subject: There's No Way To Beat The Attendance Clock [print this page] There's No Way To Beat The Attendance Clock
There's no beating these clocks. Technology has taken timekeeping to a whole new level in the business world today. Even small to medium sized operations are now taking advantage of time and attendance software, now that there are affordable systems available that once only larger companies could afford.Several types of time and attendance solutions keep employees honest at the clock. These advanced systems are connected to a computer, and when the employee clocks in or out, the attendance software logs their time into a database. When it comes time to reconcile, the timekeeper can run a report and export it to the company's payroll software.Since nothing has been put in manually at this point, mistakes are eliminated, and the timekeeper has time to do a victory lap around the coffee machine. Here's the beauty of it in a nutshell. A company using barcode, biometric, or RFID employee identification, can potentially save thousands of dollars a year while simplifying the timekeeping process, eliminating fraud, and enhancing security. The most basic type of employee identification is the barcode clock. Employees are given a badge with a barcode stamped on it, and they swipe it like a credit card at the time clock. This is the least expensive way to track employees but it still offers plenty of advantages over the old style punch clock by eliminating costly errors and reducing the hours spent on timekeeping. This is a very cost effective way for small companies to track employee time and assist with payroll. Biometric employee tracking uses a scanner to identify employees by their fingerprint. This prevents personnel from clocking in for each other, and increases security in the work area. If it is set up with a gate to allow access, employers can rest assured that only authorized employees have entered the area. Like the fingerprint clock, the RFID clock offers greater security along with simple timekeeping. Employees are given a badge containing an RF transmitter. They wave the badge at the sensor and wait for acknowledgment from the time clock before entering the site. Tracking the in and out times of employees is just the beginning of this improved technology. Companies can better enforce policies concerning breaks and lunch periods, tardiness, absences, holiday pay, and overtime. Reports can even be filtered to show employee time exceptions and trends. Additionally, employee data is protected in the computer system instead of leaving to chance that unauthorized personnel might glimpse an open file or time sheet left out on a desk. Administrators of the system must log in with a secure password to gain access, and even then, only those with certain privileges are allowed to make any changes to the dataTime and attendance solutions made possible by this technology are becoming very affordable even for small companies. They are able to cut expenses and track time more efficiently and accurately. When the timekeeper finishes their victory lap, they may want to share a cup of joe with the genius who had the insight to modernize the old system, and make their job a whole lot easier.
