Time and Attendance Best Practices for 2023

By: Halley Marsh

Interested in streamlining your time and attendance processes?

Accurately tracking employee time is one of the most important parts of keeping a business compliant and making sure that payroll is processed on time. Whether you have part-time or full-time employees, not accurately capturing their time can turn into a big problem for an organization.

When it comes to time and attendance tracking, starting with a modernized process is the best practice you can have. There are hundreds of time and attendance systems made to specifically track employees’ time, so you don’t suffer the legal consequences of inaccurate compensation, not to mention the strain it can put on employee relations.

Even if you haven’t updated your time and attendance processes since the 90s, don’t stress! Here are some best practices you can start implementing today to improve your practices and streamline processes.

1. Automate your time and attendance processes

Time and attendance software simplifies your time and attendance practices and can drastically reduce the risk of human error and time theft. Unfortunately, these situations happen more than you would think! Manual processes can give employees the ability to falsify their time. Time theft costs companies $11 billion¹ a year. Don’t be a part of this statistic.

Take away those manual timecards and Excel spreadsheets and replace them with something automated and reliable. Collect employee time for payroll in seconds instead of days. And finally, relax with confidence that your labor calculations are accurate—software that automates calculations based on your organization’s local labor laws and regulations. This will make things easier for you, the employees, and the organization.

One study found that organizations can eliminate daily lost productivity and recapture as much as $666,400 in yearly wages by automating these processes. What could your organization do with an extra $600,000? ¹

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2. Select a time and attendance system that helps you stay compliant

Look into all the options included in a time and attendance software to ensure it meets your business’ needs. Managing compliance is not an option, and between the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the varied laws from local DOLs, it’s not easy. Make sure you have software that helps you stay on top of it.

Some of the top features to look for in a time and attendance system include overtime management, compliance tracking, and job costing. These features will help ensure employees’ time is accurate when processing payroll. Monitoring and limiting overtime not only keeps payroll costs in check, but it can also keep employees from burning out.

What can non-compliance cost you? In the case of ACA non-compliance, the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) reports that if an employer with 150 employees doesn’t offer health insurance to all eligible full-time employees, and has at least one employee using coverage through a government exchange, they could be liable for a $330,000 penalty. One school district reportedly racked up an $8 million penalty for such a violation.

3. Use time and attendance software that integrates with your HR systems

Your time and attendance software can’t check all the boxes if it doesn’t integrate with your HR or payroll systems. By selecting a time and attendance software that doesn’t integrate with your current systems, you are once again leaving room for human error. Optimize your data handling by purchasing a time and attendance software designed to make employee operations simple, efficient, and secure. With seamless communication between your systems, you will also be able to ensure consistent compliance within your organization.

When it comes to payroll, having multiple systems that don’t communicate is a recipe for disaster. Mitigate payroll errors by automating your processes and calculations. Make sure to have all your systems in constant communication to ensure a cohesive system. Don’t make the mistake of not prioritizing this when looking into automating your time and attendance processes.

TCP Software Integrations: Payroll Integration Providers | TCP (tcpsoftware.com)

4. Communicate time and attendance system changes to the employees

One common reason a business will not change their time tracking process is because “the employees won’t like it.” How do you solve this problem? At the end of the day, not every employee will be happy about changes in a business. However, you can ease this transition by asking employees for input on what may work best for the employees.

Are employee schedules still posted on a wall instead of instantly accessible from their phones? Do they have to reach out to payroll to find out the number of hours worked each pay period? A mobile-based solution offers greater convenience and ease of management and it can empower employees to monitor their own time and attendance data.

5. Offer employees access to on-demand pay

Did you know that 64% of American live paycheck to paycheck? This statistic doesn’t just apply to those getting by on lower-paying jobs, as many of 50% of workers earning $100,000 or more also live paycheck to paycheck. Chances are, that statistic includes a high number of your hourly employees and leads to their financial stress—but it doesn’t have to.

Many top employers are now offering access to benefits like on-demand pay through their time and attendance provider. On-demand pay providers like Clair are becoming table stakes for workers for organizations looking to attract and retain staff. They offer workers access to earned wages with no changes to company payroll process, cash flow, or how you run your business—at no cost.

Related Content: Reduce Your Employees’ Financial Stress With On-Demand Pay >>

Conclusion

As we begin a new year, there is no better time than now to streamline your time and attendance process. Start with a clean slate and implement a time and attendance software to handle your timekeeping and eliminate errors. Keep these best practices in mind when researching a system to ensure you are getting the best bang for your buck. Don’t keep your same old outdated process for another year, make your life easier and make implementing a new time tracking software a priority for 2023.