Time and Attendance – Stand out from the crowd with Ceequel®

Minimum wage rises: will agency labour protect your margins—or move the cost elsewhere?

The Budget’s minimum wage announcement gives lower-paid workers a welcome increase in their hourly earnings. For employers in manufacturing, food production, warehousing, logistics and construction, it also raises a difficult question: how much more labour cost can the business absorb?

From April 2027, the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over will rise from £12.71 to £13.21 an hour. The minimum rate for 18–20-year-olds will increase to £11.27, while the under-18 and apprentice rates will become £8.31. These are increases of 3.9%, announced on 28 October 2026.[1]

For businesses with hundreds of employees close to the statutory minimum, a 50p increase quickly becomes a six-figure commitment.

Some employers may respond by restricting recruitment, reducing overtime, reorganising shifts or considering a smaller permanent workforce supported by agency labour. That is a potential commercial response, rather than evidence that a widespread migration to agency staffing is already happening.

Whatever staffing model employers choose, they need to understand the cost of every hour—and what that hour delivers.

Rising wage costs make visibility across permanent and agency labour increasingly valuable.

What does another 50p an hour really cost?

Take a business employing 200 people aged 21 or over, each paid for 40 hours a week over 52 weeks at the National Living Wage.

The increase in basic wages alone is:

200 employees × 40 hours × 52 weeks × £0.50 = £208,000 a year.

That calculation includes paid annual leave within the 52 paid weeks. It does not assume employees work all 52 weeks.

Basic wages are only part of the cost. Employer National Insurance and workplace pension contributions can increase alongside earnings.

The following illustration holds 2026/27 employer NI and pension assumptions constant to isolate the wage increase. It uses standard employer NI of 15% above £5,000 and a minimum employer pension contribution of 3% on qualifying earnings above £6,240.[2][3] It is a planning model, not a confirmed 2027/28 payroll forecast.

Annual cost per employee	At £12.71/hour	At £13.21/hour	Increase
Basic wages: 2,080 paid hours	£26,436.80	£27,476.80	£1,040.00
Employer National Insurance	£3,215.52	£3,371.52	£156.00
Employer pension contribution	£605.90	£637.10	£31.20
Modelled annual employment cost	£30,258.22	£31,485.42	£1,227.20
Equivalent cost for 200 employees	£6,051,644.80	£6,297,084.80	£245,440.00

Totals use unrounded calculations. Assumes enrolled pension members, standard NI treatment and no employer NI relief. Figures precede any Employment Allowance and exclude overtime premiums, recruitment, training, absence cover, benefits, equipment and levy costs where applicable. Actual payroll calculations depend on pay periods and individual circumstances.

The pressure can extend beyond employees on the minimum wage. Employers may also face demands to preserve pay differences for experienced operators, supervisors and skilled staff. That potential knock-on effect is separate from the statutory increase.

The hourly wage is not the cost of an available working hour

Most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave, equivalent to 28 days for someone working five days a week.[4]

In the example above, 40 hours over the remaining 46.4 weeks gives 1,856 hours available before sickness, training or other non-production time.

Dividing the modelled annual cost of £31,485.42 by those hours produces approximately £16.96 per available hour.

Holiday pay has already been included in annual wages; it must not be added again. The calculation simply spreads the employment cost across fewer available hours.

This distinction matters when comparing direct employment with an agency’s hourly charge. Comparing £13.21 in direct wages with an agency invoice rate does not give a like-for-like picture.

Will employers turn to agency labour?

Agency staffing can help employers match labour to demand, cover absence and handle seasonal peaks without committing to the same permanent headcount throughout the year.

For lower-paid workers, however, fewer permanent vacancies or less predictable assignments could offset some of the benefit of a higher hourly wage. That is a risk employers should consider, not an inevitable consequence of the Budget.

Nor does moving work to an agency remove the underlying employment costs. Agency workers remain entitled to the minimum wage. After the qualifying 12 weeks in the same role, equal-treatment rights cover basic working and employment conditions, including pay and annual leave. Changing agencies does not automatically restart that qualifying period.[5]

Agency charge rates must fund the applicable employment costs and the supplier’s margin. The potential saving is often in buying fewer hours during quieter periods—not necessarily paying less for each hour supplied.

Reducing permanent headcount also brings recruitment, retention, workforce relations and potential redundancy costs into the decision.

The question for management is therefore:

What combination of permanent and agency labour delivers the required output at the best total cost?

Ceequel brings the mixed workforce into one operational picture

A smaller payroll does not necessarily mean a smaller labour bill.

If agency expenditure sits in purchase invoices while permanent employee costs sit in payroll, management can lose sight of the combined cost of running a shift, completing a job or delivering a contract.

Ceequel’s Time & Attendance and Operational Intelligence capabilities connect workforce attendance with labour costing and operational activity. With the appropriate modules and configuration, direct employees and agency workers can be assessed within a consistent reporting structure.

The connection runs from the person who attended, through the applicable rules and rates, to the work and cost centre receiving the labour.

1. Establish who attended and which hours are payable

Agency timesheets should be supported by dependable attendance evidence.

Ceequel records clockings through the appropriate workplace or mobile clocking arrangement. Configured rules can then distinguish recorded presence from payable time, accounting for breaks, shift arrangements, overtime and authorised adjustments.

This distinction is essential. Arriving early does not automatically create authorised overtime; equally, a missing clocking needs investigation rather than an assumption that no work took place.

Ceequel Hub provides managers with browser access to the relevant attendance administration, helping bring operational review closer to the people responsible for the workforce.

Clocking at client sites without joining the client’s network

Capture attendance without joining the client’s network, with on-premise or hosted Ceequel deployment.

Agency workforces often operate at premises whose IT infrastructure is controlled by the end client. Recording attendance should not depend on placing a clocking terminal on that client’s network.

Ceequel has clocking terminals available that can operate without joining the client’s network and communicate with the Ceequel server, whether it is installed on-premise at the agency’s or employer’s offices or provided through a hosted deployment.

This gives agencies and employers another practical way to capture attendance at client locations, subject to the appropriate connectivity and server-access arrangements. The same attendance information can then support the configured agency, hours and labour-cost reporting processes.

