Managing Time & Attendance in a Changing Business Environment

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1 Managing Time & Attendance in a Changing Business Environment

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3 Table of Contents Is Your Time and Attendance Data Relevant to Your HR Objectives?...5 Survey Reveals Benefits of Time and Attendance Software...6 Top 5 Ways Tracking Time and Attendance Can Help Properly Classify Payees Ways to Use Time and Attendance Data to Improve Decision Making...10 Managing Meals and Breaks with Time and Attendance Software Using a Time and Attendance System to Comply with FLSA Requirements Key Takeaways... 14

4 Market gyrations National politics Natural disasters International events These are all factors that can impact our business environments. And, unfortunately, there s very little (if anything) we can do as business leaders to control those external factors. However, what we can do is manage for those factors. Specifically, organizations like yours can manage time and attendance in response to our constantly changing business environments. In fact, time and attendance technology can help in nearly every aspect of nimble business response, from managing payroll taxes to reducing idle production time and analyzing employee costs. 4

5 Is Your Time and Attendance Data Relevant to Your HR Objectives? Remember when your personnel file was an actual manila folder inside someone s desk? Well, software has long replaced that paper-based system (at least, we hope so) and human resource (HR) technologies now rule. HR management systems consolidate every aspect of a person s employment from recruitment to reward and retention. And an advanced time and attendance system that seamlessly integrates into your HR platform can actually help bolster the HR process in many ways. Let s look at a tactical example, such as performance reviews. Someone made an effort to put in more time during a difficult project. Or a notoriously late employee has completely turned that behavior around. Your managers can quantify that time and attendance and make performance reviews more objective, tying pay raises to metrics. Advanced time and attendance data can also help the HR process with high-level strategic moves for the company. Take, for example, what Wired Magazine calls The Internet of Me this fancy title is all about personalized relevance. And the wake-up call for all businesses is that Millennials expect it. By examining the times your star employees clock in/ out, take lunch, and what days they request off, you can better align individual brands to your organization s brand. Overall, advanced time and attendance data is about being an intelligent enterprise. You can just use clock in/out hours for payroll, or you can use it to better recruit, retain, and reward employees. That s the competitive differentiation. 5

6 Survey Reveals Benefits of Time and Attendance Software Our latest survey conducted here at nettime solutions affirmed the benefits of time and attendance software, particularly when integrated with other HR solutions, such as HRIS and payroll software. HR management systems consolidate every aspect of a person s employment from recruitment to reward and retention, and a sophisticated time and attendance system that seamlessly integrates into your HR platform can actually help bolster the HR process in many ways, including the following: Performance reviews High-level strategic moves for the company Recruit, retain, and reward employees 6

7 According to our latest survey, 76% of our respondents shared that tardiness and/or absenteeism is accounted for in performance reviews And guess what? Time and attendance software can help those managers with this piece of the performance review process. Integrated HR software systems can also help with employee classification. The right employee classifications will help ensure you have proper reporting and compliance with local, state, and federal regulations. Payroll software is essential, and so too is the ability to seamlessly integrate your time and attendance data. Additionally, HR systems benefit from having seamless integration because this can help track not only just how much an employee has been paid, but how much time they have spent working at the company. 7

8 Top 5 Ways Tracking Time and Attendance Can Help Properly Classify Payees It is of the utmost importance to properly classify payees. This can help a company manage proper reporting and compliance with local, state, and federal regulations. Here are five ways an automated time and attendance software solution can help properly classify employees: Accurate time and attendance reporting Nothing inhibits data collection more than calculating paper timesheets and tracking down misplaced time cards. An automated time and attendance software solution moves beyond the basics of time tracking. With customizable analytics and key performance indicator (KPI) tracking, managers can develop insights to improve decision making. Accurate time and attendance data in real time With automated time and attendance software based in the cloud, data is recorded in real time. Managers can see on a dashboard who is clocked in/out, and who is approaching overtime. Easy-to-read icons warn managers of exceptions and missed punches. And customizable charts help managers analyze labor data and predict operational needs. 8

