8 ways to track employee time and attendance
Monitoring employee attendance is critical for an employer, more so when there are global teams involved. The pandemic induced work-from-home culture has also brought to focus the importance of tracking time and attendance. Employee attendance tracking is essential to calculate their salaries and reasons such as their safety and the time at which they were at a location. Absenteeism affects employee morale, productivity, loyalty and eventually the company’s performance. However, using an advanced time and attendance system can help the organisation perform better. Here are 8 different options that can be integrated into your office T&A system:
Mobile tracking
Remote and working on the move are common practices for various teams and employees in organisations with multiple locations and international businesses. Hence, by using mobile time tracking apps, employees can keep a log of the time no matter where they are. Advanced mobile time tracking apps integrate GPS technology to keep a more accurate and consistent record of time. Managers can easily monitor the time spent and where the employee is. This makes it difficult for anyone to indulge in time theft. These apps integrate with organisational online payroll system and they can submit timesheets directly to facilitate on-time salary disbursal.
Geofencing technology
When used in tandem with GPS technology, the geofencing systems can keep an accurate record of the entry and exit time of employees from a particular work location. These online payroll systems allow supervisors to geofence the workplace, and each time an employee enters or exits the location, the software records the data. It can prevent buddy punching and keep things simple.Also, itis very useful for work spaces like chemical manufacturing unit or medical lab that have restricted areas where only certain employees are allowed to enter. In a way, it ensures the safety of the employees as well.
Biometrics
Biometric time tracking is another globally preferred system, and it includes tools such as facial recognition, fingerprint scanners and retina scanners. These systems ensure the physical presence of an employee at the work location and it is one of the most accurate time and attendance system options.
Printable timesheet
There are many businesses that still rely on the classic system of printed timesheets, wherein the employee fills in his/her arrival and departure time from the workplace. This is usually a system that can be easily manipulated and is prone to inaccuracies. The compliance to various laws related to wages and work hours mandate record-keeping, and this system is quite cumbersome on those parameters.
Excel timesheet
Excel spreadsheets are a digitised version of the classic printed paper timesheets. They are easier to store and locate, but they can also be as inaccurate and prone to manipulation as the paper timesheets.
Time and attendance software
A quality time and attendance software is an organisation’s best option, especially in companies where the employees work on computers. They can simply log into the systems and it marks their attendance. Whenever the employee stops working, the system records it in the timesheet. It stores the data either on an on-premises database or in the cloud. Online systems make it easy for companies to map their various offices together and set a specific time tracking component for all locations. Payroll management is also very easy as all the data is electronically integrated with the accounting software.
Time clock booths
This is a handy digital option for employers practising record-keeping from one device. Time-kiosks can be a mobile or tablet-optimised kiosk, which can be moved from one location to another at different hours of the day. Such time-clocks can be enabled on various devices in different offices. Using such a technology, a construction company can keep a record of personnel working at each construction site across cities.
No matter which option you choose, it is highly advisable to go for an advanced online system, which can seamlessly work across locations and countries and offer unmatched compliance and efficiency for a business.