Season's Greetings!

Minimising the Festive Frenzy with a Time Management System (Part 3)

In this, the third and final instalment of our mini Christmas-themed series, we take a look at how an automated Time and Attendance System can alleviate panic and stress in your HR department.  

 

With the Christmas and Summer holiday season well and truly upon us, HR departments across the country are being bombarded with various requests for time off.

How your business deals with these requests can make a big difference to your bottom line - as well as your HR team's wellbeing!

An automated Time and Attendance System, with Employee Self Service functionality, empowers your staff to manage their own time and attendance in a controlled, accessible and efficient way.

Employees can also view their accrued leave, entitlements, and request updates to their personal records without having to bother the HR department.

A web-based interface could be customised to suit the needs of your complete workforce, handling remote clocking in from desktop PCs, laptops and the latest smart phones. This would allow staff to clock in/out and on/off tasks, appointments and projects, regardless of their physical location.

Leave Slots are an innovative holiday planning feature now available in the latest release of Mitrefinch’s Time Management System.

This new functionality enables managers and supervisors to limit how many employees can be off on a given day or time period - averting potential staffing shortfalls and ensuring you have sufficient staff on hand during times of increased demand – think December 26^th for those in the hospitality and retail sector!

Employees can view available Leave Slots online and they will be unable to request leave once the limit has been reached – hence HR won’t need to deal with multiple requests from staff on what days are available etc...  

In a nut (cracker) shell, Employee Self Service is ultimately designed to make your business more profitable and your HR team more efficient.

To find out how, please visit www.mitrefinch.com.au or call +61 2 8762 7888 and put improved Employee Management on your Christmas Wishlist today!

Minimising the Festive Frenzy with a Time Management System (Part 2)

In the second instalment of our three-part series looking at how a Time Management System can help ease your festive stress, we reveal how you can effectively manage public holidays and holiday pay rates.

In Australia, each State and Territory has slightly different arrangements for public holidays over Christmas and New Year, which can result in much confusion, particularly for companies with numerous sites across the nation. As a result, Fair Work Australia (FWA) have put together a list of the public holidays for each specific State and Territory for the 2011/12 holiday Christmas period – view list here.

So now you know the public holiday dates what pay are your staff entitled to?

According to FWA, if a full-time or part-time employee’s ordinary hours of work fall on a public holiday, and the employee does not work on the day, the employee is entitled to their base rate of pay for their usual hours of work on the day.

If the employee does not usually work on the public holiday, the employee is not entitled to payment.

If the request is reasonable, an employer may ask their employees to work on a public holiday. If the employee is required to work on a public holiday, their entitlement to penalty rates is determined by their modern award, industrial agreement or contract of employment.

In addition to the specified national public holidays, State and Territory governments can also specify other public holidays. These can apply throughout the State or Territory, or only in a specific region e.g. Melbourne Cup Day.

A State or Territory government can also substitute another day for the public holiday. For example if a public holiday falls on a weekend, a State or Territory government may either declare a ‘substitute day’ for the public holiday, or declare an ‘additional day’ to the public holiday.

Regardless of the State or Territory you operate in, Mitrefinch's Time Management System (TMS) takes the stress out of employee allowances and entitlement calculations via an in-built, fully customisable Award Interpreter. 

Easily calculate base and overtime pay, weekend and public holiday penalties, as well as leave loading and shift penalties, ensuring consistent application of your business rules. A direct interface to your external payroll application further reduces payroll administration and the potential for costly payroll errors.

For more information contact Mitrefinch Sales on 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8762 7888) or visit Mitrefinch Online

Sources: Fair Work Australia

Minimising the Festive Frenzy with a Time Management System (Part 1)

With the festive season almost upon us, many organisations are beginning to feel the effects of increased pressure and activity. In addition, resourcing challenges, managing multiple requests for annual leave, and allowing for public holidays and penalty rates, can all contribute to high levels of stress within your Operations and HR department!  

Over our next three blog posts we will look at the different areas where an effective Employee Time ManagementSystem can help ensure that you have a hassle free run up to the holidays!

First up is employee scheduling and ensuring you have the staff on hand to meet customer or production demands.

An automated time and attendance system, with scheduling capabilities, enables you to roster staff to fixed and flexible shifts according to predefined budgets. Any subsequent roster changes will trigger a notification if the shift is in danger of exceeding budget. By looking back over previous year, you can also schedule staff numbers to mirror forecasted customer numbers over the holiday period, or ‘on-the-fly’ to meet emergency requirements.

