Description
Tracking employee absences, annual leave, working hours and remote work can be a challenge. You need to monitor the exact time your employees start and finish work, when they take their breaks, and how much time and a half and overtime your exempt employees are owed. And all this is likely to take up a lot of time and resources that you could otherwise allocate to more strategic tasks.
This is where an employee clock in system can help.
An employee clock in and out system, also known as an employee time clock system or an employee clock in system, is a form of employee time tracking hardware or software used to calculate employee hours worked. It consists of a device, usually contained within your physical premises, where employees can swipe and record their entry and exit. Data is then fed into your time and attendance software so that you can process accurate payslips, enable more efficient record-keeping, and ensure compliance with time and attendance laws. You can also use timekeeping data to generate reports on employee activity trends, for time and expense tracking, and to manage absences and holidays.
There is a variety of employee time clock systems currently on the market, based on several different technologies:
- Biometric terminals
- Proximity clocks
- Pin Time clocks
- Desktop clocking
- Mobile phone clocking
Some solutions, such as Factorial’s time tracking software, even offer geofencing features so that employees can clock in and out remotely. This is very handy for companies that offer flexible work models.
Before we look at what features you should be looking for in an employee clock-in system, let’s take a look at some of the benefits of implementing this technology in your business.
An employee time clock can provide you with:
- Accurate time recording. You get a full log of employee start and finish times as well as all breaks. This makes it much easier to accurately process payroll compared to traditional recordkeeping methods such as using an Excel timesheet. A clock in system also helps you spend less time on administrative tasks as you can automate your payroll and overtime processes. It also means that you don’t burden your employees with the responsibility of remembering to log their own manual timesheets.
- Reduced costs associated with employee “time theft” and “wage theft”. For example, an employee might forget to include short breaks when they complete their manual timesheet, or they might slip away early. However, when they are managed by an employee time clock, any time spent out of the office, no matter how short, is tracked so that you can then calculate the correct level of compensation. It also protects you from issues such as “buddy punching”, where employees clock in on behalf of their absent colleagues.
- Fairness and transparency. Automatically tracking employee time and attendance gives you an unbiased record of employee working patterns so that you can objectively assess how long each employee and/or department is working. This allows you to reward high performers and address underperformers or habitual tardiness.
- Security. You get a real-time headcount of who is physically on your premises, important for health and safety reasons.
- Control over remote workers. An online employee clock in system enables remote workers to clock in from any location, helping you keep track of all your workers.
There are a variety of different clock in systems for employees that rely on different technology. But Software attendance systems that use time tracking software to automate the process and integrate with HR and payroll are the most accurate. Reporting and analytical features so that you can export valuable data when needed, such as total work hours & minutes, overtime, time off, location, department, etc.
