Keeping track of attendance, benefit accruals, PTO requests, time sheet submissions, schedule changes, and other labor-related tasks using spreadsheets or paper and other manual methods is extremely time-consuming and labor intensive, not to mention error-prone. Simply put, timekeeping shouldn’t be time-consuming with available technologies and automated systems.
The Winner for Most Time-Consuming Timekeeping Method is…
Paper and spreadsheet timekeeping are easily the most time-consuming timekeeping methods! Unfortunately, they are widely practiced methods because there does not appear to be any recurring costs to maintain. What is not typically considered are the long hours consumed filling out and editing time sheets, correcting errors, submitting changes, totaling hours, calculating overtime, and more. These labor hours are extremely expensive recurring costs.
Timekeeping shouldn’t be time-consuming so Synel Americas offers cloud-based time and attendance solution that dramatically reduces the labor hours required to complete necessary tasks such as totaling hours, calculating overtime, balancing scheduled hours, tracking absences and paid time off, and more. Use our ROI calculator to determine how much can be saved by eliminating the need for people power for these everyday calculations.
Paper and spreadsheets are also commonly adopted by companies because of the assumption that cloud-based time and attendance solutions require a hefty up-front financial investment or technological infrastructure investment. Fortunately, that is not true; Synel Americas offers cloud-based time and attendance solution that does not require an up-front purchase or investment. XactTime not only requires no contract but only bills users monthly for active users/employees. The only up-front charges a company could incur are optional in-depth custom training sessions for administrators or an affiliated custom set up fee. In addition, there are simply no hidden recurring costs – no upgrade or update fees, periodic annual maintenance fees, or any other charges.
Non-Compliance is Time-Consuming, Too
The US Department of Labor states that “employers may use any timekeeping method they choose. For example, they may use a time clock, have a timekeeper keep track of employee’s work hours, or tell their workers to write their own times on the records. Any timekeeping plan is acceptable as long as it is complete and accurate.”
While the government does not require cloud-based time and attendance systems, a few hidden risks make adopting a system to dramatically improve compliance a no-brainer. For example, The American Payroll Association reports an error rate between 1% and 8% for companies that do not use automated time and attendance software. Coupled with the fact that employee hours and wages are the two fastest-growing focuses of litigation, companies should be aware that they are at much more significant risk when relying on traditional spreadsheets or paper timesheets.
It goes without saying that employers who fail to comply with the FLSA face costly consequences, but it should be noted that employers who simply do not realize they are not paying adequate (or any) overtime because of inaccurate timesheets, or other such mishaps can be equally if not more costly to an employer. An easy way to avoid these potential mishaps is to automate time and attendance tracking using a cloud-based system like XactTime. By defining company policies in XactTime, employers can not only more accurately track and maintain records, but the software can automatically validate a wide variety of scenarios like overtime pay and more. This shows you how and why timekeeping shouldn’t be time-consuming, and why making the investment is worth it.
