As much as we’d like to trust our employees and assume the best from their intentions, not all workers are the same. Some employees engage in time theft to pay for work that they haven’t actually done.
Preventing time theft is actually pretty difficult, at least if you are relying on a traditional timekeeping system. With time clock software, you can safeguard your company from time theft much more effectively. Read on to find out more.
What Is Time Theft, and How Does It Occur?
Time theft happens when employees clock in hours that they haven’t actually worked. They might inflate the hours they worked or simply log hours that they weren’t present for.
With easier access to the internet and more electronic time monitoring devices, time theft is becoming more and more prevalent. As an employer, you need effective strategies to prevent this from happening.
How Does Time Theft Happen?
One common way is with employees rounding up their minutes right before they clock out. They assume that if they’re close enough to a specific round number, it won’t really matter.
Buddy punching is a more egregious instance, where one employee clocks in their friend even though only one of them is present. This is a common tactic for both paper and digital clock-in machines. If one person is there already, they may figure they are just helping their friend without considering the long-term costs.
Long lunches and smoke breaks also eat into employers’ time. If employees do not properly clock in and out for their meals and breaks, they may be wasting precious time.
How Can Time Clock Terminal Software Help?
Time clock terminal software can help reduce instances of time theft in a few key ways.
For starters, it’s harder for employees to round up their numbers and fudge their hours. Because many time clock software employ swipes or other forms of identification, employees have to be transparent about when they clock in and out.
Time clock terminal software that uses unique login credentials also reduces the ability to clock in for your buddies. Unless they go out of their way to share information, only one person can clock in for themselves at one time.
Webcams can also be installed to make sure that employees are only signing in for themselves rather than for others.
Time clock terminal software also lets employees clock in and out during lunch breaks. Enforcing this practice will undoubtedly help employers reduce the amount of time their employees take excessive breaks.
Employers can also check time sheets and look for any abnormalities, such as employees who don’t clock in and out for lunch or are taking too many long breaks each day.
Time clock terminal software also provides valuable reporting tools to make sure you’re on top of your employees’ hours. Not only will this provide more accurate time reporting to properly compensate your workers, it’ll illuminate any issues so you can more effectively identify who’s clocking in honest hours and who isn’t.
Leverage Time Clock Terminal Software Today
Losing hours from dishonest employees is a burdensome yet common issue. Use clock terminal software to reduce these issues and start improving your bottom line today.
