Manually entering data into a spreadsheet is an easy but only partially accurate method. It’s also tedious if done on a regular basis.
A clocking system can help save time by automatically recording employee arrival and departure times.
But, with so many options on the market, choosing the best clocking system for your workplace can be a daunting task.
The best way to know if a time clock system is right for your business is by understanding what features are important to you. There are many considerations that factor into choosing the best clocking system for your workforce.
Fortunately, this blog post will discuss the most important features you should look out for so that you can find the perfect fit.
1. Employee Time Clock In and Out: Accurate Recording and Reporting
One of the most significant indicators of an efficient payroll system is time theft.
Unfortunately, unless you have a solid cross-checking system, you could be paying more wages than necessary because the time clocked versus the time actually worked is inaccurate.
With a clocking system, you can mitigate risks such as buddy punching and unauthorised overtime because the records include the exact time that attendance was recorded. Recording attendance in real-time eliminates uncharged work and times that are perhaps "made up" at the end of each job.
Beyond accurate recording, you also need a clocking system that can create accurate reports of the attendance data.
As per the Australian government’s requirements, businesses must keep an accurate record trail for time and attendance, wage and leave management for more than seven years. And, as of 1 March 2020, the Fair Work Commission enforced a mandate that requires businesses to keep accurate records of annual salaried staff records.
So, it’s important to find software that will securely maintain data entries on the Cloud, where they can be searched, reported on, and exported. This provides complete visibility of how many hours each employee spent working.
For example, each time a clocking event occurs on the NoahFace time and attendance solution, photographs are automatically captured and stored, which creates an indisputable and accessible audit trail.
2. Employee Clocking Systems: Mobile Clocking
So when choosing a clocking system software for your business, you may need to consider whether they offer a solution that allows you to track time attendance at the office and your employee’s homes.
Beyond remote working, many industries require their staff to work on-site in different locations. For example, the nature of the work covered by the SCHADS Industry Award requires the majority of the industry support workers to work at different locations (in other words, client sites) during the day.
Employing a solution that offers mobile clocking is a great way to monitor employee time and attendance and track work hours in both of these instances.
For example, NoahFace introduced an app-based time and attendance solution called NoahFace Go that can automate employee scheduling, time tracking and attendance records.
Employees can clock in and out of their shifts on the NoahFace Go app, which monitors their location, specific tasks, and completed jobs. The records will then automatically transfer (without any manual intervention) onto your business’s cloud payroll platform.
While a biometric time clock system is an essential feature to avoid buddy punching risks, fingerprint scanners might not cut it anymore.
With a biometric time clock system that requires fingerprint scanning, you’ll have to ensure that the scanner is sanitised before and after each employee clocks in and out.
So, to keep the process simple and efficient, your business should consider opting for a clocking system that offers no-touch clocking, such as facial recognition.
For example, NoahFace is widely known for its facial recognition features. When the clocking terminal (usually an iPad mounted at workplace entry points) sees a face, it compares it with known faces within its facial database. If there’s a match, it will acknowledge and register attendance onto NoahFace’s server.
This essentially eliminates fingerprint scanners and paper timesheets as a vector for spreading viruses and disease when employees clock in and out of work.
A good software solution will also provide access control benefits to advocate for a safer work environment.
So, another clocking system feature that you should look out for is a solution designed to assist you to control employees, contractors and visitors entering and leaving your premises.
Typically these solutions will also allow you to manage controlled access to restricted areas within your workplace premises.
Using these solutions in conjunction allows employers to cross-check employee attendance against rosters with accuracy and ensure that all the relevant pay conditions are met, including penalty rates, overtime and allowances.
For example, with NoahFace, the captured start and end of shift times are recorded and automatically synchronised with your payroll system (such as Employment Hero Payroll, applying mandatory break times, rounding rules, and Modern Award rules - making your pay run management far easier.
Key Takeaways
Payroll management plays a significant role in ensuring compliance with Australia’s complex workplace laws. However, a poorly managed payroll system will end up costing you unnecessary time and resources, never mind the severe penalties if you’re found to be in breach of your obligations.
By adopting clocking system software, you can significantly reduce the non-compliance risks associated with manual paper timesheets, and your business can improve the productivity of its entire payroll process.
In our experience, however, we’ve realised that business owners appreciate the benefits of adopting a clocking system but don’t have the time to sift through all the solutions on the market to find one that’s best suited for their business.
While we’ve listed five of the most beneficial features to look out for, this is not an exhaustive list, and there are far more helpful features that can improve the efficiency of your employee time tracking system.
For features, make sure to check out our tips on what to look for in a time and attendance software.
Alternatively, here at Pay Cat, we have years of experience working with companies to find the best payroll and attendance solutions for their business. Our team of payroll experts are dedicated to helping our client succeed by providing them with an easy-to-use product that keeps everyone on track.
We’ve given you some examples using one of our time and attendance solutions, NoahFace, but there are several other options that may be better suited to your business.
So, book a free payroll review with the Pay Cat team today so that we can help you choose which solution will work best for your business.
And if you’re interested in learning more about NoahFace and/or moving from a manual payroll system to an automated cloud payroll system such as Employment Hero Payroll, get in touch with us today for a free demo.
