sometimes double as access control systems, which link access points installed throughout the work place to a central server. When an employee arrives in the morning and swipes his company badge, key fob or ID card at the office entrance, the company has a record of when and also where the employee entered the premises. Individual badges can be programmed to allow an employee access to some areas but not others, thereby ensuring the security of sensitive areas.

Time attendance systems provide numerous benefits:

• Efficiently record employee hours to generate attendance records and accurate payroll data
• Provide detailed monitoring of absenteeism, which in turn facilitates planning and implementation of effective counteracting policies 
• Allow collection of performance measures useful to employee evaluations
• Some systems include tracking software to record time spent on targeted tasks, which is especially useful for lawyers and other professionals who bill clients by the hour