2. Preserve agency and rate history when workers move

A worker may remain on the same site while moving from one agency to another. Rates may also change between pay periods.

Ceequel’s pay-rate history function supports employees moving between agencies. When payroll is run with an agency filter, it identifies employees who belonged to that agency during the selected pay period.

That historical relationship matters. Using today’s agency allocation to analyse last month’s hours can attribute labour to the wrong supplier. Applying a current rate retrospectively can distort previous costs.

For invoice checking, worker pay rates and agency charge rates must also remain distinct: the amount paid to a worker is not necessarily the amount invoiced to the customer. The reporting design should use the appropriate agreed costing basis.

3. Give finance evidence to check agency invoices

Attendance and configured payable-hours reports can provide an evidence base for reconciling agency invoices.

Finance can compare the supplier’s claim against the relevant worker, dates, hours and agreed rate schedule, with managers resolving exceptions.

Consider an illustration involving 100 agency workers, an assumed £18 hourly charge, and a hypothetical 10-minute daily overstatement over 230 working days:

100 × 10 ÷ 60 × £18 × 230 = £69,000 a year.

This is an example of exposure, not an industry leakage estimate or a promised saving. It shows why small differences deserve attention when multiplied across a large workforce.

Ceequel supplies the underlying attendance and costing evidence; automated invoice matching depends on the agreed integration and configuration.

4. Attribute labour to the job, site and activity consuming it

Knowing an agency’s total weekly invoice does not explain which contracts are profitable.

Ceequel Operational Intelligence connects workforce time with jobs, operations and cost centres. Configured reporting can identify time and labour cost by site, contract and employee type—for example, groundworkers, bricklayers, electricians and plumbers.

For mobile teams, iClock geofencing can associate clocking locations with a contract name or number, supporting reports on who attended each site, how long they were there and the associated labour cost.

This allows management to investigate whether an overspend came from additional hours, a different labour mix, higher rates or a particular activity.

5. Compare budget with actual expenditure

Connect workforce hours with the jobs, sites and activities consuming the cost.

Labour information becomes more useful when it reaches the systems used to manage commercial performance.

Ceequel can be configured to generate financial journal reports and export labour-cost information to project or finance systems, subject to the receiving system and agreed interface.

A contract budget can then be compared with actual labour expenditure, rather than relying on a delayed invoice total or a broad estimate.

For manufacturing, Operational Intelligence extends the analysis into job costing, labour recovery, downtime, scrap, rework and operational efficiency. Attendance establishes the hours supplied; operational data helps explain the output achieved.

6. Include agency workers in the wider site picture

Temporary workers also need to be considered in access permissions and emergency arrangements.

Where Ceequel Access Control and Fire Register are deployed and configured for those workers, their presence can form part of the wider site-management picture.

The data needed to cost a shift should connect sensibly with the information needed to manage the people attending it.

Measure the workforce before changing its shape

The minimum wage increase creates a clear planning challenge. In our 200-person example, the annual rise reaches £245,440 once modelled employer NI and pension contributions are included.

But permanent headcount alone is an incomplete measure of labour cost. Reducing it while increasing agency spend can move expenditure between accounts without improving margins.

Employers need to see the combined picture: direct and agency hours, historical supplier allocations, applicable rates, approved payable time, job costs and output.

Ceequel gives businesses the information to make those decisions with greater confidence—and to keep control as their workforce changes.

Speak to ELF Productivity about using Ceequel Time & Attendance and Operational Intelligence to manage direct and agency labour across your sites, shifts and contracts.

Workforce management trends for 2027: from recording hours to protecting margin

Connecting people, working time and operational performance.

A business can have an accurate payroll and still have an incomplete understanding of its labour costs.

It may know how many hours it paid for last week, yet struggle to explain why one job exceeded its budget, why overtime keeps returning in the same department, or whether a shortage of trained staff is restricting output.

As UK employers plan for 2027, that gap de

serves attention. Research published during 2026 highlights pressure on employment costs, growing investment in existing employees and the practical difficulties of adopti

ng AI.

Our view is that these trends strengthen the case for connected workforce management: bringing together employee information, working time and operational activity so managers can act on a clearer picture of the business.

For Ceequel®, this connection runs through Time and Attendance, HR Pro and Operational Intelligence.

1. Labour costs need to become visible at job and activity level

In Make UK and PwC’s Executive Survey 2026, 86% of manufacturers expected employment costs to increase over the following 12 months. makeuk.org

For a finance director, knowing the

total wage bill is only part of the answer. The more useful questions concern where that spending went and whether it matched the plan.

Which operations needed more labour than expected? Where did premium-rate hours accumulate? Did a profitable-looking contract consume more time than the estimate allowed?

A weekly total can conceal these differences. Two departments may record similar hours while producing ver

y different results.

Ceequel Time and Attendance provides the foundation through configurable shifts, overtime rules, premiums, absence records and payroll-ready information. Connecting those hours with operational activity brings the commercial picture into sharper focus. Employee Clocking & Compliance

The management opportunity is straightforward: investigate labour variance while there is still time to influence the outcome.

2. Attendance and productivity need to be understood together

Being present and completing a job are different measures. Both matter.

Consider an illustrative manufacturing job budgeted for 100 labour hours. If it takes 118 hours, the additional 18 hours identify a variance. They do not explain its cause.

The useful investigation starts with what happened during those hours: waiting for materials, machine stoppages, repeated set-ups, rework or an unrealistic standard.

Treating every variance as an employee-performance issue risks missing the process problem.

Ceequel Operational Intelligence connects workforce and activity data with information from systems such as ERP and MRP. It can capture job time, output, downtime, scrap, rework and work in progress, then apply configured calculations to examine costs and performance. timeandattendance.co.uk

This extends Shop Floor Data Collection beyond recording transactions. It helps managers compare actual activity with the plan and understand the financial effect.

For manufacturers, that can suppor

t investigation of labour recovery, machine utilisation, Overall Equipment Effectiveness and margin variance. timeandattendance.co.uk The same management principle applies to project and site-based businesses: labour spending becomes more useful when it can be attributed to the work that incurred it.

The value lies in explaining the variance early enough to do something about it.

Connect recorded activity with the reasons behind cost and performance variance.

