Ask the Expert: 10 benefits of time and attendance systems

Time and attendance systems and software offer many key benefits you'd expect:

• Keep accurate hours of employees
• Prevent time theft or so-called "buddy punching"
• Offer detailed reporting
• Help streamline payroll
• Provide solutions for any size business in any industry

What you may not realize is that time and attendance packages offer an array of additional features and benefits that can help streamline your HR practices and increase productivity. Rather than provide a laundry list of options to consider, we've narrowed down the top 10 things that a time and attendance system can do that you might not know about.

1. Compatibility: Most time and attendance systems support standard data entry systems and payroll services, and can accommodate time and attendance rules specific to your organization.

2. Automation: Allowing employees to enter the hours they worked into the system drastically cuts the time your HR or administrative staff spends each week calculating payroll and paid time off (PTO).

3. Online access: Remote employees or traveling workers can enter their time information through a secure Web site, letting you track their hours as accurately as on-site workers'.

4. Scheduling: This helps ensure that departments are fully staffed and that the right staff is assigned to particular projects. Supervisors can also log in to create and maintain schedules for their employees.

5. Auxiliary storage: By purchasing a Web-based time and attendance software, you remove a burden from your IT staff, using an outside company to maintain your information and provide data backups when needed.

6. Compliance: The software typically factors in government mandates for the Family & Medical Leave Act, as well as other time away from work, helping you avoid any legal issues.

7. Tracks PTO accrued: This lets HR and employees know how much vacation and personal time the employee has built to date. Staffers can then pull up the information through the software without having to contact HR.

8. Durability: In construction and manufacturing industries where conditions can often damage equipment, vendors offer time and attendance components with heavy-duty casings that are both waterproof and shockproof.

9. True project costs: With people hours being a primary cost of many projects, accurate time tracking can help determine the true cost of a particular program or project.

10. Biometric security options: For businesses requiring the highest level of security, this feature requires a fingerprint or iris scan to ensure the employee is actually present when punching in or out.

A final word of advice about this list: businesses buying time and attendance systems may find value in some or all of these features. Regardless how interesting or enticing a particular feature seems, make sure it's essential to your business before making it requirement. Consider the features that would help your business become more productive, and then meet with multiple time and attendance system providers to learn which solutions they can offer that are most compatible with your needs.

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