The basics of timekeeping for non-exempt employees is simple enough. You need to know what time they clock in, when and how long their lunch break is, and what time they leave. In a perfect world, your employees work the schedule they’re given while clocking in and out at the right time every single day.
Those may be the basics but trying to track your employee’s time at work without a good method can cost you time, money, and efficiency. Here’s why it’s important to make sure your timekeeping system is as accurate as possible.
Reduce Payroll Inflation
A few minutes here and there every day quickly adds up. Did your employee clock in for work at 7:55 a.m. instead of 8:00 a.m.? And did they leave at 5:05 p.m.? If one employee does it on a rare occasion, the costs are minimal, but if everyone clocks in like this even once a week, your payroll will go up for no good reason or even measurable benefits. Those extra ten minutes will rarely equate to an extra ten minutes of work and productivity.
Reduce Spending on Overtime
Even with the best of intentions some overtime might be unavoidable. Getting a big job completed and shipped might be worth the cost. Giving an employee extra time to finish an important project might pay for itself with increased revenue later. Having an employee temporarily fill an empty position on top of their daily work warrants overtime pay. But it’s the small bits of overtime that accumulate when you (and your employees) aren’t accurately tracking their time that hurts your bottom line.
Reduce Payroll Errors
Anything is subject to a mistake, even an automated timekeeping system, but the latest technology decreases the chance of simple errors. Handling payroll by hand – whether recording an employee’s time or inputting that information so they can get paid – is subject to mixed up numbers, missed information, and extra time added in. It’s all unintentional, but it’s also costly too.
Catch Inefficiencies
Accurate timekeeping can also help you catch inefficiencies in performance. Maybe an employee needs more time to get a project done. Maybe the amount of time budgeted for a project was too low. Those are just project-based inefficiencies. It’s possible you have an employee who clocks in early every day so they can leave early every Friday. Leaving early might be a nice treat, but it doesn’t help your business if they leave work undone because they’ve already left for the day.
Control Costs
You know immediately when your payroll has exploded beyond your budget. But without an accurate system of tracking time, you won’t always know how. Is one department working too much overtime? Are the same people clocking in just a few minutes early or a few minutes late everyday to pad their time? You won’t know where to cut or which department to address the problem with if you don’t know where the problems come from.
Compensate People for the Time They Actually Work
Of course, it’s the law that you’re going to pay people for the time they work, but employees don’t like to feel short-changed. They know when they stayed 15 extra minutes to finish up and their hours worked should reflect it. When your employees can see their time is being correctly tracked, they don’t worry that they’ll somehow be cheated out of money or time. Good timekeeping can help morale and build trust between you and your people.
At Charlotte Payroll, accurate timekeeping is what we do best. Not only do we provide fast and efficient customer service, we make your job easier. If you need help getting your payroll under control or tracking it more efficiently, we can help! Contact us today.