3. Skills and absence belong in the same operational conversation

The CIPD’s Resourcing and talent planning report 2026 found that 48% of employers had increased their efforts to develop talent internally during the previous year. CIPD

That creates a practical challenge. Investing in training is valuable, but managers also need to understand where those skills sit across the workforce.

Who has the required qualification? When does it expire? Which teams depend on one experienced person? Where would training create more flexibility?

Availability matters too. The CIPD’s separate Health and wellbeing at work 2025 report recorded average sickness absence of 9.4 days per employee, compared with 7.8 days in its 2023 survey. These are survey benchmarks, rather than a prediction for any individual employer. CIPD

Together, these findings underline the importance of understanding both capability and availability.

Ceequel HR Pro brings employee records, training, qualifications and competencies together. Skills matrices, expiry reminders and skills-gap reporting help managers identify development needs. When connected with Time and Attendance, HR information can be considered alongside attendance and absence patterns. Ceequel HR Pro

That visibility can support better preparation for shortages and more informed conversations with employees. Effective absence management also needs supportive policies and human judgement; a score or dashboard cannot explain someone’s circumstances.

The business question becomes more useful: do we have the available skills to deliver the work ahead?

Bring skills, employee information and availability into the same conversation.

4. AI ambition increases the importance of reliable operational data

AI is attracting considerable attention, but adoption is uneven.

Make UK’s June 2026 report on AI and manufacturing found that only 2% of manufacturers said AI was widely embedded across their operations. More than half cited skills shortages as a barrier to adoption. Make UK

Our assessment is that this makes the underlying information environment especially important.

A business exploring AI-assisted analysis needs to know what its data actually represents. Does “productive time” have the same definition across sites? Are downtime reasons recorded consistently? Can reported output be linked to the correct job and period?

Inconsistent inputs make both conventional reporting and advanced analysis harder to trust.

Ceequel’s configurable capture methods, business rules, calculations and reporting help organisations establish a more structured operational record. timeandattendance.co.uk

That has an immediate purpose: clearer management information today. It also gives a business a stronger basis for evaluating future analytical tools against real operational needs.

A sensible starting point is a specific question, such as why a recurring operation exceeds its labour standard. Define the information required, capture it consistently and assess whether the resulting insight changes a decision.

5. Connected workflows can remove the gaps between departments

The previous trends share a common dependency: information needs to move between people and systems.

A change in an employee’s role can affect HR records, working patterns, training requirements and access permissions. A holiday approval affects team availability. A production delay affects labour allocation and job cost.

When each department maintains its own version, reconciling the differences becomes another job.

Ceequel’s connected suite allows employee information to be shared across modules, with access controlled for authorised users. Ceequel Hub and Employee Self-Service also give managers and employees practical ways to handle relevant information and requests. Ceequel HR Pro

This gives organisations a way to reduce repeated administration while retaining control over who can see and change information.

Configuration matters here. Different sites, employee groups and operations can require different rules. Useful workforce software must accommodate that complexity while keeping the resulting information consistent enough to manage.

What should businesses ask of their workforce software?

As you review your priorities for 2027, consider whether your current systems can answer five questions:

Where are paid hours being spent, and how do they compare with the plan?
Can managers investigate the reasons behind labour and production variance?
Can HR identify skills gaps and expiring qualifications alongside workforce availability?
Do employees, managers, payroll and operations work from consistent information?
Can the software reflect your actual working rules and operational calculations?

These questions connect workforce management with the decisions that affect service, delivery and profitability.

Ceequel brings together the depth of configurable Time and Attendance, the employee and skills information within HR Pro, and the activity and cost analysis of Operational Intelligence. Organisations can address their immediate requirements while building a more connected view of their workforce and operations.

Your workforce data should help you understand what happened, what it cost and where to act next.

Arrange a Ceequel demonstration to explore how your employee information, working time and operational performance could work together.

Defensibility starts with the records you create every day

When a question arises about working hours, pay, absence or timekeeping, an organisation needs more than a confident recollection. It needs a clear record of what happened, how a decision was reached and whether the same approach was applied consistently.

That is the practical value of defensibility. It is the ability to explain and support a decision using reliable information and a fair process.

Workforce records are created for practical reasons: to calculate pay, manage shifts, approve overtime and understand absence. But they can also become relevant when an employee raises a concern, a manager investigates an incident or the business needs to review how a policy was applied.

ACAS guidance says workplace investigations should be fair and objective, gather information from both sides and avoid starting from the assumption that someone is at fault. It also identifies attendance records and computer records as possible evidence in an investigation.

That makes the quality of routine records important. If information is scattered across paper timesheets, spreadsheets, emails and separate systems, it can take time to build an accurate picture. Gaps and inconsistencies can make it harder to explain what happened.

Everyday records can become important evidence

Accurate time data supports better conversations

A clocking record on its own may not tell the whole story. Managers may also need to understand the shift that was scheduled, any authorised changes, approved overtime, an absence or a correction made to a record.

Bringing this information together helps managers ask better questions and respond to issues promptly. It can also help identify patterns in lateness or absence, while giving managers a clearer basis for a supportive conversation. ACAS recommends recording unauthorised absence and lateness, while also reminding employers to consider confidentiality, data protection and discrimination.

The aim is not to turn every minor discrepancy into a formal issue. It is to give managers dependable information so they can understand the circumstances and respond appropriately.

Records matter when pay is questioned

Working time records can also help explain how pay has been calculated. Government guidance on National Minimum Wage record keeping says employers need sufficient records to demonstrate that workers have been paid correctly. It recommends clear, consistent records that show working time and associated pay rates, and explains that the required detail can vary by worker and situation.

For organisations managing different shifts, overtime rates, allowances or working arrangements, it is useful to be able to see how recorded time connects to the rules used to calculate pay. That visibility can support internal checks and help the business respond to a query with relevant information to hand.

Consistency is part of a fair process

Good records are only one part of defensibility. Policies need to be clear, managers need to apply them consistently, and employees need an opportunity to explain their circumstances. Where a concern is investigated, relevant evidence should be reviewed fairly and kept confidential.

A system can help make information easier to find and apply. It cannot make a decision fair on its own. The process still depends on people using the information thoughtfully and following the organisation’s procedures.