9 Accurate time and attendance from remote locations You may be in a business where your employees spend more time at offsite locations than they do at company headquarters. With a mobile website for a time and attendance system, your employees can clock in/out on their mobile device. Best of all, your employees don t need to install an app, which constantly needs updating. Accurate time and attendance self-service information You may give your employees the best state-of-the-art tools to do their jobs. But back at their desks, they re scratching their heads wondering, What is next week s schedule? With cloudbased time and attendance software, employees can check their hours, schedules, and accrual balances using a self-service employee dashboard. Time-off requests can then be confidently and efficiently made to the manager for approval. Seamless integration of time and attendance data into payroll and HR systems Payroll software is essential, and so too is the ability to seamlessly integrate your time and attendance data. Additionally, HR systems benefit from having seamless integration because this can help track not only just how much an employee has been paid, but how much time they have spent working at the company. 9

10 5 Ways to Use Time and Attendance Data to Improve Decision Making The Wall Street Journal reports that data is a currency meaning it has value, just like cash. Here are five ways you can use time and attendance data to further your business: 1Identify problems before they happen. attendance system, you can run easy-to-read reports and We re not saying that big downturns can t suddenly occur; life happens. But when employees use an advanced time and proactively monitor employee time monthly, weekly, daily heck, even hourly because the data is collected in real time. 10

11 2 Ensure 3 Generate quality staffing. One feature of an advanced time and attendance system is a highly visual dashboard. In a calendar viewing, managers can see which employees have requested time off and if there is an operational conflict. With a degree of certainty, they can look ahead to future dates and make sure they are appropriately staffed. schedules quickly and efficiently. In between sports practice for the kids and that cardio kickbox class at the gym, your employees then wonder: What days am I working? Make it easy for them by providing super-speedy access to schedules. An advanced time and attendance system has a scheduling feature that stores employee schedules, requested days off, and can even alert when someone is nearing overtime. 4Make time more meaningful. The Economist says the Quantified Self is a real movement, not a passing fad. An advanced time and attendance system lets you track time by task, project, client, or any other customized way your business slices up its day. You are busy. But are you spending your time on the tasks that are most meaningful? Therein lies a boost to the bottom line. 5Hold people accountable. We ve reported before on employee time theft. An advanced time and attendance system that is based in the cloud is inviolate. Electronically clocking in/out is captured right down to the second in real time. And if for some reason the time does need to be altered, there is an accompanying chain of approvals making the authorization transparent. Your people know this. And when they step up to that time clock, they are ready and presenting themselves to be counted in. Now that s good business. 11

12 Managing Meals and Breaks with Time and Attendance Software The federal wage and hour law, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), does not require lunch or coffee breaks. But when you do offer short breaks, the FLSA considers the breaks as compensable work hours. Therefore, these breaks (usually lasting about 5 to 20 minutes), are included in the total of hours worked during the workweek and should be considered in determining if overtime was worked. Bona fide meal periods (typically lasting at least 30 minutes), serve a different purpose than coffee or snack breaks and, thus, are not work time and are not compensable. In your business, you want to ensure your people are well taken care of and that they are staying on the clock for short breaks and clocking out for actual meals. But when things get busy, how can one manager feasibly run around making sure employees (who are on different schedules) get their meals and breaks? An automated time and attendance system has a highly visual dashboard for managers. At a glance, managers can see who is clocked in or clocked out. That s because the information is captured in real time. In addition, a sophisticated time and attendance system can be pre-programmed with timing schedules for meals and breaks. In that way little icons, such as red flags, can pop up on screen, alerting the manager that it is time for an employee s break or meal. The manager can then clearly communicate whether a clock-out is needed. 12

13 Using a Time and Attendance System to Comply with FLSA Requirements The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets the minimum wage and overtime pay for employees. Unless exempt, employees covered by the FLSA must receive at least minimum wage for every hour worked. Overtime pay is for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, and that rate is not less than one and one-half their regular rate of pay. Given these federal mandates, accurate time and attendance recordkeeping is a must. With an advanced system, your company can collect time and attendance in real time. Right down to the second, you will know: Time and day of week when employee s workweek begins Hours worked each day Total hours worked each workweek In addition to collecting hours, it is essential to keep a record of any changes made to an employee s time. From employee approval, to manager approval, and submission to payroll a transparent chain of events is recorded in an advanced time and attendance system. When the approved hours are sent to payroll, the time and attendance information automatically integrates into nearly every major payroll system. No more manual entry of payroll, which reduces errors and speeds up payroll efficiency. 13

14 3 Key Takeaways 1Organizations like yours can manage time and attendance in response to our constantly changing business environments. 2Time and attendance technology can help in nearly every aspect of nimble business response. 3Software can be customized to serve the critical needs of YOUR organization. 14

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