10 min read How to Buy Employee Time Clock: Complete Guide
Your employees are your most valuable resource. They are what makes the company successful and profitable, but they also need time to themselves. How do you know when they're clocking in or out?
This is where a modern employee time clock comes into play. To ensure that their timesheet is correct, employers need to have a system that accurately records when employees enter and exit the workplace.
Very little time is wasted on clocking in and out when using an employee time clock. It's critical to keep accurate records of employees' hours, which will help you determine the number of working days in a year- for calculating payroll. With this information, you'll have all your bases covered.
In order to purchase an employee time clock, you'll need to do a bit of research. There are many different models and features available for these systems.
The best way to find the employee time clock- like Clock In Easy- that suits your needs is by reading reviews about it before you purchase one- or even comparing them side by side.
Reviews will let you know what other people think of the product. This will help you determine if this is what you need to purchase or not.
In most cases, an employee time clock can be purchased for less than $500 with features such as online access and smartphone compatibility. They are easy to install, which means that it won't take any time away from your business for installation- unlike some other products.
It's also important to understand all of the different features available on employee time clocks when you purchase one to fit your needs better than another model. In this blog post, we are going to look at a few of the most widely adopted workplace time clocks, and whether they are right for you.
6 Critical Reasons Why You Need an Employee Time Clock System
1. Absenteeism
Time clocks for business are suitable for keeping track of employee time. If an employee is absent, it will be easy to see if they are at work or not because their hours will show up on the computer, and you can tell how long they were there.
2. Increased Productivity
By keeping track of employee time, you'll see if they are working the hours that you feel their work deserves, and on top of it all, have a more accurate view of how much money is being made or lost per hour.
3. Satisfaction
Time clocks for business can help to boost employee morale by giving them the opportunity to work when they want and allowing you as a boss or supervisor to be more flexible with your employees' schedules.
4. Prevents Wage Theft and Other Lawsuits
Workplace time clocks help prevent wage theft, which is when an employee is paid for hours they did not work. It also protects the company from lawsuits that arise over unpaid wages or overtime compensation.
5. Better Customer Service for Full Accountability
With the right clock systems for business, it is possible to keep track of employee time and know who's on the clock. This means that customer service can be provided for accountability, which will increase your business relationships with customers.
6. Supervisors Have Peace of Mind
With an employee time clock online system, a supervisor can know who's clocking in and out. They won't have to worry about whether the employee is coming or going when they are on their shift.
5 Key Findings of Employee Time Tracking
Research into time clock systems for business time management and time tracking has revealed some interesting findings. Here are five of the most important ones:
1. Employees Don't Like to Clock In and Out
Many employees prefer punch clocks, which allow them to clock in and out from their seats. They don't have to get up each day for an employees time card or badge that will show how much time they've been clocking in.
2. It's Easier to Track Employees with a Time Clock Online System
With an employee time clock online system, employees can track their hours and the work that needs to be done without waiting for a supervisor or manager.
3. A Properly Setup Employee Time Clock is good for business
If you have a time clock system for your employees, it can help to decrease the amount of work that needs to be done manually. This will save time and also ensure accuracy in tracking employee hours.
4. Accurate Time Keeping Can Help Save Costs
A common problem with older systems is inaccurate timekeeping due to human error or poorly designed time clock employee systems. With modern employee time clock online systems, it's possible to eliminate human error and ensure that employees are clocking in at the right time.
5. With a New Employee Time Clock System, You Can Boost Staff Morale
Many people value their free time, so they won't be too keen on coming to work early or staying late if they don't have to. A time clock for a business system can help show employees that they are appreciated, making them more motivated.
Card Punch Time and Attendance Clocks
1. What Is a Card Punch Clock?
A card punch time and attendance system is a type of employee time clock. It's called a "card" because the employees will have cards that they use to mark their arrival and departure times.
As part of a company time clock, the employee time clock monitors the hours an individual has worked for a specific company.
Biometric Time and Attendance Clocks
1. What Is a Biometric Clock?
This is yet another form of time clocks for business management. It uses fingerprinting or retinal scanning to count the hours an employee has worked during their shift, even if they are not present at the terminal.
2. What Are The Cons of Biometrics For Timekeeping?
There are a few cons to this type of time clocks for businesses. For one, it is costly and may not be worth the price to some companies because biometric clocks can cost up to $15,000 or more.
If an employee leaves their fingerprints or retinal scan behind at any point during a workday, it will count as them having been present even if they are away from the terminal for most of that shift- meaning they could clock out early without actually working all their allotted hours and get paid anyway.