Building a clearer workforce record

Ceequel Time & Attendance brings together clockings, shift information, absence and overtime within a configurable workforce system. Managers can review exceptions and approvals through Ceequel Hub, helping them see relevant information in one place and deal with issues in a more timely way.

For organisations, that can mean less time piecing together records and more confidence in the information behind workforce decisions.

Defensibility is not created when a problem appears. It is built through accurate records, clear policies and consistent decisions made every day.

Could You Prove What Happened Six Months Ago?

If an employee queried their hours, overtime or a change to their shift pattern, how quickly could you establish what actually happened?

From 1 October 2026, the time limit for bringing most Employment Tribunal claims will increase from three months to six months. That does not create a new requirement to keep every workforce record for six months. It does, however, make an important question more pressing: can an organisation reconstruct a decision months after it was made?

A current rota only tells part of the story. An employer may also need to establish what was originally scheduled, when it changed, who authorised the change, what hours were worked and how the employee was paid. If those details are spread across spreadsheets, messages, paper forms and payroll adjustments, finding a reliable answer can take time.

That is what defensibility means in workforce management. It is the ability to explain a decision with records that are clear, consistent and available when needed. Good records also help resolve everyday queries before they become disputes.

For organisations with complex shifts, overtime, absence and pay rules, the practical starting point is to review the trail behind each decision:

Can you compare scheduled, contracted and actual hours?
Can you see who approved overtime or amended a record, and when?
Can you retrieve the information after the payroll period has closed?

Ceequel brings time and attendance together with the wider workforce information managers use to make these decisions. It helps teams manage exceptions and approvals while keeping a clearer account of hours worked and the actions taken.

The question for employers is simple: if someone asked you to explain a workforce decision from six months ago, could you show your working?

The Fair Work Agency: Why Accurate Working-Time Records Matter More Than Ever

The way employment rights are enforced in the UK is changing.

Established in April 2026, the Fair Work Agency brings several previously separate enforcement functions into one organisation. Its responsibilities include National Minimum Wage enforcement, tackling labour exploitation and recovering unpaid wages, with its remit expected to expand progressively into areas covered by the Working Time Regulations.

For employers, this increases the importance of having accurate, accessible and consistent workforce records.

Could you prove the hours your employees worked?

When questions arise over pay, overtime, holiday entitlement or working hours, relying on spreadsheets, paper timesheets or managers’ recollections can leave a business exposed.

A modern time and attendance system creates a reliable record of:

When employees started and finished work
Breaks taken during the working day
Overtime and shift premiums
Holiday and absence
Working Time compliance
Authorised changes and manager approvals

Good records do more than support compliance. They also reduce payroll errors, prevent disputes and give managers a clearer understanding of staffing costs and working patterns.

Compliance should be built into everyday processes

The strongest compliance systems are not additional administrative exercises. They form part of the organisation’s normal operation.

Ceequel® Time and Attendance automatically applies each organisation’s working rules to the hours recorded by employees. It can manage complex shifts, overtime, premiums, annualised hours, flexitime, TOIL and absences, while creating a clear audit trail for managers, HR and payroll.

As employment enforcement becomes increasingly coordinated and evidence-led, the ability to retrieve dependable workforce information quickly could become just as important as having the correct policies in place.

The question for employers is therefore no longer simply, “Are we paying people correctly?” It is also, “Can we demonstrate it?”

Discover how Ceequel® Time and Attendance can help your organisation manage working hours, pay rules and workforce compliance.

Responsible Workforce Technology: Better Information Without Losing Employee Trust

Workforce technology gives organisations unprecedented visibility over working time, attendance, access, absence and operational performance. Used correctly, it can improve payroll accuracy, reduce administration, control labour costs and help protect employees. Used without clear safeguards, however, the same technology can create legitimate concerns about privacy, fairness and excessive monitoring.

Responsible workforce technology is not about collecting as much employee information as possible. It is about using the right information, for a clearly defined business purpose, with appropriate security, transparency and human oversight.

This distinction is becoming increasingly important. The UK Government is currently considering how workplace-monitoring technologies should be managed, with a particular focus on clarity, transparency, employee voice and responsible implementation. This is a consultation rather than final legislation, but it gives employers a clear indication of the direction in which expectations are moving. Read the Government’s workplace-monitoring consultation.

Workforce technology should have a clear purpose

Every workforce system should begin with a legitimate operational requirement.

An employer may need to record attendance so employees are paid accurately, manage access to restricted areas, confirm who is present during an emergency, monitor working-time compliance or understand the labour used on a particular job or production process.

These are valid business purposes. Problems arise when information collected for one reason is subsequently used for an unrelated purpose without proper consideration, communication or justification.

Before introducing any workforce technology, an organisation should therefore be able to explain:

What information will be collected.
Why that information is required.
How it will be used.
Who will be able to access it.
How long it will be retained.
Whether it will contribute to any automated decisions.
What choices or alternatives are available to employees.

Transparency creates confidence

Employees should not have to guess how workplace technology affects them.

Clear communication helps employees understand that a time-and-attendance system is there to create accurate records, that access control protects people and premises, or that operational data is being used to improve production rather than simply scrutinise individuals.

Where appropriate, employers should consult employees and their representatives before new technology is introduced. This provides an opportunity to explain the business requirement, answer questions and identify legitimate concerns before implementation.

Transparency is particularly important where technology involves location data, biometrics or detailed operational information.

Biometric technology requires additional care

Facial recognition can provide fast, contact-free and highly accurate employee identification. It can reduce forgotten credentials, discourage “buddy clocking” and support secure access control.

However, biometric information used to identify a person is special-category personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office states that organisations must complete a Data Protection Impact Assessment before processing biometric data to identify workers.

Employers must also establish an appropriate lawful basis, demonstrate that the proposed use is necessary and proportionate, and consider whether a less intrusive alternative could achieve the same objective.

Where consent is being relied upon, employees must have a genuine choice. The ICO gives the example of providing a swipe-card alternative without disadvantaging employees who do not wish to use biometrics. Read the ICO’s guidance on biometric time and access control.

