Time & Attendance Part 3: Authentication

Lay to rest any confusion or disagreements.  

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Using pin-codes or biometrics when an employee clocks IN/OUT is a simple way of defining which employee clocked IN or OUT.   GPS time stamps on all clock IN/OUT’s shows exactly what job site employees are working on.  

Having an authentication process in your time and attendance system helps both the employee as well as the employer.  We have all heard “Big Brother is Watching” and we do not like it.  However, there is more to using biometrics and GPS time stamps.   The documentation gathered from these technologies work in favor of employees, business owners, independent contractors, or anyone who wants to keep an accurate account of where they have been and what they worked on.  When everyone has the same information, discrepancies can be resolved the moment they occur instead of weeks, months or even years later. 

Help for the Employee
A good time and attendance system proves, through authentication procedures, that you were on the job site working hard.   It gives you undeniable proof of where you are and provides the "back up" you need when discrepancies arise.

Help for Managers
Know exactly who worked on what and where.   Having detailed information can minimize your company risk and even stop lawsuits before they happen.

Help for Independent Contractors
Like most people, you like to get paid for the work you complete.   Eliminate questions and get paid faster when you deliver a detailed billing statement complete with accurate, detailed time reports along with GPS stamps.  

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Time and Attendance Part 1

A building contractor, working on a job that would take several months, was being paid weekly. Looking at the check he had just received, he approached the owner of the property.

    "Excuse me, but this check is two hundred and fifty dollars less than we had agreed upon," he said.

     "Yes, I know," said the owner. "Last week I overpaid you by two hundred and fifty dollars and you             never complained."

    "I don't mind an occasional mistake," replied the contractor, "but when it starts to be a habit I feel I have to bring it to your attention."

Mistakes will be made when using traditional methods of collecting time and attendance.   You may not
even know that you are making mistakes.  Did you know that over 70% of employers are not in full compliance with the FLSA?  This fact is compounded by the steady rise in wage and hour lawsuits year over year.   The number one wage and hour  litigation claim is "unpaid work time" which is mostly caused by payroll errors.  

Mistake made yesterday or  mistakes made two months ago will eventually catch up and could be the cause of a lawsuit.   The best thing to do to avoid a lawsuit?   That is easy…  Do not have any mistakes!  

Really? How?

When time cards are filled out in the field, by hand, then gathered and sent to the office, and again entered, by hand,  into the payroll system, mistakes will be made.   The implementation of an automated time and attendance solution could minimize mistakes that in turn could avoid future lawsuits.     

A good time and attendance solution had 4 important features.

1. Simplicity:  Simple equals less room for error.  Minimal steps = less room for error.  Less room for error = fewer mistakes.

2. Authentication:  Do you know who clocked in/out and where?  Using smart phone's, iPads, or laptops allow a GPS time stamp to attach to an employee clock in/out.  Assigning each employee a pin code or using biometrics  immediately lets you know who clocked in/out.    Authenticating who clocked in and where has benefits for both the employer, as well as the employee.  It answers any questions about who was where, resolving any issues before they become conflicts. 

3. Verification:  The fewer times information is touched by human hands, the less mistakes there will be.  However, there comes a time when all of the data collected from employees must be verified, and any discrepancies addressed.  

4. Integration:   Data entry often results in a large number of mistakes.    Integrating your time and attendance system with your accounting system eliminates the need to re-enter information.  Skipping this step pollutes your data by allowing room for error.  Keep your data pure by using a time and attendance system that can push and pull critical information without using data entry. 

This is the first of a 5 part series on choosing a time and attendance system.  In the following 4 blogs I will delve a little deeper into each of the 4 important features noted in this article.  

Prove It! Benefits of GPS

I wrote, in a past blog post, about the ethics involved in using GPS tracking with your employees.  You can read the post  here. 

The question of ethics comes into play when employees feel like “Big Brother” is watching.  However, the benefits of using GPS tracking go far beyond the notion of time theft.  In fact, there are many benefits for employees as well as businesses.  I will discuss them in this post and future posts. 

Have you ever had this happen?

Customer:  Wow!  This bill is huge!  I know we had you move that wall 3 times, but I can’t

believe it took this many hours. 

You: Well I had 3 guys here for 2 days full time.

Customer:  Prove it!

HOLD ON!  How do you “prove it?”  Show them scribbles on time cards?   Showing upset clients time cards can give you the upper hand in a negotiation, however it’s just writing on paper,  you will probably have to give up a few hours to keep your customer happy.

Is there a better way to handle billing questions like this?  Is there a way that leaves little room for questioning or negotiation? Wouldn’t it be even more convincing if you could actually “Prove it?”

Situations like this are where GPS and GEOFence Tracking are most beneficial.  Imagine showing your customers that your employees were actually on the job-site, working hard.  Let's try this scenario to show what this same situation is like when using a mobile resource management system that incorporates GPS Tracking as a feature.

Customer:    Wow!  This bill is huge!  I know we had you move that wall 3 times but I can’t believe it took this many hours. 

You: (Looking at your iPad) Well, you can see here that John, Jose, and Larry  were on your job-site from 8am to 11:30am.  Then they took a half hour lunch. But, you can see they clocked back into your jobsite at 12:05pm and worked until 5:00pm.   So the bill is accurate.  Unfortunately, it can be very costly to make these types of changes. 

Time records showing GPS coordinates, proving your employees were on the job-site when they clocked IN and OUT, are invaluable when trying to resolve a billing dispute.  As the old adage says “don’t bring a knife to a gun fight." When it comes to billing disputes make sure you bring GPS tracking to the discussion and eliminate the fight.