A number of workforce management systems also allow you to create groups or pools of available employees to help with scheduling multiple departments or stores. Casuals or agency staff can nominate themselves as being available to work for certain times of the week, and can be rostered on by supervisors to assist with filling positions or vacant shifts. A notification is then sent direct to the employee so they are aware that they have been included in the shift.

With many organisations (particularly in Retail and Hospitability), relying on casuals to provide the extra manpower required to operate effectively over the holiday period, they will need to be closely monitored to ensure they are serving their purpose. If they are late, taking long breaks or chucking sickies, you run the risk of having to pay permanent employees overtime as they may be required to cover and work extra hours. An automated Time and Attendance system, provides supervisors with an insight into how their casuals are performing, enabling them to address any issues before it affects your bottom line.

If you’d like to find out more about how an automated Time and Attendance system can help contain your Festive stress levels  contact Mitrefinch Employee Management today on 1300 884 831 (Australia) or 09 363 9557 (NZ).

Our Free Guide to Choosing a Time and Attendance system is also available to download online.

It's Go Home On Time Day!

Each year, Australians work more than 2 billion hours of unpaid overtime, which is the equivalent of $72 billion worth of foregone wages (See: Something for Nothing: Unpaid overtime in Australia).

Do you find yourself working back late? Never enough hours in the day to do all the things you need or want to do? Or with the emergence of Smart Phones and mobile applications are work calls or emails getting in the way of your free time?

Perhaps you are a manager who values your staff, do you want to show them how important they are?

Well, Go Home On Time Day on Wednesday November 30 is a great way to recognise that life doesn’t need to revolve around work - and here at Mitrefinch we are loving the idea!

To find out more or get involved see: http://www.gohomeontimeday.org.au/

As a provider of Time Management Systems, we are often asked about the value of having a Time and Attendance System when an organisation only has salaried staff on the books. 

In our opinion, if you don't measure it you can't manage it! 

By having all staff clock in/out, managers and supervisors can easily identify just how much unpaid overtime their employees are putting in and if there is a particular pattern forming - e.g. staff being forced to work overtime around the end of the month or busy trading periods. 

Armed with this information you may be able to justify hiring additional staff or bringing in contractors at times of increased activity, or at the very least acknowledge the effort being put in by your team - perhaps introducing a Time in Lieu scheme or incentives for those that put in the hard yards? In the long run, this ultimately benefits you as a motivated and happy workforce generally means increased productivity!

What's more, if your employees are having to frequently work extra hours without compensation you could have a potential lawsuit on your hands. (See blog Post: "Aussie Workers are being forced to work extra hours without compensation, how could a Time and Attendance System help you avoid a potential lawsuit")

There are many more benefits of using an automated time and attendance system, visit our website to find out more or feel free to contact us directly on +61 2 8762 7888 or sales@mitrefinch.com.au

Biometrics for Healthcare - Leading Technology captures Fingerprints through Gloves

In a recent article on Nextgov, Katherine McIntire Peters noted research firm Gartner’s report on 2011 Cool Vendors in IAM (Identity and Access Management). As part of the report, Gartner analysts flagged a handful of companies developing innovative identity management technologies.

Lumidigm Biometric Technology can capture fingerprint images through gloves

"These up-and-coming technology providers offer [identity and access management] products and services based on a broad range of technological approaches and delivery models. One trend clearly identifiable throughout their offerings is a serious attempt to deliver IAM components that enhance the user experience to support mission-critical business decisions," analysts wrote in an introduction to the firm's 2011 Cool Vendors in IAM. 

Mitrefinch’s biometric technology partner, Lumidigm, was listed as one of the most interesting companies having developed a new kind of fingerprint sensor that employs multispectral imaging. According to Lumidigm, unlike other common biometric sensors, performance isn't affected by moisture, dry or dirty skin, or bright ambient light. Multispectral imaging captures surface and subsurface ridge patterns, and analyses the spectroscopic characteristics of the surface, thereby making it less vulnerable to spoof fingerprints.

The report also mentions that, “a client told Gartner that one particular advantage of the Lumidigm technology is its ability to capture a fingerprint image through a medical glove. Ultrasound sensors can also do this, but they are far bulkier and more expensive, which should make Lumidigm sensors appealing to healthcare delivery organisations”. 

Other organisations in the market for fingerprint biometric devices can also benefit from Lumidigm's superior performance. Take for example; Meat Processors who operate in cold, refrigerated areas, or Construction workers with cuts and calluses on their hands, as well as dirt and dust.