This does not mean that facial recognition cannot be used responsibly. It means that the organisation introducing it must make a considered and properly documented decision.

Collect only what is needed

A responsible system should allow organisations to configure technology around their actual requirements rather than forcing them to collect unnecessary information.

For example, a mobile employee may need to confirm that they have arrived at an authorised work location. That does not automatically mean their movements need to be continuously tracked throughout the working day.

Similarly, operational technology may need to record which employee completed a job or production operation, but this should not become unrestricted personal surveillance.

The principle is straightforward: collect the information needed to achieve the defined purpose—and no more.

Important decisions should remain subject to human oversight

Workforce systems can identify exceptions, highlight patterns and provide managers with better information. They should not remove appropriate management judgement.

An attendance pattern may require investigation, but the system will not necessarily understand the personal or operational circumstances behind it. A productivity variance may identify a problem, but it may have been caused by machine downtime, material shortages, training requirements or an unrealistic production target.

Technology should support fair, consistent and informed decisions. Managers should remain able to review the underlying information, correct errors and consider the wider context before action is taken.

Security must be designed into the solution

Workforce information must be protected throughout its lifecycle.

This includes appropriate access controls, encryption, secure communications, clearly defined administrative permissions, retention policies, audit trails and reliable deletion processes. Remote access should also be controlled, authorised and restricted to the systems and time periods genuinely required.

The organisation using the system remains the data controller and is responsible for determining why and how employee information is processed. The technology provider should support that responsibility through secure design, clear documentation and configurable controls.

The Ceequel® approach

Ceequel® brings together Time & Attendance, HR, Employee Self Service, Access Control, Visitor Management, mobile clocking and Operational Intelligence within one configurable software suite.

This allows organisations to establish consistent controls across workforce processes while maintaining clear distinctions between different types of information and their intended purposes.

Depending on the organisation’s requirements, Ceequel can support:

Facial recognition or non-biometric proximity credentials.
Defined user roles and administrative permissions.
Accurate time, attendance, absence and working-hours records.
GPS and geofenced mobile clocking for authorised locations.
Controlled access to buildings and restricted areas.
Interactive fire and evacuation information.
Job, operation, output, downtime and labour-cost analysis.
Audit trails supporting management and compliance requirements.
Integration with payroll, HR and wider business systems.

The communications software used within Ceequel clocking devices is designed and coded by ELF Productivity Ltd, providing secure, encrypted communication between hardware and the Ceequel software environment.

Crucially, Ceequel provides information to authorised managers; it does not replace their responsibility to make fair, proportionate and properly informed decisions.

Better control and responsible use belong together

Organisations do not have to choose between operational visibility and employee trust.

A well-designed workforce-management system can help employers control labour costs, improve payroll accuracy, manage compliance and make better decisions while still respecting privacy, proportionality and individual rights.

The strongest workforce technology is not simply the technology that collects the most information. It is the technology that gives an organisation the information it genuinely needs, protects that information properly and enables it to be used openly, fairly and responsibly.

To discuss how Ceequel® can support responsible workforce management across your organisation, contact ELF Productivity Ltd or request a demonstration.

Why Corporate Businesses Must Start Preparing for Martyn’s Law

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025—more commonly known as Martyn’s Law—will introduce new legal responsibilities for organisations responsible for certain publicly accessible premises and events.

Named in memory of Martyn Hett, one of the 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena attack, the legislation aims to ensure businesses are better prepared to protect employees, visitors and members of the public in the event of a terrorist incident.

Although Martyn’s Law is not yet in force, the Government has published statutory guidance and confirmed an implementation period of at least 24 months from Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. Organisations likely to fall within its scope should use this time to understand their responsibilities and begin preparing. Government guidance makes clear that businesses may wish to start considering the requirements before the legislation formally commences.

Which organisations will be affected?

Martyn’s Law does not automatically apply to every corporate office or workplace. It principally applies to qualifying premises used for activities listed within the Act, where members of the public may be present.

The legislation establishes two principal tiers:

The standard tier applies to qualifying premises where between 200 and 799 people, including employees, may reasonably be expected to be present at the same time.
The enhanced tier generally applies where 800 or more people may be present at the same time.

Qualifying public events attended by 800 or more people may also come within the enhanced requirements where entry controls are in place.

Corporate groups operating shops, hotels, leisure facilities, conference venues, healthcare environments, visitor attractions or other publicly accessible locations should therefore assess each site individually. A single organisation may be responsible for several premises, but the risks and necessary procedures may differ from one location to another.

Why businesses should act now

Preparing for Martyn’s Law should not be viewed simply as another compliance exercise. At its heart, the legislation is about ensuring organisations can respond quickly and effectively when lives may be at risk.

Businesses need to consider how they would:

Evacuate people away from danger.
Move people to a safer area within the premises—known as invacuation.
Lock down all or part of a building.
Communicate clear and timely information during an incident.

For enhanced-tier premises and qualifying events, organisations will also need to consider appropriate measures to reduce their vulnerability to attack and limit the risk of physical harm.

This requires more than producing a written policy. Businesses must understand who is on their premises, control how different areas are accessed and ensure that accurate information is available to those managing an emergency.

Knowing who is on site

One of the greatest challenges during any emergency is establishing who is actually present.

Employees may work across different locations, while contractors, agency workers and visitors may arrive and leave throughout the day. Paper visitor books and disconnected systems can quickly become inaccurate, particularly across large or multi-building sites.

Ceequel Visitor Management System provides a controlled and auditable process for managing visitors and contractors. Visitors can be pre-registered before arrival, issued with appropriate site information and recorded as they enter and leave.

Contractor documentation—including RAMS, Public Liability Insurance and other compliance records—can also be managed within the system, helping organisations strengthen their wider site-control processes.

Controlling access across the organisation

Ceequel Access Control allows businesses to manage who can enter particular buildings, rooms and controlled areas.

Access permissions can be defined by person, department, role, location or time of day. Lost cards and fobs can be cancelled immediately, temporary permissions can expire automatically, and facial recognition templates can be removed from connected devices centrally.

For organisations with multiple locations, access policies can be managed from a central point while still allowing authorised local administration. This helps create consistency across a corporate estate without ignoring the individual operational requirements of each site.

