Track Your Employees' Time Accurately 

Accurate employees’ time records are very essential for any business. A case study showed that most businesses lose up to two hours a week per employee to cumbersome and inaccurate time-tracking techniques. Time-tracking benefits go beyond managing the payroll, as most people view it. 

However, inaccurate time-tracking may have significant consequences (lost revenue and compliance risks) for businesses. Therefore, this article explores how employee clock-in software and other techniques could help track employees' work hours accurately. 

Why Should Employers Track Employee Hours?

Before exploring the various ways of tracking employee time, let’s briefly look into why to track employee time. They include: 

1. Accurate processing of payroll 

One of the most significant reasons for time tracking is to know precisely the hours worked by employees, especially at an hourly rate. Consequently, employers can accurately calculate the payroll and determine each employee’s wage or salary. It also enhances transparency between employers and employees. 

2. Increase productivity 

Employees' time-tracking allows them to see how much time they spend working on a task. As a result, they easily evaluate their productivity chances and how they can utilize their time more efficiently. 

3. Stay compliant with labor laws 

Each country has employment and labor laws that guide time tracking requirements for employers. Therefore, employers need to adhere to the respective laws of their country or the country where their employees reside. 

4. Helps perform specific accounting and HR duties 

Time tracking helps accounting and HR teams determine what projects or tasks may need more resources. 

5. Workforce management 

Time-tracking will help employers monitor employee attendance. Based on the hours logged, they can easily tell how long an employee took to complete their assigned task, when they took paid time off, and whether they worked their full schedule, among other management activities.

More importantly, time tracking gives a view or estimate of how long it takes to complete a particular task in the future. 

Time tracking of employee hours also helps businesses, managers, and employers to set clear objectives for tasks they’re working on. 

Lastly, time tracking helps managers manage and prioritize future projects and team capacity. 

Ways to Accurately Track Employees’ Time 

1. Manual time-tracking  

1. Pen and paper tracking 

This tracking technique is as simple as its name suggests, but it is old school. Employees record the dates of their shifts and the start and stop times on a piece of paper or designated book.

This method is preferred somewhere with poor internet connectivity or limited access to technology. 

2. Spreadsheets

This is also an old-school technique but way better than pen and paper recording. It uses Microsoft Excel or Google sheets to track employees’ work hours. The advantages of spreadsheets are that they can automatically calculate employees' total hours worked and can be shared online. 

What is the problem with manual time-tracking? Using manual time-tracking techniques makes employers prone to inaccurate calculations of hours worked. Also, there are chances of inefficiency and inconvenience and calculation mistakes made on the manual tracks could easily be transferred to the payroll process. 

More importantly, wage-and-hour fraud can easily occur using a manual time tracking methods and the process is also time-consuming. 

2. Modern employee time-tracking solutions 

Modern time tracking techniques are the alternatives to manual time tracking methods. They include the following: 

1. Employee clock-in software 

It’s an automated time tracking software that is integrated with business systems to ease the hassle of tracking employee hours. It’s less labor intensive, saves time, enhances efficiency, and gives accurate calculations (decreased error). 

It also assists in maintaining employee schedules and allows managers or supervisors to approve time entered with a click of a button. 

What businesses does employee clock-in software suit? It’s ideal for companies of all sizes, from Fortune 500 to startups and small businesses.

Software such as Workpay offers businesses of all sizes a time and attendance solution. The software is customizable, aligns with business systems, and automatically allow management of company’s projects and receive real-time updates. More importantly, it integrates with biometric devices and mobile phones with GPS location features. As a result, software like Workpay helps you avoid time-tracking confusion, cut costs and shorten turnaround time.  

2. Mobile apps 

Employers can also use mobile apps to track hours when employees clock in and out. Employees also have access to the app on their smartphones. The mobile app records the hours worked and forwards the data to the necessary channels for payroll processing. 

The only challenge with the mobile apps is when not all employees have access to smartphone devices. Also, the available smartphones have to be compatible with that app. In such an instance, employers will need a backup to ensure such employees also log their time and it’s tracked. 

3. GPS Tracking/ GPS clock-in 

If the nature of the job requires employees to travel from one location to the other, employers may consider GPS tracking on any of the above methods.

It allows them to easily track employee hours and identify shifts where an employee has clocked in offsite from their mobile device. Additionally, they can set up a geofence around any of the job sites. 

Final Thought

Tracking employee hours is vital to any business operation and profitability. However, employers should avoid the manual method of time tracking to enhance efficiency and accuracy. Automated processes such as employee clock-in software and applications can significantly help manage employees’ time and get accurate employee time records that help compensate employees for their rightful dues.