In Australia, Mitrefinch is the only Time and Attendance system provider to integrate Lumidigm’s powerful multispectral imaging sensors into all their Biometric Time and Attendance units – from wall mounted clocking terminals to desktop USB devices.

For more information or to see the Lumidigm sensors is action contact Mitrefinch on +61 2 8762 7888 or sales@mitrefinch.com.au

Half of Australian workers admit to fleecing their employers with Buddy Punching and Time Theft

Australians are the third most likely worldwide to try to fleece their employer by being a little less than honest when it comes to clocking on and off work, according to a new survey by Kronos APAC.

An article in last week’s Herald Sun, stated that 51 per cent of surveyed workers admitted to some degree of Time Theft, with NSW leading the way on 45 per cent - which amounts to alot of lost productivity and revenue!

The survey also found Australia's most dishonest employees were 18 to 24-year-old men earning a middle income.

Top tricks used include; clocking in earlier or out later than scheduled and neglecting to clock off for lunch or breaks.

Ask yourself, if any of the following statements sound familiar? Perhaps you have used them in the past, or maybe your employees are using them now...

“I knew I’d be late this morning, so I gave my mate on the same shift my proximity fob and ID pin and he clocked me in”

“I need to make up my 38 hours this week. If I shorten my actual lunches on my Time Sheet no one will ever know.”

“I needed to take a 20 minute break to make a phone call, but I just didn’t bother clocking out and in again.”

So how might you reduce the potential for Buddy Punching, Time Theft or Time Sheet padding within your business?

While an employee time and attendance system certainly is a step in the right direction, you need to ensure you have the right system in place to match your organisational set up.

For example:

• Will the time and attendance system prevent employees from clocking in or out for one another?
• If it is a mobile time and attendance solution, does it use GPS functionality to ensure that the employee is clocking in from the appropriate location?
• Are time sheets linked to a clocking system allowing you to see that the employee clocked in/out at a specific time and they are not fudging their times?
• If you are using a biometric time and attendance system, has it been proven to reject “spoof” fingerprints?

For more information on employee time clocks to accurately monitor employee time and attendance, visit www.mitrefinch.com.au or contact us directly at sales@mitrefinch.com.au

Happy National Payroll Week - celebrating the contribution of Kiwi Payroll Professionals

Mitrefinch are pleased to support National Payroll Week, a new initiative from The New Zealand Payroll Practitioners’ Association (NZPPA)

National Payroll Week - supporting NZ Payroll Professionals

Running from November 7th to November 11th, National Payroll Week aims to acknowledge the contribution of hard working Payroll Professionals, and raise awareness of the important role payroll plays in the everyday lives of the NZ workforce, economy and the wider community.

Payroll is one of the most highly regulated functions within any business. Compliance with complex legislation, terms and conditions of employment and business policy is critical, yet despite these challenges, payroll officers still manage to calculate employee’s pay accurately and on time, every pay run.

As part of National Payroll Week, NZPPA are running a Poster Campaign which encourages payroll people to celebrate their profession and spread the word about the important role they play within their organisation. In addition, NZPPA members are encouraged to write an article on “Why Payroll is a Profession”, and the winning submission will be the feature article for the first issue of NZPPA’s new “Pay And You – PAY” publication.

“During National Payroll Week we are delighted to acknowledge the essential role that payroll personnel play in every business”, said Jamie Fitzsimons, Mitrefinch Marketing Manager. “Payroll is an extremely important component of every worker's life. Yet, the challenges involved with processing our pay is something that many of us take for granted.”

“Payroll error rates can account for up to 1.2% of total payroll costs, amounting to millions of dollars in overhead costs for many NZ businesses”, said Allan Murdoch, Mitrefinch NZ Business Development. “Having qualified payroll personnel as well as a user-friendly system to help automate payroll processing can significantly reduce error, offering huge cost savings”.

Mitrefinch’s Time Management Solution, TMS, is used on a daily basis by payroll professionals, helping them automate the transfer of hours and rates to their payroll system, improving productivity and efficiency.

For more information or to get involved with National Payroll Week please visit: www.nzppa.com.au

The Melbourne Cup and a mysterious spike in Sick Leave?

Today's Industry Search Bulletin has reported that Victorian employers have raised concerns about the tendency for workers to call in sick today as the Monday before the Melbourne Cup public holiday.

Mysterious spike in Sick Leave this week?