When planning for Martyn’s Law, access control can also form part of a wider strategy for evacuation, invacuation and lockdown. Depending upon the organisation’s agreed procedures and system configuration, doors and controlled areas can be managed to help direct people away from danger or prevent access to higher-risk areas.

Providing accurate emergency attendance information

Ceequel Fire Register brings employee, visitor and contractor attendance information together to provide an accurate, real-time view of who is believed to be on site.

The system can identify which building or area an individual last entered and provide emergency information to authorised personnel. Photographs can also assist with identification, while mobile access allows information to remain available away from a fixed reception desk or computer.

Although originally designed to support fire evacuation, accurate attendance information can form an important part of broader emergency preparedness. Knowing who may still be inside a building, who has arrived as a visitor and where people were last recorded can support a more informed response.

Bringing systems and procedures together

No single piece of software can make an organisation compliant with Martyn’s Law. Legal responsibility remains with the organisation or individual responsible for the qualifying premises or event.

Technology can, however, provide the visibility, control and evidence needed to support well-designed procedures.

By integrating Ceequel Access Control, Ceequel Visitor Management System and Ceequel Fire Register, organisations can create a more joined-up approach to:

Managing employees, visitors and contractors.
Controlling access to buildings and restricted areas.
Maintaining real-time attendance information.
Supporting evacuation, invacuation and lockdown procedures.
Managing multiple locations through a central system.
Demonstrating that security and emergency processes have been properly considered.

Preparation should begin before the deadline

Martyn’s Law represents an important change in how organisations approach public protection. Those that begin preparing now will have time to assess their premises, identify weaknesses, review responsibilities and test their procedures properly.

The objective should not be to do the minimum necessary to satisfy legislation. It should be to create an environment in which employees, visitors, contractors and members of the public are better protected—and where those responsible for managing an emergency have accurate information when every second matters.

Ceequel can assist organisations on that journey by bringing access control, visitor management and real-time emergency attendance information together within one integrated platform.

Why ERP Shop Floor Data Collection Falls Short of Continuous Improvement

Many ERP systems now include some form of Shop Floor Data Collection (SFDC). On the surface, this appears to give manufacturers everything they need: production quantities, labour time, machine status, scrap levels and completed works orders.

However, collecting production transactions is not the same as providing the insight required for continuous improvement.

ERP systems are designed primarily to manage business processes. They are excellent at controlling works orders, inventory, purchasing, scheduling, costing and financial reporting. Their shop-floor functionality is generally designed to feed these processes with accurate production data.

Continuous improvement requires something different.

ERP Records What Happened

Most ERP-based SFDC systems concentrate on recording key transactions, such as:

When a works order started and finished
How many units were produced
The quantity of scrap recorded
The labour hours allocated to the job
Whether the order was completed
What materials were consumed

This information is important, but it usually provides a high-level summary rather than explaining what happened throughout the production process.

A works order may have taken two hours longer than planned, but why?

Was it caused by a machine stoppage, a shortage of material, an extended changeover, a quality problem, an unavailable operator or repeated short interruptions?

The ERP system may show the variance, but it rarely captures the operational detail needed to understand and eliminate its cause.

Continuous Improvement Needs Greater Detail

Continuous improvement depends upon identifying patterns, losses and recurring problems. This requires detailed, accurate and timely information from the shop floor.

Manufacturers need to understand:

Why machines and production lines stopped
How often short, unplanned stoppages occurred
Whether delays were caused by machines, materials, methods or labour
How actual cycle times compared with expected performance
Where bottlenecks developed
Why output varied between shifts, teams or products
What caused scrap, rework or quality failures
How long changeovers actually took
Whether corrective actions delivered a measurable improvement

Without this level of information, improvement teams are often forced to rely on spreadsheets, handwritten records, supervisor feedback and employee recollection.

By the time the information is reviewed, much of the context has already been lost.

The Problem with High-Level Downtime Codes

Some ERP platforms allow operators to select downtime or loss codes. However, these are often too broad to support meaningful root-cause analysis.

Recording “machine breakdown” does not explain which component failed, what symptoms were observed, whether the same fault has occurred previously or what action was taken to resolve it.

Likewise, “material shortage” does not identify whether the material was unavailable, delivered late, incorrectly located, rejected for quality reasons or supplied in the wrong quantity.

Continuous improvement requires structured data that allows organisations to move beyond identifying the category of a problem and begin understanding its underlying cause.

Small Losses Create a Big Problem

ERP systems are generally designed around significant production events. Yet many of the greatest opportunities for improvement are hidden within smaller, repeated losses.

A production line may suffer dozens of two or three-minute stoppages during a shift. Individually, these interruptions may not appear important enough to record. Collectively, however, they can account for hours of lost production every week.

If these micro-stoppages are not captured, categorised and analysed, they remain invisible. The ERP system may simply show that the works order took longer than expected, without revealing the repeated events responsible for the lost time.

Reporting Is Not the Same as Analysis

ERP reporting typically answers business questions such as:

Was the order completed?
How much did it cost?
Was the required quantity produced?
How much material was consumed?
What was the labour variance?

Continuous-improvement teams need to ask different questions:

Where are we losing productive time?
Which problems occur most frequently?
Which issues have the greatest impact?
Are the same faults recurring?
Which shift or product experiences the most variation?
Did the corrective action work?
What should we improve next?

Answering these questions requires data to be explored by machine, production line, product, shift, employee, reason, duration and frequency. It also needs to be presented in a way that helps managers recognise trends and prioritise action.

A standard ERP report may present the numbers, but it does not necessarily turn them into actionable operational intelligence.

Real-Time Visibility Matters

ERP information is often reviewed after a shift, production run or reporting period has ended. This is suitable for costing and historical reporting, but improvement opportunities frequently require a much faster response.

Supervisors need to see when performance begins to fall, when downtime is increasing or when a production line is operating below its expected rate. The earlier a problem is identified, the sooner action can be taken.

Real-time operational visibility helps manufacturers prevent a minor issue from becoming an entire shift of lost production.

The ERP Still Has an Important Role

This does not mean replacing the ERP system.

The ERP should remain the central platform for managing orders, materials, stock, schedules and financial information. What it needs is a dedicated operational-intelligence layer capable of collecting and analysing the detailed information that conventional ERP transactions cannot provide.

