In an organization, Attendance Management calculates the hours employees work and how much time they spend away from the office. In the technological age, it is possible to automate all aspects of personnel management, particularly attendance management. This includes work hours, leaves, and accurate work time calculations.
The attendance management system lets an employer know the total number of working hours and each employee's vacation time. Here are automated systems to manage employee attendance. This simplifies the process and makes it easier.
The Importance Of Attendance Management
The likelihood of the following:
- Time theft.
- Human errors cause inaccuracy.
- Overload of Human Resources.
- Failure to comply with labor laws.
- Deploying an attendance management system is equally important for HR departments, managers, companies, businesses, and employees.
Implementing attendance management software can provide many benefits for managing your workforce. Attendance monitoring systems can also provide data on time and attendance for the following:
- Analysis of Employee Performance.
- Transparency of Payroll.
- Business improvement areas: Identifying them.
- Promoting your business with specific metrics.
- Remote work setup and seamless workflow are essential for hybrid onsite and remote teams.
Attendance Management is Needed
Your organization's reputation, profitability, and reliability depend on tracking employee attendance. Attendance management is necessary for seven reasons:
Productivity
The time spent working is an important input variable involving labor. More time spent at work will result in higher productivity with productivity tools.
Smooth Running Of Operations
The business productivity of a team or the organization is at risk, not only the individual productivity of an employee. The absence of hybrid team members can lead to delays, coordination problems, increased work in progress (WIP), or higher inventory. When this occurs multiple times, it multiplies the effects of an absence.
Discipline
Lack of discipline within the organization can lead to unpredictable results, including delays and variations in delivery dates. In addition, indifference is contagious. This can lead to other employees adopting the same bad habits and compounding the problem.
At first, conscientious workers who notice that indifference is ignored and tolerated are frustrated. They may eventually leave, searching for another workplace. The manager's brand will suffer a major blow. Time discipline is a key element in lean management. Delays and variability are lessened as a result.
Overtime
Multi-shift operations are common in many organizations, including hospitals, factories, and retail stores. Even though high demand for production may force people to work beyond normal working hours, weekends and holidays are not excluded.
Accounting and a proper time-tracking system are important from the perspective of cost efficiency and employee satisfaction. A lack of sound systems will result in disputes, increased employee expenses, and stress on the part of administrators.
Time Theft
In the early industrial age, time clocks were installed to make sure that people were only paid when at work. Those who do not keep accurate time records can abuse the system by taking advantage of late arrivals, leaving early, or having too many coffee breaks.
Time theft can only be stopped by a system that tracks attendance, enforces policies consistently, and is foolproof. Some employees will push tasks they could do in normal time into overtime hours. It is a form of theft. Again, keeping good records and tracking behavior can help curb misbehavior.
Accurate payroll inputs
The attendance data is crucial for calculating salaries accurately. Attendance data is used to determine the number of days that employees have worked. Additionally, attendance data can be used to calculate Overtime, Shift Bonuses, and Attendance bonuses.
Compliance
Also, attendance data is required for different compliance reports. The customizable reports include information about work hours for the day or week, shifts, overtime hours, and whether an employee was present on a particular date.
Which Industries Need Attendance Management Services?
Most industries in the manufacturing, software, and services sectors work at fixed hours. A strong attendance management system is essential for all industries, including manufacturing, assembly lines, retail, healthcare, banking, software companies, and financial institutions.
Ensuring employees are onsite during the shift times is important for organizations that work multiple shifts. Numerous industries demand that their workers work longer hours during weekdays or weekends. Time tracking is necessary to comply with laws and accurately pay for overtime.
Attendance Management System
It isn't easy to manage employee attendance. The overall attendance system has multiple components or aspects. These components are necessary and interconnected for the attendance system to function properly.
Attendance Data Gathering
A swipe or time punch is the log's name showing an employee entering or leaving work. A log entry should contain an employee ID number and a time stamp. For establishments with multiple entry points, the door information and type of movement (in/out) can be important.
The oldest way to track attendance is by using a paper attendance log and letting employees sign in daily. There are many ways to capture attendance today, from biometric hardware systems to mobile attendance recording.
It is essential to capture daily swipe data accurately, as it will affect every aspect of the business. The decreased volume of data generated by this daily activity is directly related to the number and frequency of employees' movements in and out of the building with advanced functionality. Automating the capture and processing of attendance data can reduce administrative costs and effort.
Attendance Policy
The attendance policy is a document that defines shifts, hours of work, and rules for discipline. The following sections make up an attendance policy:
- Definition of shifts and rotational policy.