While many employees take a legitimate four-day weekend by applying for leave, many also tend to fake an illness, VECCI workplace relations policy manager Alexandra Marriott said.

"Anecdotally, we see from year to year that there are quite significant unplanned absences or sickies on that day," Marriott said. "It is a difficult problem to address because employers have limited capacity to assess the authenticity of a day of sick leave."

Marriott said it was difficult to put a figure on the costs associated with absenteeism on the day before the Melbourne Cup but said it created reduced productivity and engagement. But taking a four-day weekend using allocated annual leave was good for parts of the economy, particularly tourism, she said.

“Unplanned absenteeism is a major concern for many businesses and employers must consider both the direct and indirect costs incurred when an employee is absent”, said Jamie Fitzsimons, Marketing Manager at Mitrefinch Employee Management.

Direct costs are the benefits paid to the employee to provide income during an absence i.e. Sick, holiday and vacation pay as well as a disability benefit. However the indirect costs associated with unplanned absence are typically ignored or poorly tracked yet they can have a considerable impact to an organisation’s bottom line.

Some indirect costs include;
• A decrease in productivity, resulting in missed business opportunities or reduced customer service
• Fees of the temporary staff required to cover for the absent staff, or overtime costs for other staff covering for their absent colleagues
• Weaken morale of staff forced to cover for absent colleagues, may have a knock-on effect, establishing a culture for “chucking a sickie”

So what can you do to control the impact of absenteeism?

As the old saying goes, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”.

Organisations need to have an effective means of measuring staff absence in place, enabling them to assess the extent of the issue and decide the best means of tackling the problem.

A Time and Attendance system can monitor and record patterns of absenteeism, sick leave, and productivity, allowing you to establish any regular patterns or sudden unexplained changes.

For example, the Mitrefinch Time and Attendance solution, includes advanced Absence Management functionality allowing employers to profile staff by absence tracking. The system measures how the work absences of individual employees impact your business - by recording the number of absences and the duration of each incidence and providing a ‘score’ for each employee.

With this information readily and quickly available, management can identify workers suspected of abusing sick leave and possible absenteeism trends – allowing them to deal with problem areas before they do any more damage to the organisation’s bottom line.

So if you want to enjoy your Melbourne Cup festivities without having to worry about a loss of productivity for the rest of the week, give us a call today on 1300 884 831 or visit Mitrefinch to find out more about effective Absence Management.

(Sources: “Melbourne Cup holiday sees spike in VIC worker sickies” - http://www.industrysearch.com.au/News/Melbourne-Cup-holiday-sees-spike-in-VIC-worker-sickies-55621)

Building a Better Payroll at the TAPS Annual Workplace Review

Mitrefinch Australia were pleased to be involved with the recent Sydney Payroll Expo, as part of The Association of Payroll Specialists’ (TAPS) Annual Workplace Review Event, which took place at the Sydney Showgrounds last Thursday and Friday (October 20-21).

This year’s Workplace Review, Australia’s biggest and longest running payroll conference, had a “Building a Better Payroll” focus and was opened by Keynote Speaker, James Valentine, who provided an entertaining, yet thought-provoking session, on “Change is the only Constant”. The educational seminars that followed provided attendees with detailed information on topical issues such as; Paid Parental Leave, NES Leave, Superannuation, Terminations, Long Service Leave, and Preparing for an Audit.

Building a Better Payroll - TAPS Annual Workplace Review

Completing the day's festivities, the infamous TAPS Theme Dinner, complete with some interesting entertainment and costumes on show, provided attendees with an opportunity to network with other payroll professionals and unwind after a long day in the classroom.

Day two of the conference was split into different educational streams: Payroll Essentials and Advanced Payroll, ensuring that all attendees’ information needs were met. New Horizons Learning Centres provided an Excel Masterclass, while other sessions addressed Unfair Dismissal, Balancing your Payroll, Expats, Fringe Benefits, and a fascinating session on Payroll Fraud (we were assured that attendees were shown how to effectively manage the risks associated with payroll fraud and not how to get away with doing it!)

The Payroll Expo, which ran in conjunction with the Conference, provided attendees with an opportunity to learn more about the very latest payroll and HR technologies, and the tools available to help them become more efficient, accessible and cost effective.

As such, Mitrefinch were pleased to showcase their biometric employee time and attendance management solutions, as well as iPhone and mobile applications for effective employee time management and job costing for remote staff.

