Employee Attendance Tracking: Effective Ways

Ever dealt with a company full of people that don’t show up on time, forget to report their absences, or just go home without anyone knowing? It’s obvious that mixing things this way can cause unnecessary confusion. Because of this, it’s important to use employee attendance tracking, and it does so much more than simply “punching a time card.”

Knowing all the details about your employees’ arrival times, shift lengths, and departures helps manage your business better, be it a startup or a chain shop. But let’s be real: Working with traditional methods to record attendance can seem as tough as putting a jigsaw puzzle together without having the box to guide you.

With that, what are the most efficient ways to supervise attendance that do not consume too much of your energy? Let’s dive in.

Attendance Matters Far More Than You Might Ordinarily Think

You may feel like going to school is nothing more than simply being there. While it is a cost for businesses, financial systems underpin productivity, manage payroll, and assist with complying with laws. A lack of proper tracking could lead to the following problems:

• Overpaying or underpaying employees
• Missing out on productivity insights
• Breaking labor laws (which has the risk of being fined)
• Losing the team’s faith because of favoring one person over another

Or, in other words, it’s more about being responsible than simply putting in many hours.

Common Attendance Tracking Methods (And Why Some Fail)

You most likely have worked with one or more of these systems in the past.

• Paper Timesheets: Easy to fake or misplace. Time-consuming for payroll.
• Excel Sheets: The accuracy has improved some, but it is still flawed and requires manual work to enter information.
• Wall-mounted punch cards: More convenient, though it is sometimes lacking in functions and hard for teams away from the office to operate.

The fact is, as technology and working styles change, these methods won’t solve the problem anymore. As a result, a lot of businesses are now moving towards using digital technologies.

More Modern Techniques for Keeping Track of Attendance

Looking for an HR system that handles things well and doesn’t cause your HR manager any added stress? These little things may help you save money at the store:

1. Biometric Time Clocks

Using fingerprint or facial recognition makes it hard for workers to mom’s their friends into work. They are suitable for use by teams working on site and they can integrate easily with cloud-based software.

2. Mobile Attendance Apps

Do some of your team members constantly work on the road or from home? Employees can use GPS tracking from their phones to let you know their locations as they begin their shift.

3. Cloud-Based HR Platforms

These are game-changers. These platforms help businesses by recording time and tying that information into their payroll, leave system, and performance reviews.

Attendance records also help ensure the accuracy of how much each person is paid and meets all the necessary regulations. Can errors in tracking your employee’s hours sometimes cause legal issues?

That’s where payroll compliance services come in. As well as handling calculation, they align all data with the rules for time-tracking and labor, to protect you against any potential issues.

Don’t Forget the Human Side

It’s also important to point out that a system won’t work well if your team isn’t open to it. That’s why making communication clear is very important.

• Show employees how missing work hurts the company and makes the process of getting paid unfair.
• Explain how to work any new system to employees.
• Inform your people about the purposes and process of monitoring their hours or whereabouts.

Use Saved Findings to Help in More Aspects Than Just Pay

Having solid attendance data in hand will help you access more information.

• Are certain shifts understaffed regularly?
• Is it true for some teams that workers are often not punctual or do not come to work?
• Is the strain of working many long, unscheduled hours apparent to you?

They can be used to make changes to the schedule, staff members, and also culture in the company.

And as you scale, pairing attendance systems with payroll compliance services ensures you’re staying within legal bounds, no matter how complex your workforce becomes.

Final Thoughts

Presence tracking is not only useful for HR, but it can improve how your company operates, how happy your workers are, and reduce problems with paychecks. When HR is handled properly, everything at work hums along nicely.

Feeling ready to throw out the old spreadsheets and see what other options are available? To learn how we can make your attendance and payroll process easier, simply go to our homepage.