Recent changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) overtime exemption rules that take effect in December mean that many Americans will no longer be considered salaried and exempt from overtime provisions). Because of this, they will need to begin keeping track of their actual hours worked.
Coupled with an increase in recent years of wage-and-hour investigations and lawsuits, there are many reasons that now is a great time to consider a time –and-attendance system, which will track an employee’s work behavior in real time:
1. Reliable Accuracy: Manual timekeeping systems go hand-in-hand with inaccurately reported hours from both the employee and the person responsible for payroll. Employees often report time worked after the fact and must rely on their memory to complete paper records. Additionally, employees may take advantage of this honor system. The American Payroll Association reports that fraudulent time records cost a business up to 5 percent of gross payroll each year. If records are illegible, an employer is likely to report inaccurate time for payment.
A time-and-attendance system requires an employee to punch in and out as the activity is happening; eliminating the need for employees to rely upon and report from memory. Additionally, time-and-attendance systems often interface with payroll systems to import employee time records so there is no need to re-enter the time-keeping record. According to a recent study by the Aberdeen Group, this results in a decrease of up to 30 percent in the payroll processing error rate.
2. Improved Regulatory Compliance: A time-and-attendance system will automate overtime calculations and other mandated pay regulations. It also offers an organized method for retaining pay records in the event that they are needed for investigative purposes.
3. Increased Reporting and Tracking Features: Time and attendance systems allow for robust reporting, ease the process of employee work scheduling and offer flexibility in paid-time-off tracking and managing employee requests.
BCN Services offers a fully integrated time-and-attendance solution. If you would like to learn more about how this system can benefit you and your organization, please contact us at 1-800-891-9911.