In addition, Mitrefinch Consultants were on hand to demonstrate how their mitrefinch employee management solutions have enabled some of Australia’s leading organisations to reduce payroll costs and associated administration, improve payroll accuracy, and achieve superior planning and control of employee schedules and jobs.

The Mitrefinch team now look forward to featuring at the TAPS Melbourne Workplace Review which will take place at Hilton on the Park on October 27-28th. To register for the event contact TAPS on 1300 711 240 or visit www.workplacereview.com.au

Alternatively the Payroll Expo is free to attend on the Thursday afternoon, so feel free to drop by and visit us at Stand 8 (we'll have some more of the popular Mitrefinch Jelly Beans to give away!).

Are you monitoring Employee Absence and Leave? Maybe it's time you did!

An interesting article in HR Morning recently caught my eye and effectively highlights why organisations should maintain an accurate record of employee leave and absence.

The article in question reported that Douglas Rydalch, a Sales Agent for Southwest Airlines, tried to bring an Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) interference case up against his former employer.

Rydalch had a back injury that would flare up on occasion, and when it did he’d take leave under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).  While that’s all well and good, his injury seemed to flare up just before, or after, his regularly scheduled time off — particularly around public holidays.

For example: He used FMLA leave in conjunction with July 4, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, as well as around his birthday. All up, he took FMLA leave in conjunction with regular days off at least 35 times.

Understandably, Southwest were beginning to get suspicious and began to monitor Rydalch’s FMLA use. And when he again took leave on Dec. 26 and 27, they terminated him for abusing FMLA leave and violating the company’s attendance policy.

But not to be outdone, Rydalch returned serve by filing a lawsuit against Southwest for FMLA retaliation and interference.

However the case didn’t last long and a federal court quickly threw out his lawsuit – as Southwest’s thorough documentation of Rydalch’s leave requests provided them with a very strong reason to believe that he was abusing his FMLA privileges.

Therefore, the court ruled Southwest was well within its rights to terminate Rydalch.

As HR Morning advises, this case serves as a good reminder to organisations to keep accurate records of employee leave requests. Then, if leave abuse is suspected, management will be able to show in court it has legitimate reasons for taking action against the offending employee.

Read the full article here

An Employee Time and Attendance system is a powerful tool for analysing and managing employee time and attendance.

By recording unplanned absences, holidays and other leave (compassionate, parental etc...), a Time and Attendance system builds a complete Employee Absence Profile which can be viewed on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis. While a Group Absence Profile allows you to analyse absence for a specific team, department or site.

By measuring the work absences of individual employees a Time and Attendance system can identify how these absences impact the organisation’s overall productivity, while real-time colour-coded reporting allows supervisors and managers to quickly identify potential problem areas and plan work schedules according to available resources, skills sets etc…

If you’d like to find out more about how an automated Time and Attendance system can reduce your company’s absence rates and boost productivity contact Mitrefinch Employee Management today on 1300 884 831 (Australia) or 09 363 9557 (NZ).

Our Free Guide to Choosing a Time and Attendance system is also available for download online.

Mitrefinch to feature Time Tracking Solutions at The Association of Payroll Specialists’ Payroll Expo in Sydney and Melbourne

Mitrefinch to feature Time and Attendance Solutions as part of TAPS Payroll Expo

Once again Mitrefinch are pleased to be associated with The Association of Payroll Specialists’ (TAPS) and their Annual Workplace Review Conference and Payroll Expo.

As Australia’s longest running payroll related event, last year’s conference attracted over 250 delegates, and due to increasing demand from members, TAPS have decided to bring the event to Melbourne, in addition to Sydney this time around. 

With a “Building a Better Payroll” theme, the conference boasts an impressive educational line-up with a strong emphasis on recent changes to legislation, as well as educational sessions related to; Fringe Benefits, Leave, Superannuation, Terminations, Expats, and an Excel Masterclass. 

Following on last year’s success the “Payroll Expo” will also make a welcome return, providing attendees with an opportunity to learn about the latest payroll technology and tools to implement best practices, operational efficiencies and cost savings. 

“Mitrefinch are delighted to be associated with TAPS and the Payroll Expo again this year, and we are especially looking forward to exhibiting at our first Melbourne event”, said Jamie Fitzsimons, Mitrefinch AsiaPac Marketing Manager. “We will be on hand to demonstrate our range of mitrefinch biometric time and attendance solutions, as well as our new mobile applications for effective job costing and time management of remote staff.” 

