Employee time and attendance tracking

Is the way you track employee time and attendance efficient? When the COVID-19 pandemic increased the number of employees working remotely, many businesses were forced to adopt technology. Time and attendance processes that were initially manual cannot stand the test of time in a digital-first era hence the need for automation. Proper implementation of automated time and attendance tracking system may result in shifts in the way work is done resulting in a more efficient and streamlined process.

One of the greatest challenges business owners face in managing remote workers is increasing efficiency through use of the right technology. Record keeping that allows for compliance with labour laws is especially pertinent as it improves employee management and gives employers more visibility into their organization.

What is a time and attendance system?

A time and attendance system provides employees with an advanced, user-friendly option to outdated processes like manual time cards and attendance record books. To reduce lost time and track employee productivity, a time and attendance system may offer the ability for employees to clock in using a mobile app on a smartphone, an advanced management dashboard with live statistics, supports action report generation, data analysis features, intelligent scheduling and leave management. Put simply, time and attendance software automates the process of capturing employee work hours, managing employee schedules, monitoring overtime and absences and management of leave benefits.

With the adoption of web-based subscription software on the rise, some of the best tracking software is available through software as a service delivery method.

Why track employee hours?

Industries where time is the most important asset such as service industry where salary is based on the amount of time worked need to track employee hours. This will ensure employers adhere to labour regulations in relations to wages and also number of hours worked in a certain work period. Knowledge on employee hours will give you insight into whether you need to increase the number of workers to obtain optimum results from your workforce.

A robust time and attendance system can help you ensure remote workers continue doing their jobs in time and in the correct hours. Here are a few more reasons to track employee work hours:

• Regular pay. Wages determined by the number of hours worked imply a need for accuracy, transparency and verification capabilities of the tracking method employed. In order to ensure the right pay to workers, implementing an automated tracking system will have the right impact.
• Overtime pay. Labour regulations stipulate the number of maximum hours for an employee to work in a week. To comply with this, employers need an accurate and verifiable system to use in allocating overtime pay.
• Time tracking. Tracking hours can help determine whether workers are arriving to the office on time.
• Leave management. Tracking the number of hours will give an employer insight to whether an employee deserves the leave applied for and the hours left after being approved for a leave.

Benefits of implementing a time and attendance tracking system

Employers spend a huge chunk of their time tracking employee time manually. Despite low adoption, automated time tracking can have significant benefits to your business and ultimately impact your bottom line.

Here are some key benefits of a time and attendance tracking system:

• Reduce data entry errors. Employees using pen and paper records may neglect to complete their timesheets when they need to. This may lead to guessing game at a later date when they try to recall their clock in time, their lunch break times and the time they clocked out for the day. Such errors can lead to an employer overpaying or underpaying employees. Automated time and attendance tracking allows for employers to accurately track the time employees clock in, take lunch breaks and punch out of their workplace. This data can be easily exported to payroll system ensuring the correct pay saving the employer money that would have been paid for unwarranted overtime.
• Increase efficiency and productivity. An automated system that allows for employee self-service removes the hassle out of filling out forms and double-checking the accuracy of the data to ensure correct pay. An automated system enhances trust in the workplace as employees can be assured of their rightful pay leading them to focus more on their work thereby increasing productivity which leads to an increased output for the company.
• Cost savings. Calculating payroll manually from pen and paper attendance records can be time-consuming and increases the burden of administrative work for those tasked with the job. As a result, employees have a longer wait time to get payment for work done as the process takes time, this escalated by the employee needing to remit employment deductions to the correct tax authority. An automated time and attendance management system can greatly decrease time, expense and human capital deployed in the collection, management and data entry of attendance records involved in a manual system. Employee information can be automatically pulled from the system for purposes of making payroll or even analyzing labour costs related to the company.

Future of digital adoption

The past few years have accelerated the adoption of technology in many industries. And with the rising adoption of artificial intelligence, many industries will be using disparate technologies for different use cases.

For a solopreneur or HR manager, investing in a human resource information system that is continuously updated and keeps abreast of industry standards is what you can go for to start your employee time and attendance tracking. This will not only allow you to also streamline shift scheduling but also leave management from one interface.