- Regularization Policy.
- The Overtime Policy, including the eligibility criteria and pay rates.
- The penalties for breaking the rules.
- Calendar of working days, including holidays and off days.
The attendance policy must be used to calculate the work hours, overtime and late arrivals, etc., based on the attendance swipes.
Shift & Production Planning
Production planning and rostering is a regular activity in some organizations, whether team managers or HR administrators do it. The shift elitist of employees working a particular shift during a certain period of time (week, month). The employees are then informed of this roster. Shift rotation is used when there are multiple shifts.
Attendance Processing
Making tomato soup is the same as processing attendance. For example, Three ripe red tomatoes are the same as a hot bowl of tomato soup. No, of course not. To make a tasty soup, we must boil and simmer the red tomatoes, then puree them. Add salt, pepper, and cream.
Likewise, the raw swipes of attendance for the day are not sufficient. We need to do calculations and pull additional information during attendance processing to obtain our results. You will need to:
- The attendance policy is in its entirety (see above).
- The shift roster.
- Holiday Calendar.
- The employee's leave status for that day.
- Employees may be granted special rights or exemptions.
Daily vs. Occasional Processing
Most organizations without automated attendance systems process it once per month. Many organizations process attendance on a daily or weekly basis. Daily attendance processing has the advantage over monthly processing in that it provides immediate feedback to all employees and helps enforce policies better.
Determining a worker's precise attendance within one or two days is impossible. For instance, consider an employee who hasn't reported to work since Monday. This is not an "unauthorized absence" because the employee can request sick leave the following Monday, two days later.
It is best to process attendance daily for the whole month since an infraction from last Monday could be rectified a week later. Due to the enormous workload and wasted effort of daily attendance processing, many organizations do not have automated systems. Instead, they prefer to perform it monthly. You also lose the ability to enforce policies effectively. Computerized systems can solve this problem, eliminating manual processing and ensuring real-time daily attendance.
Attendance & Overtime Registers
We can get attendance records for an individual employee, for either a single or the whole month. The muster roll contains the attendance records of every employee for each day in a given month. The total amount of overtime worked by an employee in a given month is recorded on the overtime register. The payroll administrator receives this information to calculate overtime.
Violations of Attendance and Exceptions
After processing their attendance, we need to verify that employees follow the attendance policy. We may warn employees if they violate the policy during grace time. We must also impose sanctions for violations.
There are several possible violations. You can flag the following:
- Lateness is a habit (with grace allowed up to 2 times per calendar month).
- Early habitual departure.
- Three-day absence is considered a continuous absence.
- The actual number of hours worked in a week is less than the 40 required (for instance).
The administrator should share feedback as soon as possible with employees and managers. There are many reasons why a deviation may occur, such as faulty equipment or being late due to external official work.
Early feedback allows an employee to recall the incident and explain why the violation occurred. After a few months, however, it can be difficult to recall the exact cause of an infraction. These delays often lead to disputes and a high level of employee dissatisfaction.
Regularizing Attendance
The employee may be in the office on that day but be marked as absent or late without punching in for that day or punching out. False positives can occur due to some good reasons. These include hardware failures or external duties, emergencies for which permission has been granted, etc. Imagine how workers feel when they work hard but are still considered late or absent. This is like being accused by your employer of being unreliable and less engaged.
Solution: Inform the employee gently that the records are incorrect and ask them to rectify the issue before the cutoff date for the month. This allows the employee to rectify without being criticized or facing the consequences.
It is easier for employees to resolve problems if they receive feedback early. The reason someone arrived late to work one month ago is difficult to recall and explain. The employees feel that there was a good reason, but because they cannot explain why, they feel like they are being victimized. Some employees may be present but blame forgetfulness for their absence.
Daily attendance processing makes sense for all of these reasons. This way, we can inform employees of any issues and enforce our policy firmly. This promotes responsibility without creating unhappiness or damaging employer branding.
Attendance Finalization
Regularization of attendance is required when false positives are detected. The final attendance status is not determined until after the incident has been regularized. When the cutoff date for attendance approaches and we prepare payroll advice for the month, we must decide on the cases.
The attendance policy is applied, and various sanctions are imposed on each case. The management can always pardon and overrule certain cases. We have created a finalized list of all violations and penalties for each employee.
Many types of violations exist, such as unauthorized absences, chronic lateness, habitual lateness, theft of time, etc. Penalties can be different for these types of violations. We deny wages due to an unauthorized absence by entering a time Loss-of-Pay. Sometimes we deduct the day's leave balance rather than reducing wages.
