Time and Attendance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated.

There are some complicated payrolls.  Prevailing wage, fringe, shift differentials, multiple earning codes, Jobs, Phases, and Tasks require specific methods for collecting time and processing.  But time and attendance doesn’t have to be complicated.  The majority of businesses today utilize a simple payroll and need a simple time and attendance solution.  Let’s look at some basic requirements for people with a simple payroll.

Punch records or timesheet

The question of whether to use punch records or a timesheet has been debated for a long time.  Many feel that timesheets are fine for recording time to enter into a simple payroll.  They are simple and easy to fill out and use.  When using timesheets, owners assume that their employees will complete them accurately and in a timely manner.  The employer will leave it up to the employee to police themselves and be self-disciplined and to maintain accurate records.  Timesheets work for many companies.   A time and attendance solution that provides an easy way for employees to complete an electronic timesheets work well for these companies.

Many companies find that timesheets are too easily abused.  It is very easy for employees who use timesheets to “pad” their time.  They come in late or leave early and fail to report that on timesheets.  This is commonly known as time theft. Employees often don’t understand how an extra 10 or 15 minutes matter.  Imagine a company with 25 employees that do that twice a week. It is a loss of 4 to 8 hours of wages a week.  A time and attendance solution that provides an easy way for employees to punch in and out for work and lunch can often pay for itself from savings in time theft alone.

Easy, unencumbered method of entering time

When looking to provide a simple time and attendance solution for a simple payroll, you must find something that will be easy to use, uncomplicated and fast.  It needs to be easily accessed and be easy to enter time, whether it is timesheet or punch recording.  Employees can be discouraged when a new time and attendance program is installed.  They often fight the system instead of looking at it as a helpful tool.  It is important that the system is presented as a tool for them.  The System is not a punishment or a watchdog.  It is a simple tool that helps everyone work smarter and not harder. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Psychology of successful time and attendance implementation

Even a simple time and attendance solution can bring additional stress to employees.  The proper implementation of any system must be done as not to upset the work environment.  Employees often fear change due to a lack of communication and education.  They understand what they know and are comfortable with. They fear anything that could change that.  The more you communicate with your employees the easier the transition can be.  Employees want to understand the reasons why.  Communicate the necessity and reasons why the system is being implemented.  The more they feel a part of the solution the better they will accept the change.  Employees are also afraid to fail.  Training addresses this fear and brings confidence.  The more knowledgeable the employees feel about the new system, the more accepting they are of the change to the system.

Time and attendance that works with you and your budget

On-Time Web provides solutions for the simplest to the most complex payrolls. Time and attendance doesn’t have to be complicated.  Our goal has always been to make things as simple and easy as possible while accurately collecting your data.  We include both punch and timesheet methods.  Which one you choose to use can be set either companywide or by the employee.  There are many different and simple ways to collect data that are not intrusive to the daily work of employees.  Simple web interfaces, smartphone apps, traditional timeclocks and tablet time clocks can all be utilized simultaneously. With methods to keep employees from subverting the system.

On-Time Web helps make the implementation successful with a simple walkthrough for setup as well as real web and telephone support and training included as a part of the monthly subscription.

Try it for 14 days and see how much simpler we can make your payroll processing.