Biometric time and attendance systems |01 February 2013

Another area where there is area for improvement is in the time and attendance of staff. In today’s environment, most employees understand that they are paid to work for a certain amount of hours and that their work contributes to the overall success of any company, whether it is a private or public company. But how can a company accurately identify those workers that are doing more or those workers that are not pulling their weight. In small companies, it is easy to see who comes to work and when but as the company grows it becomes more difficult to monitor and reward the best and to encourage those that are not doing what they are paid to do.

Payroll wages and taxes usually represent the highest company expense for most companies. To offset this expense, companies need to have employees who arrive on time and do the work they are paid to do. Studies indicate that the average company overpays wages by 2-4% annually. Biometric time and attendance systems are convenient to use and prevent companies from overpaying.

Time and attendance monitoring has been used successfully in many companies over that last 10 years and the systems today even have biometric identification such as fingerprint readers. These systems are relatively inexpensive and the benefits and return on investment (ROI) can be gained in less than 12 months, depending on the size of the staff.

Some of the benefits of such systems are the elimination of employee time card manipulation or time card fraud. Many companies have lost a huge amount of money because of “buddy punching”, which is when someone punches the timecard of someone when they are not actually present.

This is called Employee Fraud and can cost companies thousands of dollars. Other areas that can be monitored are extra time out of the office on lunches or extended breaks which are all recorded on modern time and attendance systems.

Another benefit is that time worked is automatically calculated. Biometrics time attendance tracking systems in your company automatically calculates time worked for every employee.

This means that you won’t have to have a clerical assistant calculating hours, which can lead to errors and pay disputes. Data can be automatically downloaded to your payroll software from the biometrics access control devices, making it easier than ever to deal with payroll at your company.

Yet another advantage for your company is an increase in company security. When you begin using fingerprint time and attendance software, or software that uses some other type of biometrics information, you’ll also enjoy the benefit of an increase in company security. Most of these systems not only take care of timekeeping and attendance, but they also keep intruders out of your company as well. Access to your company or to the biometrics time and attendance portion cannot be forged or even shared by people. This keeps your entire company safer and more secure, which makes biometric time attendance tracking software well worth the investment.

Data is reliable and accurate. Choosing time attendance recorders and the software that goes with them offers you the benefit of data that is reliable and accurate. Errors can easily occur when data is manually collected. These biometric security devices are easy to operate and every piece of data they provide will be accurate.

Biometric time and attendance systems save you time and money. In this tough economic climate, saving money is important. This boost can help you avoid layoffs or having to shut down your company because of the tough economic times. Although it will require an initial investment, the money saved will definitely make it a wise investment that will pay off.

In relation to ROI, one of the most compelling reasons to implement a biometric time and attendance system is because it pays for itself over time. Studies indicate that most companies overpay total wages by 1-8% annually due to human error alone. Companies also overpay each of their employees by an average 10 minutes per day due to early departures and "buddy punching”.
Companies who use manual time sheet systems must also employ payroll staff to calculate work hours, which takes an average of 5 minutes per employee per pay period.  These factors can lead to gross overpayment of wages.

By moving to a biometric attendance system, your company will greatly reduce its administrative burden while also eliminating human error and time card fraud. Biometric systems are easy to use, reliable, and can even export employee work hours to your existing payroll application.

The investment is typically recovered in just a few months, and will save you money for years to come.

All companies can benefit from a biometric time and attendance system. These systems are appropriate for any company that manages employee work hours.