The Sydney event takes place on October 20/21 at the Southee Complex, Sydney Showgrounds and at Hilton on the Park in Melbourne on October 27/28. You can catch Mitrefinch and their innovative mitrefinch time tracking solutions at Booth 14 (Sydney) and Booth 8 (Melbourne). 

For more information contact Mitrefinch direct on 1300 884 831 or visit the TAPS Workplace Review website

How much is employee lateness costing your business?

Have you ever missed your train or gotten a flat tyre en route to work? Maybe your just not a morning person or you struggle to get the kids out for school before you head to the office?

Whatever the reason, when not measured and managed properly, employees’ lateness can cause businesses thousands of dollars each year in lost productivity and profits.

To understand exactly how much lateness could cost your organisation, let’s look at the example below.

Company ABC Pty Ltd has 150 employees.

10% of their workforce (15 employees) is persistently late for work by 10 minutes. Their average hourly pay is $25.00 p/h (10 minutes late represents $4.16)

Assuming there are 232 working days per year: 232 x 15 (late employees) x $4.16 ($ lost due to lateness) = $14,476.80 lost per year

Combine that with the lost productivity, extra overtime costs occurred when covering workload, and the order value of the contracts lost due to delays in delivery, and you can clearly see how just a few minutes lateness can really affect your bottom line.

So what can you do to address the issue? The Forum of Private Business proposes the following below steps:

1. Set boundaries

Your staff needs to know what you expect from them, therefore a clear lateness policy should be introduced and communicated across your workforce.

The policy should cover:

• The required standards of timekeeping, i.e. working hours, shift patterns, any flexi-time or flexible working arrangements
• Any consequences of persistent lateness
• What disciplinary action will be taken under the disciplinary procedure
• How your company will monitor time keeping, i.e. timesheets or clocking in machine
• If and how your staff will have to make up any time they have missed
• Who they should report lateness to if they know are going to be late and by when

2. Create a formal procedure

The Forum suggests that persistent lateness can often be resolved informally and the employee may be given an opportunity to improve.

This often proves to be a more effective way of resolving such an issue at an early stage - highlighting potential problems that you can quickly address and negating the need for an investigation and disciplinary meeting.

If after the informal action lateness continues to occur, it may create grounds for a formal disciplinary procedure.

3. Be fair and flexible

We’ve all been affected by unexpected events i.e. rail strikes, traffic accidents or inclement weather, which can impact on the time taken to travel to work.

Employers need to be realistic and understanding about occasional unavoidable problems with getting to work. They should always listen to employee’s reason for lateness, which may indicate problems concerning management, working relationships and work hours.

Where possible companies should plan ahead and be open to changing shift patterns, allowing temporary home-working or flexible working arrangements, if appropriate.

How to effectively monitor attendance and reduce the financial impact of Employee Tardiness

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that if you monitor employees’ attendance and absence patterns their overall presence rate will generally improve.

An automated Time and Attendance system can help reduce employee lateness by effectively monitoring and analysing working time and absence patterns. I for one know that if I have to register my attendance in the morning, I make double sure I make it into the office on time!

An effective Time and Attendance system also allows you to set up specific rules relating to your business operation. For example, you could set up a rule whereby once a person arrives late to work by 7 minutes, the system rounds that figure up to 15 minutes, meaning 15 minutes worth of pay will be reduced from your employee’s salary.

Continue to our website to find out more information about automated Time andAttendance systems and absence management modules.

Spring Clean your HR and Employee Management Processes

With Summer on the way for us Southern Hemisphere folk – have you thought about giving your current HR and Employee Management processes a good Spring clean? 

Sit back and ask yourself: 

• Is it difficult to get meaningful information from your current systems? 
• Does the system lack integration with your other business applications? Need to enter the same data more than once across multiple systems e.g. Payroll, HR, ERP? 
• Are you still relying on spreadsheets to process payroll and create management reports? 
• Are you manually calculating award entitlements, different pay rates and overtime costs across multiple sites/departments? 
• Are you constantly bombarded with requests for leave or updates to employee records? 
• Could you easily implement Work from Home or Flexi-Time initiatives with your current setup? 

The Solution? 

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above problems maybe it's time you started looking for an automated Employee Management system that will meet and exceed your expectations. 

Companies generally invest in a Employee Management system to automate the capture and management of all employees’ clocking in and out times and attendance information. This data capture ensures that organisation are complying with all federal and state workplace legislation, such as employee entitlements and modern awards, without having to manage mountains of administrative paperwork. 

A customised scheduling function also allows you to separate work groups that are on different pay scales. While a direct interface to your external payroll application further reduces payroll administration and the potential for costly payroll errors. 

