What is employee time clock software?
Employee time clock software registers the time that an employee enters and leaves the workplace. It is a program that helps a company keep track of employee hours.
Biometric Employee Time Clock Software Solution- What it is and How it Helps
What is a Biometric Time Tracking System?
A biometric time tracking system is a combination of hardware and software that work together to recognize each employee by their unique features such as fingerprints, retina or face. These are distinguishing physical features of all human beings and a biometric attendance software uses them to track time spent by each team member at work. Biometric time clock devices are usually placed at the entry and exit points of a workplace for employees to record their attendance.
The other kind of biometric time clock system is when a company creates photo IDs for all its employees. These can also work as time cards marking their clock in and clock out time. However, photo IDs have their limitations as they cannot prevent buddy punching, where coworkers can clock in and out for others if they have their time cards in hand.
How Does a Biometric Time and Attendance System Work?
- Employee time clock software that uses biometrics stores impressions of fingerprints, face and retina of each employee in their system. These biometrics help identify the employee in the time and attendance software.
- Every time an employee clocks in with their fingerprint or face, the biometric device installed at the entrance tallies the details with the stored information in its records to find a match. The attendance software does this in real time.
- The same process is repeated while clocking out or taking breaks, making it impossible for employees to leave early without the time clock taking note. Businesses can track employee punches accurately and eliminate time theft and buddy punch practices with time and attendance software.
- The online time tracking system also reduces labor costs by reducing the human resources needed to tally time cards. By reducing time theft, companies also save on money spent on falsely claimed work hours.
Time tracking is a pain. It's not just about the time, it's about the money spent in pay. Time not tracked is money down the drain.
With biometric employee time clock software, you can track staff hours and pay them accurately with just a few clicks. This article tells you more . . .
Benefits of Time Tracking Software
- Time clock software lets a company track each employee in real time. The software will record each and every punch, break hours and overtime, helping managers monitor tasks more effectively.
- The clock software also boosts the efficiency of employees as they are also constantly aware of the work hours they are putting in. Furthermore, the task management and employee scheduling tools of the time clock software help managers divide work better and improve efficiency.
- With smooth task and employee management, your business is bound to see an improvement in productivity.
- As the tracking software monitors each clock in and clock out, break hours and attendance, it is impossible for employees to practice buddy punching. Companies can prevent losses due to time theft.
- Employee time clocks also come with tools for smooth and efficient employee scheduling. You no longer need to prepare manual charts, ask for employee availability, leave requests, etc. All of these can be managed using the employee scheduling tool.
- You can also automatically integrate your time tracking software with the payroll. This will reduce the manual work involved in tallying each employee's records before pay day.
- The time clock software will also generate reports on your task management methods, employee behavior, work schedules, and employee scheduling practices, pointing out ways to improve them.
Essential Features of a Biometric Time Tracking System
- Storage capacity- You must have an employee time tracking system that has the capacity to store the biometric details of all the employees you have on board. If you are a small business, you can do with a small storage capacity. However, if you have thousands of employees, you must look for a system with adequate storage space.
- Security- Time clock systems are highly secure as they contain sensitive biometric IDs of all your employees. The system denies access to all others whose biometrics are not stored in it. Only authorized personnel are granted access.
- Speed- Online time clocks are fast and accurate at the same time. With the time clock system, employees no longer need to spend several minutes marking their attendance in a register. It will all be done in seconds.
- Integration- One of the best features of the employee time clock app is its ability to integrate with employee scheduling apps, payroll systems and other management tools. This helps HR directly link payroll with the work hours put in by each employee.
- Employee Scheduling- Attendance software also comes with employee scheduling tools that automate the entire process of creating work schedules for the entire workforce. With this, you no longer need to tally each leave request, availability, etc. before creating the next week's roster.
- Connectivity- Online time clock systems must be able to work with the Internet and use WiFi to function smoothly. Also, having USB connectivity will help pull data from the system as a backup when necessary.
Top 3 Employee Time Tracking Systems for Restaurants
1. Zip Clock- The Zip Clock app by Hubworks is part of its restaurant management suite that offers a bunch of tech solutions for foodservice businesses. This easy to use time clock app helps you comply with local labor laws. It checks employee violations, provides real time employee updates, tracks work hours and reduces labor costs in the long run. The ZipClock app is considered among the best time clock systems, thanks to its simplified time and attendance management, integration with payroll and the flexibility to work remotely via the mobile app.
2. Clockify- Clockify is a popular time tracking software that's user-friendly and free to use. Clockify offers an employee time tracker along with its team and project management tools. You can also manage unlimited users, projects and clients with this app. The system will generate daily, weekly and monthly reports of your employee work hours and project updates for you to review.
3. Toggl Track- This attendance software automates time tracking and offers real time updates and reminders about work schedules and attendance. Toggl Track will also integrate with your payroll system so that wages are accurate and match billable work hours put in.
The traditional way of managing employees can be time-consuming and error-prone.
Biometric employee time clock software is a cost-effective, errorless and efficient way to track your employees’ hours. Learn more about it here.
Time Tracking System Pricing
There are a bunch of time tracking systems that offer basic features such as time and attendance tracking and time cards to a limited number of users for free. However, if you have a large number of employees to manage, you may have to pay on a per month basis. Pricing varies for different attendance software systems, depending on the number of users they support and the kind of features they offer.
Pricing plans for time tracking software can be anything between $5 per month, to $15 or more. Most attendance software offer a monthly pricing plan, while some also offer annual plans. Choose according to your needs and budget.
Time Tracking FAQs
Q1. Can small businesses afford time tracking software?
A- Yes, no matter what your business size, you can always find a time tracking app that best suits your needs. Not just businesses, even freelancers can manage their projects and billable work hours and invoices using time tracking software. If you have budget constraints and cannot buy a pay per month app, you can always choose a free tracking software.
Q2. Is third party integration important for attendance software?
A- Third party integration is absolutely important for businesses. Integrating with payroll software, for example, helps them keep track of billable work hours and enables them to pay their employees accurately. This helps cut labor costs that arise from time theft and allows the company to reward employees commensurate to the effort they put in.
Time cards are a pain. Employees are constantly punching in and out for the wrong tasks, or forgetting to punch out for lunch.
Biometric time clock software is the perfect solution. It eliminates manual data entry and ensures that employees are clocking in for the right task at the right time.