An effective solution should combine data collected directly from machinery and PLCs with information entered by employees on the shop floor. This creates a more complete picture by capturing both what happened and the operational reason behind it.

The resulting information can then be used to support OEE, downtime analysis, root-cause investigation, DMAIC, Six Sigma and other structured improvement programmes.

From Shop Floor Data to Operational Intelligence

Ceequel® Operational Intelligence goes beyond traditional Shop Floor Data Collection. It provides manufacturers with the detailed, real-time information needed to understand production losses, investigate their causes and measure the results of improvement activity.

Rather than competing with the ERP system, it complements it. Production orders and relevant business data can be shared between the two platforms, while Ceequel® captures the deeper shop-floor detail required by production managers and continuous-improvement teams.

Because collecting more data is not the objective.

The real objective is to provide the right people with clear, reliable information that helps them reduce waste, improve performance and make better operational decisions.

An ERP system can tell you what was produced and what it cost.

Ceequel® Operational Intelligence helps explain why performance varied—and what you can do to improve it.

Replacing Mitrefinch TMS: A Practical Guide for UK Employers

As workforce management requirements continue to evolve, many organisations are reviewing whether their existing Time & Attendance solution remains aligned with their operational, payroll, compliance, and workforce management objectives.

If your organisation currently uses Mitrefinch TMS and is considering its future options, this guide provides a practical framework for assessing whether your current solution continues to meet your needs and, if not, what should be considered when evaluating alternative platforms.

This article is intended as an impartial guide to help employers make informed decisions based on their own business requirements.

Why Organisations Review Their Time & Attendance System

Time & Attendance systems are a critical component of workforce management. As organisations grow, diversify, or modernise their operations, requirements often change.

Common reasons for reviewing an existing solution include:

Increasing payroll administration and manual intervention.
Expansion across multiple sites or locations.
Greater use of remote, mobile, or field-based employees.
A requirement to integrate Time & Attendance with HR, Payroll, ERP, Access Control, or Visitor Management systems.
The need for improved management visibility and reporting.
Changes in working practices, legislation, or compliance requirements.
Hardware refresh programmes or software renewal cycles.
Business acquisitions, mergers, or organisational restructuring.

A system review does not necessarily mean a replacement is required. However, it provides an opportunity to assess whether the current solution continues to deliver the functionality, efficiency, and return on investment expected by the business.

What a Modern Workforce Management Solution Should Deliver

A Time & Attendance solution should do more than simply record employee attendance. It should provide accurate workforce data that supports operational decision-making, payroll accuracy, compliance, and employee engagement.

When evaluating any solution, organisations should expect:

Accurate Workforce Data

Real-time attendance monitoring.
Automated calculation of working hours.
Accurate overtime and absence management.
Reduction in manual payroll adjustments.

Improved Management Visibility

Real-time workforce dashboards.
Exception reporting.
Attendance trend analysis.
Labour cost visibility.

Streamlined Payroll Processing

Automated payroll preparation.
Clear audit trails.
Reduced payroll queries.
Reliable integration with payroll systems.

Workforce Compliance

Working Time Regulations monitoring.
Absence tracking.
Audit and reporting capabilities.
Accurate records for compliance purposes.

Enhanced Employee and Manager Self-Service

Electronic holiday requests.
Manager approvals.
Employee access to attendance records.
Mobile workforce capabilities where required.

Key Questions to Ask During a System Review

Whether reviewing your current supplier or considering alternative providers, consistency is essential. Every supplier should be evaluated against the same criteria.

Payroll Management

How are exceptions and anomalies identified and managed?
How are audit trails maintained?
How does the system reduce payroll administration?

Business Rules

Can the solution accommodate existing working rules and agreements?
How flexible is the configuration?
Can future changes be implemented without development work?

Hardware and Data Collection

What clocking methods are available?
Can existing hardware be retained?
What options exist for mobile or remote workers?

Integration

What integrations are available with Payroll, HR, ERP, Access Control, and Visitor Management systems?
Are integrations proven and supported?

Security and Hosting (for cloud based systems)

Where is data hosted?
What security standards are maintained?
What service levels and support arrangements are provided?

Implementation

What does the migration process involve?
How is data transferred and validated?
What support is available during and after implementation?

Commercial Considerations

What are the initial implementation costs?
What ongoing support and maintenance costs apply?
Are there any additional licensing or usage-based charges?

The Importance of a Structured Migration Process

For most organisations, the greatest risk during a replacement project is not the installation of new software. The primary challenge is ensuring that existing workforce rules, pay calculations, attendance policies, and operational processes are accurately replicated or improved.

A successful migration project should include:

Detailed Scope of Works.
Documentation of existing rules and processes.
Configuration review and approval.
Data migration planning – if available.
Payroll validation and parallel testing.
User and manager training.
Post-implementation support.

Organisations should seek clear documentation outlining how each stage of the migration will be managed.

Evaluating Long-Term Value

While software functionality remains important, organisations should also consider the broader value delivered by a workforce management solution.

Areas worth evaluating include:

Reduction in payroll administration.
Removal of manual calculations.
Improved labour cost control.
Enhanced workforce visibility.
Reduced manual processes.
Improved compliance reporting.
Increased management efficiency.
Scalability for future growth.

A workforce management platform should support operational objectives not only today, but also as the organisation evolves over the coming years.

Making an Informed Decision

Every organisation’s requirements are unique. The most effective procurement decisions are based on clearly documented business objectives, operational requirements, implementation considerations, support arrangements, and long-term value (ROI).

A structured review process allows organisations to assess whether their existing solution remains the best fit or whether alternative platforms may offer additional benefits more aligned with future business goals.

By taking a measured and evidence-based approach, organisations can ensure that any investment in workforce management technology delivers meaningful improvements in productivity, efficiency, accuracy, and visibility.

About Ceequel®

Ceequel® is a UK-developed workforce management platform designed to help organisations manage attendance, absence, labour costs, employee self-service, manager approvals, access control, visitor management, and workforce reporting through a single integrated solution.