Integrated Employee Self-Service capabilities allow staff to view holiday entitlements, apply for leave, and request updates to their personal records online 24/7 without having to engage an already busy HR department. The ability to clock in/out or on/off jobs via the Internet or Smart Phone would also allow you to keep track of employees working from home our out on the road. 

With all employee data, files and correspondence centrally stored, the filing and retrieval of vital information is quick and easily managed. This information can in turn be used to run reports on past and present data, such as training and development requirements. 

These are just some of the benefits of using an automated time and attendance system, for more information on how we can help improve your current processes visit us online today or call 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8762 7888 for those outside Australia)

Despite increasing adoption Biometric misconceptions still rife

A recent feature on AM, ABC Radio's flagship current affairs program, regarding a Melbourne Local Council’s plans to track employees' work hours with biometric technology garnered some interesting debate surrounding data privacy and security.

AM revealed that the City of Monash in Melbourne's south-east is considering vein scanning technology to capture time and attendance information for up to 100 library staff, including casuals.

The technology will capture the vein patterns in a person's fingers and store them as a template for future scans.

But while biometric technology like iris, fingerprint and vein scanning was once reserved for Hollywood and the stuff of sci-fi movies, isn’t it becoming more commonplace now?

With Public Sector agencies and corporate organisations around the country, such as Woolworths, already using biometric technology to check and verify the identities of their staff and record work hours. Even patrons at popular theme parks and venues, such as the Coogee Bay Hotel, are now required to present their fingers! (Read More: "You want a drink? Give us your fingerprints”)

So what’s the problem?

Judging by the feedback from the AM talk back show and the subsequent comments voiced by readers on ABC News, the vast majority are worried about privacy issues.

"They're concerned about where this information is going to be stored, what will happen with the information when they leave council, who owns the information, what's the legal ramifications," said Igor Grattan, Australian Services Union assistant branch secretary.

Indeed, this is an all to common reaction we, as Biometric Time and Attendance providers, come across when speaking to prospective clients and unions alike.

As Phil Scarfo, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing at Lumidigm Inc. explains, “Though most biometrics systems rely solely on templates, or mathematical representations of the physical characteristic, the general public is not aware of this fact. It is the misperception that people are storing fingerprint images in databases that creates concerns related to privacy.” (Read More: What’s behind the biometric template?)

As such, our presales process involves educating users and management that the multi-spectral biometric technology we utilise doesn't actually collect and store fingerprints.

Instead, when an employee enrols via our biometric clocking terminal, the system saves a mathematical representations of the fingerprint and reproduces this as a template. The template is then checked against those stored by the reader, for a possible match. If one is found, the employee’s registration is accepted - otherwise it is rejected.

Contrary to popular belief, this biometric template cannot be reconstructed back to the original fingerprint image.

If you would like to read more about common biometric misconceptions check out: “Dispelling the Myths About Biometrics: Misguided beliefs about biometrics should be investigated for proper understanding of the technology")

Isn’t it time you considered biometrics?

Biometrics can significantly improve the ROI associated with implementing an automated Time and Attendance solution. By utilising this technology oganisations can:

• Enhance site security – as no one without the proper identity is admitted, misplaced cards and staff borrowing “swipes” to gain access to controlled areas is no longer an issue
• Reduce time and attendance fraud – cut out ‘buddy clocking’ practices, where one employee clocks on for another
• Eliminate costs associated with physical ID card production and proximity fobs
• Facilitate accurate reporting – in the unfortunate event of an emergency supervisors have an up-to-the-minute view of exactly who is onsite/where they are located

Visit our website today for more information on our Biometric Time and Attendance systems.

Or feel free to join in the conversation on our Facebook page and Twitter.

Failure to comply with Fatigue Management laws costs Perth Truck company - how are you managing Fatigue?

Industry Search reports that a West Australian truck company has been fined $20,000 for failing to comply with fatigue management laws for its drivers.

Holm, trading as Cockburn Transport, employs drivers to transport freight across Australia on journeys that can take more than two weeks.

In July and August 2008, WorkSafe inspectors investigated the company's fatigue management practices and found it had failed to keep records of work time, breaks from driving or non-work time for trips undertaken by two drivers, and did not ensure that drivers observed fatigue management regulations on three occasions.

Interestingly, the company had been convicted of two similar charges and fined $10,000 in June 2007.

Acting WorkSafe WA commissioner Lex McCulloch said it was "disappointing" that some companies are still failing to comply with laws that have been in place since 1998.

