Time and attendance is used by organisations to measure the exact time that employees work for them and is used in payroll and workforce management. In this article, we help you understand why you might need time and attendance software.
Why do organisations use time and attendance software?
Organisations that have a large number of employees use time and attendance software to help them solve some of the following challenges:
- To keep track of the hours worked, shifts, nighttime and weekend workers
- Manage complicated contractual terms such as night time premium and overtime rates
- Comply with complex working time regulations or union agreements
- Reduce time fraud and buddy clocking
- Deliver an accurate payroll file, ensuring everyone gets paid the right amount for the hours they worked.
- Improve time keeping of staff.
- Manage absenteeism more effectively.
- Keep track of overtime and other increased costs.
Time and attendance tools often come as part of workforce management software or can come as stand-alone.
Should we use a stand-alone time and attendance tool or buy it as part of a workforce management system?
A workforce management system will also include scheduling and planning tools which allow you to build rotas that meet budget, demand and other requirements. The WFM tool will normally have more advanced features around calculating payroll plus absence management and other self-service tools for your staff.
If you have very simple or fixed working patterns, a time and attendance system may meet your needs. If you have complex scheduling requirements, want to use it for leave management and generate a payroll file including overtime and other complex calculations, then you probably need a workforce management system.
What are the benefits of time and attendance?
If you are asking yourself the question, “why do I need time and attendance software?” you first need to understand the benefits it provides and these will form part of the answer to the quest. There are many benefits to a time and attendance system, including:
- Reduced cost: If you only pay people for the hours they work and eliminate buddy clocking, you will save money. This will be especially beneficial if you have many employees who work in different parts of the site or off-site.
- 100% accurate Payroll: You should be able to eliminate payroll errors with a good time and attendance system if it is embedded in a workforce management platform
- Increased operational efficiency: Time and attendance allows employers to deduct pay for late arrivals; this creates a great incentive for staff to turn up on time, improving the business’s operational efficiency.
- Fairness: reliable timekeepers are no longer unfairly treated by allowing persistent lateness to go unpunished.
- Increased compliance: The EU Working time directive has rules around time off and breaks and a requirement to keep an accurate record of hours worked. A time and attendance system will make compliance so much easier. The same is true of national minimum wage regulations. Keeping accurate records can save you from a fine later.
- Central view of who is on site: Useful to see if you have enough staff to manage a remote shop and get a view of sickness and other absences in real time. Also useful for a fire register.
How much can I save using a time and attendance system?
We would expect you to save between 3% and 5% of your hourly wage bill if you move to time and attendance from a very simple or paper-based system.
Related articles:
What is Time and Attendance?
How does Time and Attendance work?
What are the different types of Time and Attendance?
What is Workforce Management software?
What are the types of workforce management software?