Supporting organisations across manufacturing, logistics, food production, distribution, healthcare, engineering, and other sectors, Ceequel® provides flexible deployment options and configurable workforce management capabilities designed to meet the operational requirements of modern UK employers.

For organisations reviewing their current Time & Attendance solution, a structured demonstration and discovery process can help determine whether Ceequel® is aligned with their operational and workforce management objectives.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not make any representations regarding the performance, functionality, support, commercial arrangements, or future direction of any third-party software product or supplier. Organisations should undertake their own evaluation based on their individual business requirements and procurement processes.

Replacing Legacy Kronos Systems: A Practical Guide for UK Employers

Many organisations have relied on Kronos workforce management solutions for years, benefiting from robust time recording, scheduling, and workforce management capabilities. However, as technology, workforce expectations, and business requirements evolve, many employers are taking the opportunity to review whether their existing system continues to meet their operational needs and future objectives.

If your organisation is currently using a legacy Kronos solution and is considering its long-term strategy, this guide outlines the key factors that should be considered when evaluating your existing platform and assessing potential alternatives.

This article is intended as an educational resource to support informed decision-making and procurement best practice.

Why Organisations Review Legacy Workforce Management Systems

Workforce management systems often remain in place for many years. During that time, businesses can undergo significant changes that place new demands on technology and operational processes.

Common reasons organisations review their existing workforce management platform include:

Changes to payroll processes and compliance requirements.
Business growth, acquisitions, or multi-site expansion.
Increasing use of mobile, remote, or hybrid working.
A desire to improve management visibility and workforce analytics.
The need for greater automation and reduced administration.
Wider digital transformation programmes.
ERP, HR, or payroll system replacement projects.
Hardware refresh cycles or infrastructure modernisation initiatives.
Evolving employee expectations around self-service and accessibility.

A system review provides an opportunity to assess whether the existing platform remains aligned with current business objectives and future workforce management requirements.

What Modern Workforce Management Should Deliver

Today’s workforce management systems are expected to do far more than simply record attendance.

A modern solution should support strategic decision-making while improving operational efficiency across the organisation.

Accurate Time Recording

Organisations should expect:

Real-time attendance visibility.
Automated working time calculations.
Accurate overtime management.
Comprehensive absence monitoring.
Clear audit trails for payroll processing.

Improved Operational Visibility

Managers should have access to:

Live workforce dashboards.
Attendance exception reporting.
Labour utilisation data.
Departmental and site-level analytics.
Real-time workforce status information.

Payroll Efficiency

Effective workforce management should help organisations:

Reduce manual payroll administration.
Minimise payroll queries and adjustments.
Improve payroll accuracy.
Streamline payroll preparation processes.
Provide clear reporting and audit capabilities.

Employee and Manager Self-Service

Modern solutions increasingly support:

Holiday and absence requests.
Electronic approvals.
Mobile workforce access.
Employee attendance visibility.
Manager workflow automation.

Workforce Compliance

Employers should be able to monitor and report on:

Working Time Regulations.
Attendance policies.
Absence management.
Audit requirements.
Workforce governance procedures.

Key Areas to Assess During a System Review

When reviewing any workforce management platform, organisations should evaluate suppliers using consistent criteria.

Workforce Management Functionality

Consider whether the solution supports:

Complex shift patterns.
Overtime rules.
Attendance management.
Absence management.
Flexible working arrangements.
Multi-site operations.

Payroll Integration

Questions to consider include:

How is payroll data prepared and transferred?
What validation processes exist?
How are exceptions managed?
What audit capabilities are available?

Data Collection Methods

Review the available options for:

Biometric clocking.
Facial recognition.
Proximity cards and fobs.
Mobile workforce applications.
Web-based attendance recording.

Integration Capabilities

Organisations should understand how the platform shares data with:

Payroll systems.
HR software.
ERP platforms.
Access Control systems.
Visitor Management solutions.
Business intelligence and reporting tools.

Security and Infrastructure

Areas to evaluate include:

Data hosting arrangements.
Security standards and certifications.
Business continuity provisions.
Support and service level agreements.
Disaster recovery procedures.

Scalability

A workforce management platform should support:

Organisational growth.
Additional sites.
New departments.
Future technology requirements.
Evolving workforce practices.

Planning a Successful Migration

Any workforce management replacement project should be approached as a business transformation initiative rather than simply a software installation.

Successful projects typically include:

Discovery and Analysis

Review of existing workforce rules.
Documentation of attendance policies.
Identification of payroll requirements.
Review of reporting needs.

Configuration and Validation

Comprehensive Scope of Works.
Operational validation.
Payroll validation.
Rule verification.

Data Migration

Historical data requirements.
Employee information transfer.
Validation procedures.

Training and Adoption

Manager training.
Employee communication.
User documentation.
Ongoing support arrangements.

Go-Live and Post-Implementation Support

Controlled deployment.
Parallel payroll testing where appropriate.
Dedicated support during transition.
Performance monitoring.

Looking Beyond Features

When reviewing any workforce management solution, organisations should consider the wider business outcomes it can deliver.

These may include:

Reduced labour administration.
Improved payroll accuracy – no payroll leakage.
Greater workforce visibility.
Better labour cost control.
Improved operational efficiency.
Enhanced compliance reporting.
Increased employee engagement.
Better management decision-making.

The objective should be to identify a solution that supports both immediate operational needs and long-term organisational goals.

Future-Proofing Workforce Management

As workforce management technology continues to evolve, organisations increasingly seek platforms that can support a wider range of operational requirements from a single environment.

Areas commonly considered during strategic reviews include:

Bringing these functions together can help reduce administration, improve data accuracy, and provide a more unified view of the workforce.

About Ceequel®

Used across manufacturing, food production, logistics, engineering, healthcare, distribution, and other sectors, Ceequel® provides organisations with configurable workforce management capabilities that can be tailored to specific operational requirements.

For organisations reviewing legacy workforce management platforms, a structured discovery and demonstration process can help determine whether Ceequel® aligns with their current and future workforce management objectives.

This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not make any representations regarding the performance, functionality, support arrangements, commercial terms, product lifecycle, or future direction of any third-party software product or supplier. Organisations should undertake their own independent evaluation based on their specific operational requirements, procurement processes, and business objectives.