Then there's the fact that this time clock can be sensitive to movement, which could result in false readings.
3. Who Uses Biometrics?
Despite the limitations mentioned above, these types of workplace time clocks continue to enjoy increased adoption- particularly in industries where safety is a priority, such as construction or manufacturing.
Another sector where biometrics are used is in restaurants- where it's used in the kitchen to keep track of when employees are coming and going. Similarly, biometric employee time cards are increasingly adopted in the oil and gas industry, where safety is a top priority.
Web-based Time and Attendance Clocks
1. What Is a Web-based Clock?
A web-based time and attendance clock is a system that stores all of its information online rather than on the computer it's installed on. This can make data retrieval easier when you want to look up how much time an employee has clocked in so far this month or year; without having employees come into your office every day.
2. What Are The Cons of Web-based Clocks?
However, internet-based clocks are not perfect, and there are a few disadvantages to this system. One drawback is that it's easy to cheat the time clock if you have access to your company's computer or network; since employees can't be monitored as closely with web times and might just log in from home on their own.
3. Who Uses Web-based Clocks?
Industries that might find a web-based time and attendance clock useful include retail, manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality, or any other business where employees often work remotely.
Web-based clocks may be an ideal solution for businesses with small offices who don't want to buy more than one computer for each employee; or if you have a few remote.
Proximity-based Time and Attendance Clocks
1. What Is a Proximity Clock?
A proximity time clock is defined as a system that tracks the number of people who enter or exit an area through either scanning ID cards or biometrics such as retina scans without requiring employees to be in possession of their card around the office at all times.
2. What Are The Cons of Proximity Clocks?
The two main drawbacks to this type of time management are cost and accuracy; these clocks can also be complicated for companies with many branches located close together due to interference from neighboring magnetic fields.
3. Who Uses Proximity Clocks?
The types of businesses that use proximity cards typically include retail stores, universities, and hospitals.
Card Swipe
1. What Is a Card Swipe Clock?
Card swipe time clocks work by having employees "swipe" or "dip" their ID cards through a reader, which records how much they worked at what specific times during the day/week.
2. What Are The Cons of Card Swipe Clocks?
One of the cons is that card swipe time clocks are not able to track unscheduled absences like sick days, for example; this means it's crucial to use other forms of monitoring in conjunction with your system.
3. Who Uses Card Swipe Clocks?
Card swipe time clocks are used by most medium to large-sized companies in the United States. The reason being is it's a much more efficient way of tracking employee hours and payroll, which saves money on labor costs over time.
Key Code Time and Attendance Clocks
1. What Is a Key Code Clock?
Key Code time clocks are similar to card swipe clock systems. What is different about them, though, is that they use key codes instead of cards.
2. What Are The Cons of Key Code Clocks?
The cons of key code clocks are that they rely on employees not losing their badges, and if they do, it's impossible to access the time clock. This means you're going to have to change all your passwords for every employee, which can be a bit tricky.
As well as this, there is no way of tracking unscheduled absences like sick days since swipe cards don't work with these types of leave.
3. Who Uses Key Code Clocks?
These kinds of employee time clocks are a good choice for businesses in areas where there may be security concerns because it's hard to steal someone else's code or badge and get away with it.
Mobile Time and Attendance Apps
1. What Is a Mobile Employee Time Clock App?
Mobile time and attendance apps work by synchronizing the employee time clock with their phone so that they don't have to clock in and out of work manually.
2. What Are The Cons of Mobile Clocks?
The most common cons of mobile clocks are that they can be inaccurate. They may not work well in areas where there is no coverage or if the phone has a poor signal, which means any data inputted into the clock will be unreliable.
3. Who Uses Mobile Clocks?
Mobile clocks are primarily used by companies that have a lot of remote workers. It is also popular among small businesses that want to save time on manually inputting data into their time clock.
Mobile clocks are also helpful for self-employed people and need an easy way to keep track of their hours. They can be used in various professional settings, which makes them ideal if you don't want your employees carrying around a physical time card or punch card all day long.
Conclusion
No matter what form of time clock systems for the business you choose, it's essential to make sure that the system fits your goals. Smaller companies with less than 50 employees will likely find a biometrics time clock more helpful for monitoring attendance because they're not always in touch with their workers.
A card-based timekeeping system may be the best option for larger companies because they provide employees with more privacy. Before investing in any system, make sure to do your research and find one that's right for you. I hope this helps!
