FAQs
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Here are the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) regarding Time and Attendance solutions.
If you have a question not covered here, or need answers specific to your situation, please contact us!
Time and Attendance (aka “T&A”) is the process of documenting an employee’s attendance at the work site by:
- Recording arrival and departure times
- Calculating actual hours worked
- Maintaining time off and work overage information
Companies of all sizes use T&A systems to gather information about the time employees actually spend on the job, and to ensure employees are accurately paid.
Employers also use T&A processes to safeguard company assets against employee fraud — like over reporting the actual hours worked on the job.
T&A systems consist of the software and hardware used to automate Time and Attendance business processes.
Basic solutions do little more than computerize the manual process of submitting paper time sheets, but more sophisticated solutions will automate day-to-day employee tasks:
- Reporting attendance
- Scheduling work tasks
- Tracking work hours
- Managing project costing
- Calculating accrued benefit entitlements
Sophisticated systems also provide schedule management capabilities to set break times, lunches, time off and overtime. And, they provide time tracking capabilities to collect time reporting, calculate actual employee labor hours and absence data, show patterns of absenteeism, and provide input for payroll generation.
Most T&A systems include auditing and reporting tools that give managers direct access to employee data.
If you have around 25 employees or more, you probably do!
T&A systems are used by companies of all sizes to record working hours of employees; primarily in order to pay their wages.
Companies with mostly salaried employees probably don’t need a T&A system. Companies with mostly hourly or part-time employees (or a mix of hourly and part-time) probably do.
The need for a Time and Attendance system usually becomes apparent when a company approaches 25 employees. And as the company grows, so do the company needs. Also, depending on the level of complexity in your company, you may need a T&A solution well before you reach 25 employees.
Your needs may require the ability to create complex schedules, implement advanced labor planning, and account for employees’ desired work schedules. T&A solutions greatly simplify this for you.
Other complex issues that may be addressed by a T&A solution are labor budgeting, labor planning, and key performance indicators (KPIs). These advanced features can be used by any size company, but typically not until a company reaches 500 or more employees.
Yes, if your company requires you to record an employee’s daily work by project, job and/or location.
Such companies often have a requirement to record the number of hours spent on specific tasks in order to cost jobs accurately.
T&A solutions that include job costing and job planning capabilities are invaluable to companies that need to monitor their workforce productivity or forecast workforce needs.
- Automate workforce and labor data collection
- Organize workforce and labor data into manageable components for analysis
- Plan, schedule and reschedule labor resources for better productivity.
- Provide accurate workforce and labor data to payroll and other financial systems.
Automated T&A systems use electronic devices to identify and record employee arrival and departure times as they enter and leave the work area. Example electronic devices could include:
- Facial recognition readers
- Fingerprint scanners
- Palm readers
- Electronic tags
- Barcode badges
- Magnetic stripe cards
- Touch screens
Data collection time clocks located at various locations automatically transfer the recorded information to a computer for processing. Or, some systems require an operator to physically transfer data from the clocking point to the computer using a portable memory device.
The computer then performs all the necessary calculations to generate employee timesheets which are used in other integrated systems, such as payroll, to calculate the employees’ wages and generate payment.
T&A systems protect a company from payroll fraud and provides both employer and employees with confidence in the accuracy of their wage payments.
T&A systems also enable an employer to have full control of all employees’ working hours and (very important) are invaluable for ensuring compliance with labor regulations regarding proof of attendance.
Companies with a large employee workforce might need to install several clocking points in order to speed up the process of getting all employees to clock in or out quickly, or to record activity in dispersed locations.
Time and Attendance solutions can make your life much easier by replacing inefficient manual systems like paper-based time reporting sheets, mechanical clock card punch machines, or basic scheduling spreadsheets (to name a few).
Manual systems rely on highly skilled personnel tediously managing the workplace and labor force using paper based solutions of the past. Employee hours worked are calculated based on paper cards which have times stamped onto them using a time stamping machine (mechanical clock).
Time stamping machines have been in use for over a century and may still be bought new today. However, managers relying on such manual systems are often relying on printed work schedules that are obsolete shortly after they are printed.
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