For other violations of company policy, the decision to enforce discipline on the employees is at the sole discretion and judgment of the employer. Imagine, for example, that an employee has been consistently late for three consecutive days. We could punish the employee by a variety of means:
- Deduct a half-day leave from your leave balance.
- Deduct a half day's salary from your pay.
- Impose a Rs 500 fine (regardless of wages).
The rubber hits the road when it comes to attendance finalization. If policies aren't enforced, and no penalties are given for breaking them, this breeds disrespect and indiscipline for company policies. Inconsistent enforcement can create feelings of injustice and bias.
Inputs for Leave and Payroll
Finalization produces a list of all the leave adjustments and LOPs for each employee for the attendance period. After deductions, the balance of the employee's leave should be adjusted. Payroll inputs will reduce the total days worked for the month and, therefore, the monthly salary. Any fines must also be deducted from the gross salary.
Reporting and Analytics
According to various state and federal government regulations, muster rolls and wages are required. A monthly attendance record in each employee's prescribed format is required for each employee.
The organization should also review its overall attendance reports for the past month to gain insights. An employee's absence at the individual level should be investigated seriously. The absence of an employee at a higher level can be alarming. If remedial measures are not taken, it could harm the health of an organization.
The attendance analysis can be performed at different levels, such as departmental or team levels. Correlate the data to environmental factors such as the holidays, the end of the year, etc.
Customer Service
Employees need HR support in managing attendance, just as with any other aspect of HR. Questions about the attendance policy, clarifications, and specific questions regarding regularization of attendance or incorrect entries must be normal.
Employees must be provided with a detailed attendance and muster roll computation. The employees will need the details of overtime. Sometimes, employee complaints can be related to issues with attendance devices, cards of access, or biometric identification.
Employee dissatisfaction, incorrect attendance data, ineffective policy enforcement, and unnecessarily allowing employees to self-serve, web-based or cloud-based employee portals by allowing employees to self-serve can reduce administrative workloads. This leads to reduced workloads, quicker resolutions, greater transparency, and increased employee satisfaction.
Related Systems
The attendance system must be seamlessly integrated with other systems, such as:
- HRIS (HR Information System).
- Workforce management (scheduling).
- Overtime Management.
- Leave Management.
- Payroll Management.
Attendance Management: How To Set It Up
- There are many ways to implement attendance management. Businesses actively use record employee attendance by using biometric systems information to record employee attendance (fingerprints or face recognition). These systems with basic features can be combined with Google Sheets to store and process information.
- Proximity Cards and Badges include cards that indicate that employees are present on the business premises.
- Manual Timekeeping systems are presented in the form of timesheets and spreadsheets.
- The time clock system involves monitoring clock-in/out and transferring data into attendance spreadsheets.
- Software for time tracking also includes an attendance management function. This is a feature that advanced time trackers have.
Manual timekeeping is no longer a problem. Although manual timekeeping and spreadsheets have been around for a long time,
Time and Attendance Management: Benefits
Web-based attendance systems reduce costs by comparing the budgeted and actual work hours. Here are some attendance management system benefits that will grow your knowledge on attendance management.
Reduce The Risks Of Human Error
The online attendance system will help HR to control attendance with clock-in/clock-out functions. Not only will it help HR keep track of employees' log-ins, but it will also prevent buddy punching and minimize any human errors.
All Businesses often hire attendance managers. Businesses often hire managers to monitor employee attendance and control their productivity. Attendance managers provide payroll data and are responsible for compliance standards.
The attendance manager must collaborate closely with HR professionals to meet this demand. Under such conditions, it is clear that manual systems will not meet the expectations of HR managers and may fail to provide them with any assistance.
Productivity Increases In The Workplace
When attendance management is done efficiently, it will result in the best employee productivity and performance. Employers and employees can build trust with each other and their goals by using automation and clear communication on attendance.
Payroll Process Facilitation
An attendance management system will streamline the payroll process, reducing the chance of error. Paychecks can be issued accurately every time.
Legal Requirements
If records are incorrect, overtime payments may be expensive. It could also result in an infringement of labor laws and expensive fines and legal fees. Employers must keep track of attendance fairly and pay employees extra for their work hours. This process is simplified and streamlined by an attendance management system that integrates with payroll.
Time Billing - Accurate
Automating attendance monitoring can also eliminate billing errors by providing an accurate and straightforward method for tracking billable employee time.
