According to the Office for National Statistics for February of 2012, the unemployment rate was a staggering 8.3% of the economically active population. At this time, the average remuneration for an employee, across the private sector, was £430 per week. With more and more small companies going out of business in these hard economic times, it is important to keep a tight track on all costs for your company, and save money wherever possible.
Computer-based Time and Attendance systems, like Ceequel®, assist many companies in managing their payroll more effectively. There are many companies who round up the hours their employees have worked for sheer ease of calculation; these companies are needlessly giving away their money! It may seem insignificant when looking at the costs on an individual employee basis, but when you combine those small amounts of rounding that are applied to each employee – it can easily equate to a lot of money for your company.
Let’s have a look at a few ways in which an employee’s time and attendance can be monitored:
Proximity or Barcode packages are an effective and cheap way of implementing such a system. These clocking machines are relatively small, in contrast to the old fashioned machines you may’ve seen in the past, and look professional when fitted to the wall in an accessible place for your employee’s to use. The proximity or barcode card’s themselves are about the size of a credit card, meaning your employees can comfortably carry them in their wallet or purse. Alternatively, with the use of a card printer, the cards can be used to form identity badges, containing the employee’s photograph and basic information, for increased security on your company’s premises. If a card or badge is not suitable for your employees, consider a small proximity fob that employees can attach to their keys, so it can never be forgotten!
Biometric clocking machines are becoming increasingly more and more popular. While the retail price of these clocks are generally higher than standard barcode or proximity clocking machines, they tend pay for themselves over time, since there is no extra cost of purchasing and/or printing barcode or proximity cards for new employees, or reprinting cards for employees who lose them. The other factor to bear in mind with a biometric system is that it eliminates a common problem in large companies completely, buddy clocking; where one employee clocks in for a colleague that is actually not at work, since each employee uses their finger or hand to punch in. The most common misconception regarding these devices is regarding the storage of an employee’s fingerprint template. While the fingerprint is saved to a database, the data itself is nothing more than an alphanumeric string, generated using a formula, and based on the co-ordinates of the different, unique points of an individual’s fingerprint. The fingerprint data itself does not reveal any sensitive or personally identifiable data, even to the eyes of an expert. For example, this is my fingerprint:
4534E54557A4978414141455947514543415548436337514141416359576B42414141416849306D616D416B4148 344C587744764141567639774179414A384C63674135594A6B505A514248414D6B506657424741496B506F514B4 A414356765751426A414259504751426F594377502F774233414F384F6447435A4144675030674274414446764C 414371414D6B494967432B59446F5059414447414A4D4E51574450414E4D497541414C414556764C67445641424 14849414452594C6F5067674467414973507732446741454D50594141674146397633414475414563502B414142 5958304C7967414941514150393241494155494F567744554164357179514131414345506B7743575944384E556 7437A414A514E526D4332414D674C6377414D414539763967444F414459502B774463594A634B6B67446E41496B 50513241614165634930674346416464737667424E4164344E7348784B4654663164595336394764365A2B41326 431384C32586D556577735064495575444D623476483271625A754B5359766D6D6F38444F6D78506A362F595967 5843442F2F33352F323339784F50462F32336949377361662B6E394C703879574C44657661376151644D672B467 24D413352427147487844776C706D674F5A514B7139344B496852786B506B704A745958556434336A5241546443 637314A415A526E792B493567542B8565634E315763456A3561454E5A625170384B4C6C34423668723647492F33 474876614B456655355A37654479656E4C41312B4569757950435A3462704968562F6F4B4164486A786C6C41437 26656642F307678755233772F3662797763533869504A6478414457417834505141314E446D3650466E5A72456B 4B546A57357147332B662F2F3836427752415151454364523646797743635A514C372F38482F774A45397857344 144336D6E774775772F2F756865675941774155445031514D5947554945312F2B53384141784773625578494168 52484B526973347763442B5A4D4144786641635238414B4145495541446F77786C59464144306541317A6441485 A47455656412F7A6A416F6348364E38416A417741364B446A2F416D42694C517A412F7A5853414435532F444441 2F6A34322B762F456E384539417744364E754C2F4132444B4F42354477502F41414C34674938442B77516341734 54F55384A634741474247686C504243574270536850412F7638362F2F6F735377344166556F58686635514C4663 4B414B564C476A7334784A35334341436A55434C392F314E31415678684450307A3846524C6F503342515167515 850376E6877776641434669357A51362F6675652F762F2F2F762F2F4F7344376E38442B77502F2B774476412B35 2F2F42414255596E6F4777524267585763572F7972414F6A37376E2F3739774D442F4E646B41495137662F76333 94C7634362F76756577662F2F774D442B425037366F502F412F384439434D5867616B662B5A556F4C414E75314D 4863415877514241336B69347751456E336F77625163414A3774506B686F4B41486154734B4144785A2B6A42774 2566C7A5439426672365A6746386D6A45312F387341632F7338552F2F2B514451454467525170386B6A2B507238 4F7A73325A674851717A66417754C62F41474458717A424542414472726A436B77514D41554A74474F675945693 77F772F4D465843385645787366392F5033382B5063355067786788637061774D44364D6834435947504B54507A 424A4D38416436784E842F3879775137467474556A775431427766332F2B413045323941362F762F412F67542B5 0795947415066544E4562714177524F32434C4E4351446D484431446E2F38374351422F34355539784A31444351 4345343059372F564E50445144453545502F4244623549663444414D6E6B50546F4542447A6D576938474147457 355507163772F304A414E6E78672F39446F446F49414E2F7851446F3778703049454D6B4D53662B457743357045 66414D527638704F763337614248344A6C662F7741582B2B5A3846454F70556363513441413D3D
Employees working in remote locations are also not a problem anymore. With our email clocking system, these employees simply have to send a quick email to a specified address (for example; clockme@yourdomain.com) and they will be clocked in our out of the system within seconds at the time the email was sent at, meaning these remote and unmonitored employees can submit time-sheets and transfer labour hours in real time all from a modern-day mobile phone.
Our Web-based Time and Attendance package, E-Manager, is a brand new concept, with Zero Footprint, meaning much less hassle for an IT department; instead of having to install and configure a software package on each user’s computer that requires the ability to view, edit or report on clocking data, the whole system can be accessed through a web browser, which is already installed on every computer.
The Ceequel® Time and Attendance Suite is user friendly, versatile and calculates your employee’s time accrual as it happens. For each installation, a Systems Consultant is assigned for the whole project, who will talk to you about your Time and Attendance needs and perform scoping exercises, making recommendations where possible and configuring your system to ensure you fully maximise it’s potential. Our company motto is: “providing your rules have some logic, Ceequel® will deal with it!”