Workplace fatigue is not isolated to the transport and logistics industry. Regardless of what sector you operate in, fatigue can significantly affect a worker’s ability to operate effectively, with side effects including reduced performance and productivity, and greater potential for workplace accidents.

Automated Time and Attendance systems can assist organisations with effective fatigue management, enabling them to proactively monitor staff work and break hours.

Employees have the ability to clock in/out or on/off jobs via wall mounted devices at the depot, head office or manufacturing plant, or via the Internet and mobile or wireless devices for remote staff. This attendance data is recorded and Supervisors and HR are sent an alert when an employee is approaching their work hour limit, enabling them to adjust rosters and shifts accordingly, and enforce minimum break times.

In addition, and automated Time and Attendance system can accommodate current workplace legislation and modern awards, as well as any organisation-specific work rules, and can easily accommodate any new legislative changes. This ensures that your staff are only permitted to work if they satisfy all the associated rules, providing you with ‘peace of mind’ that they are alert to perform their duties in a safe manner.

By automating annual reporting and maintaining a complete audit trail, an effective Time and Attendance system will also arm you with all the information needed in the unfortunate event of legal action.

Ask yourself, how does your fatigue management plan stack up? If you haven't got the processes in place maybe it's time you took a look at a system that will help safeguard your employees and your business. 

To find out more about how an automated Time and Attendance system could help you apply Fatigue Management procedures within your organisation check us out online, email sales@mitrefinch.com.au or call us on +61 2 8762 7888

Aussie Workers are being forced to work extra hours without compensation, how could a Time and Attendance System help you avoid a potential lawsuit?

A backlog of projects to get through, and pushed to deliver them within the required timeframes?

If this sounds like your workplace, it may come as little surprise that many Australian employees are being forced to work extra hours without being compensated, as revealed by a new ACTU survey. 

The poll of 42,000 employees, believed to be one of the largest ever conducted with Australian workers, has found that many are under increasing pressure at work.

ACTU President Ged Kearney told ABC Radio, "We have in fact what we call a productivity squeeze which means businesses are achieving productivity (gains) through a great deal of pressure on workers,"

And what's more worrying is that there is a large amount of unpaid work being done - "We are being told by our members that they are working harder than ever, longer than ever and not getting paid for that extra work," she said.

HRMorning.com in their recent “Unauthorized OT: One big pitfall for supervisors” article, also found that many supervisors are cutting corners to avoid racking up an expensive overtime bill, by either not properly recording employees’ over time hours or simply not paying employees for the extra work.

But if one of those employees decides to notify Fair Work Australia, it’s going to end up costing a lot more than a little overtime pay, as a number of companies have discovered of late (See our previous Blog Post).

Kearney added that, a large number of respondents, particularly those in casual or part time positions, feel obligated to put in the extra hours for fear of not getting shifts or additional work when they may need it.

"This survey shows that workers are working harder than ever and that in some ways they're getting exploited even though the legislation is there to protect them."

So what can you do to avoid costly workplace lawsuits?

Labour and Employment Law Expert, Bill Pokorny from the Wage & Hour Insights Blog (which is a  great read BTW) advises supervisors to:

• Ensure employees are compensated for all hours worked 
• Set realistic expectations i.e. they can’t pressure employees to “just get it done” by working off the clock 
• Verify employees’ time records regularly to make sure workers are properly reporting their time – as even where employees don’t keep accurate time records, companies could still be on the hook for unpaid OT, if a supervisor knew about it.

Could an automated Time and Attendance system help? 

An automated Time and Attendance system would provide a complete, up to the minute record of all employee time and attendance data, giving an accurate insight into how long employees are spending at the office, or on specific jobs and projects. 

For salaried staff, this would allow you to ensure they are compensated for extra hours worked outside of their normal working day (may be in the form of Time Off in Lieu etc..). 

By analysing overtime data and work records, you may also find that it could be more cost effective to bring in additional resources or contractor staff in times of high demand as opposed to paying high overtime rates.

In addition, with mobile and web-based Time and Attendance applications, you could introduce flexi-work arrangements and work from home initiatives, which enable employees to record their start and finish times, as well as allocate time to specific jobs/projects - regardless of their location. 

Continue to our website to find out more information about Time and Attendance systems as well as other workforce management alternatives that may help you address overtime issues within your organisation.

Alternatively feel free to call us on 1300 884 831 (Australia) or 09 363 9557 (NZ)