Reports That Visualize Time Metrics
The data collected from the attendance tracking system can be compiled into various reports, including those on time spent at work, vacation, activities, attendance, and task summaries. These are all valuable indicators for employees' performance and time management. HR managers can use specific metrics to develop and approve vacation policies, including those on holidays, promotions, compensation, overtime, etc.
The Key Features of Attendance Management Systems
We will demonstrate the best attendance management system features for time and attendance in Arion ERP to ensure a seamless attendance management process.
Time Clocking
It is essential to create an environment that encourages the creativity of knowledge in a time-strapped world. Arion ERP has a nice timeline with a button to start and stop the timer. The software visualizes workday tasks and organizes time slots. Automated clocking in and out helps to shift focus away from tedious tasks, such as work time calculations and punching attendance, towards high-value tasks.
Requests for Leave
Automating the administrative routine is a surefire way to improve efficiency. Arion ERP's advanced PTO feature ensures that no days are missed. Employees are encouraged to take time off under the settings of the company policies, which HR can edit and modify. Arion ERP has a zero-learning curve.
Employees can also access their PTO balance and request time off in a few hours. The project manager can approve or deny time off requests while monitoring attendance within billable hours and accurate time tracking. In both cases, project management systems will send an email notification to the employee. Tracking employee leave is streamlined to prevent burnout and maintain fairness.
Payroll Integration
Arion ERP supports billable-time calculations regarding high levels of flexibility regarding payments. The payroll and attendance functionality of the software can calculate compensation using time metrics, including those for approved leave or Paid Time Off (PTO). It also integrates with payment management systems such as Quickbooks.
Reports On Policy Compliance
The HR department of an organization is responsible for keeping track of attendance. HR is responsible for developing corporate and monitoring their conformity with existing legal norms. They also produce reporting documents to analyze business processes and workflows.
Arion ERP's self-hosted time tracking system is suitable for any business size. The reporting features allow for the instant creation of detailed and summarized reports. Exportable formats are provided to compile various reports, including the number of work hours daily, weekly, and monthly, reports on overtime, PTO days, etc.
Calendar Integration
Arion ERP's time and attendance functionality allows you to sync time-tracking data from the database with other online calendars, such as Google Calendar. This allows teams to schedule and view team member availability easily.
This option has become a game-changer for many businesses around the world. It allows employees to be present and communicate through a calendar shared by all. A calendar of time off is another option that's worth noting. This enhances PTO management and allows managers to save time.
These Are The Key Trends Currently Changing Employee Monitoring Systems
Automatic Time Tracking
This new way to operate a cloud system is Automated Time Tracking. It allows data to be accessed in real-time. It can give staff a more advanced, user-friendly way to monitor time. The automated systems provide flexible ways to punch, as well as the option for staff to punch smartphones and tablet devices.
Attendance Tracking Systems With Wi-Fi Capabilities
The use of Attendance tracking systems that are Wi-Fi enabled can help keep track of time and attendance for a large number of employees. Biometrics technology is used to ensure accuracy in time stamping. This will lead to greater precision and power.
App For Tablet Kiosk
Some businesses use a tablet kiosk. Tablet kiosk applications allow employees to clock in or out easily using Apple mobile devices. This is a great resource utilization for those on the go. People who travel for work are the most likely to use this.
The enhanced functionality and sleekness of the computer software allow employers to track their employees' efficiency in real time. This can improve both employee productivity as well as the overall effectiveness of an organization.
Biometrics kiosk
Biometric Kiosk has an Android-based touchscreen system. The system allows staff to check their work schedules. They can also review and request leave. Staff will easily be able to browse through job postings and options.
Advance Scheduling Options
Cloud-based software is used for scheduling. The advanced scheduling module gives companies greater flexibility and visibility to schedule employees. The digital supervision of schedules is often done on a weekly basis by employees who have redefined expectations for each worker. Staff can notify supervisors of their availability and receive real-time email notifications. Email alerts are sent, and schedule changes are implemented and tracked in real time.
Mobile Timesheets
Employees can log in online activity using this software, which can be downloaded via an app. It helps keep track of data, calculate payroll, and supervise employee time.
Conclusion
One of the most important responsibilities of HR is to manage employee attendance. Effective management is essential to understanding the operation, concepts, and best practices. This article gives a complete overview of attendance management and the main responsibilities of an administrator. It makes you aware of the significance of an effective and efficient attendance management system. Get in touch with the best attendance management software services Arion ERP to smoothen attendance management in your organization.
