Changing Times

Automated time and attendance systems continue their relentless advance beyond their traditional use in blue-collar working environments into the retail, service and public sectors, gathering greater functionality and technology as they go.

What kind of organizations can benefit from collecting time data electronically? What are latest developments in technology and functionality? Can time and attendance help in complying with the requirements of the Working Time Regulations?

Finding the right supplier But, first, how should you go about finding the right time and attendance (T&A) supplier? Is it better to use a system offered by your payroll supplier, or use the services of a specialist provider? Frank Beechinor, CEO of Vizual Business Tools, recommends an objective approach. "If businesses want tight control over time spent in the workplace," he suggests, "they need to assess their needs, research the market, and find the right supplier that can offer them the coverage they need within the set budget. The right T&A solution depends on the requirements of the business and not solely on the existing suppliers' offerings."

Susan Kirby, Marketing Manager at Softworks Computing, makes a similar point: "It is essential to get it right the first time. It is so important that the business knows exactly what it wants from the system from the outset and finds the company that can supply the system to suit those requirements." What kind of supplier does she recommend? "It would be very easy for a company to just look to its existing system supplier to fulfil its needs, but it would be far better for them to really get something which addresses the requirements than something which is perhaps cheaper."

Not surprisingly, the suppliers of standalone T&A systems advise businesses to go for a "best of breed" solution, whereas suppliers of integral systems stress the advantages of a single database. Selven Systems, for example, supply a system that combines T&A, payroll and personnel functionality. David Keable, a director of Selven, says: "A system based on a single integrated database brings huge benefits by removing any problems associated with disparate data across separate systems, by eliminating data transcription errors when interfacing between systems, and by removing any need for duplicate data entry".

Does this also benefit users? "A fully integrated system allows data to be shared easily across functional departments," Keable continues. "For example, subject to security constraints, users in the personnel department have access to timekeeping data, or the shifts that particular employees are scheduled to work. Similarly, payroll users can see details of overtime hours for each day, or why an employee is being paid less than normal because of instances of unpaid absence."

Advances in technology
Whether a standalone or single-database system is chosen, time and attendance is a mature but progressive industry, as Eric Smart, CEO of Smart Human Logistics, points out. "Most T&A vendors can now supply reliable systems. The choices now are in how far the functionality should go and the power of the technology."

T&A has embraced new technologies and time recording is a practical proposition across local and wide area networks, and over the Internet using the browser interface. But, is the common swipe card being replaced by developments in technology? "Most businesses still use swipe cards", says Debbie Guppy, business management director at Mitrefinch, "but they are vulnerable to fraud. However, there is increasingly widespread use of web/pc clocking, proximity cards or tags, and biometrics using fingerprints in particular."

What are the advantages of these new methods of identification? Guppy explains: "Proximity cards save time when clocking and are ideal in sterile areas. Web and PC clocking is more acceptable to office workers who may perceive 'clocking on' with a card as a blue-collar activity. The main advantage is that it can be used by remote workers, but its use in this situation is a matter of trust between employer and employee."

How are employees reacting to the introduction of fingerprint readers? "T&A suppliers have started to integrate biometrics into their range of 'clocking on' hardware," Guppy continues. "Because it can generate a very secure environment, fingerprint readers are being used mainly by manufacturing and high-security businesses and, in view of security fears stemming from world events, increasingly in office environments."

Does this mean that employers are storing their employees' fingerprints? "A person's fingerprint is stored as a template, using a mathematical algorithm," Guppy explains. "The template is used for identification but not to re-create a fingerprint. Modern readers are even able to read dirty or scratched fingers by using radio frequency to measure the fingerprint underneath a person's top layer of skin."

More uses for T&A
Both the size of a business and its business needs are key factors in introducing a T&A system. "A one-man band doesn't need T&A," observes Steven Broadbent, customer services manager at Cristel Graphics. "But, as a business grows and more people are taken on, a basic time recorder will be introduced at some point, to support wages and influence employees' timekeeping. Larger businesses will compare the time spent working out wages to the price of a PC-linked system, especially if they wish to address other issues such as access control and security."

Indeed, a time and attendance system has many valuable business uses beyond the basic collection of data for payroll purposes. Andrew McKie, a consultant for ARINSO, suggests: "The most common purpose of T&A data, other than payroll, is absence monitoring, often to identify employees who have a regular pattern of absence. Other uses include monitoring the time spent working for particular clients and managing the costs of projects or specific jobs. By using an employee's hourly rate from the payroll, the total manpower costs of a project or task can be calculated, leading to more accurate checks on prices and profit."

Has the introduction of weekly working limits under the Working Time Regulations (WTR) had an impact on the design of T&A systems? Use of T&A systems for this purpose raises issues over whether employers should monitor their employee's working time, or manage it. According to John Arvanitis, regional director for Workbrain, "many T&A vendors simply allow for monitoring WTR compliance by providing reports that identify violations that have already occurred. Systems with scheduling facilities can integrate with the T&A functionality to help organisations comply with the WTR proactively, to stop violations occurring."

Implementation
David Keable of Selven provides some practical and realistic advice on the implementation of a T&A System. "There are two points to remember", he suggests, "first, the T&A system can never to be too flexible and, second, users must understand that there are usually two or three months of heartache while the system is installed and bedded down but, after that, it will run like clockwork for year after year. So,

• give it the time and resources needed to do it properly
• insist that your workforce use it, not abuse it
• get it to give the correct answers
• insist that the data it generates is used to pay people - this is the only way you will ever get it right
• don't ignore the problem areas highlighted during implementation - either remove them by modifying your working practices, or solve them using the flexibility of your system."