Are your staff going home on time?

Do you find yourself staying late at work more than you'd like or does your Smart Phone mean you are constantly connected to the office? 

Well it turns out you aren’t the only one with Australians working on average 7 hours overtime each week, and this unpaid overtime equates to $109.6 billion or 7.4 per cent of GDP. 

It has been well documented that a poor work and life balance has a direct impact on our health, relationships and workplace. A recent report out of the UK found that one in five employees had taken a day off sick because they could not cope with the pressure of going into work, with most citing excessive workload and/or long hours as the most significant causes of stress in the workplace. 

Now in its fifth year, Go Home on Time Day (Wednesday 20 November) is an annual initiative of The Australia Institute, in partnership with beyondblue. The Day is a light-hearted way to start a serious conversation about work-life balance - and we are keen supporters of the cause!

As a provider of automated Workforce Management systems, we are often asked about the value of tracking employee time and attendance data 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 and out of work, managers and supervisors can easily identify just how much unpaid overtime their team members are putting in, and if there is a particular pattern forming. 

What's more, if your employees have to frequently work extra hours, workplace health and safety may be jeopardised through increased fatigue, potentially leading to a workplace accident and subsequent legal action. 

Armed with this information you may be able to justify hiring additional staff or bringing in contract labour 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 are working longer hours. 

In the long run, this will ultimately benefit your business as a motivated and happy workforce generally means increased productivity. 

To find out more or get your organisation involved in Go Home on Time Day see: http://www.gohomeontimeday.org.au/

Positive relationships and better work/life balance 'key to job fulfilment'

According to a new study out of the UK, encouraging better relationships between staff and helping them strike a reasonable work/life balance could be the best workforce management techniques for employers looking to boost staff engagement and wellbeing.

The study by support charity Samaritans and insurance firm Simplyhealth, asked more than 1,400 workers to identify which aspects of their job they felt was most essential to feeling fulfilled at work.

Just under half (42 per cent) of workers felt positive relationships with their bosses and colleagues helped them to feel good at work, while 40 per cent said having a good work/life balance was key.

Receiving praise (26 per cent) and earning the trust of the boss (16 per cent) were also important factors. While just 14 per cent of workers said hitting their targets was essential for feeling good about their job, and interestingly only four per cent agreed that team activities including 'away-days' made them feel fulfilled.

Commenting on the findings, Rachel Kirby Rider, Samaritans' director for fundraising and communications, said: "Samaritans understand how interacting with people is really important and so it is interesting to see that having positive relationships tops the poll of making people feel good at work”.

"Our survey results demonstrate how looking out for each other’s wellbeing and having a good work/life balance is essential."

Employers looking to help staff achieve a better balance between their work and private lives could find that investing in time and attendancesoftware, which allows for the monitoring of employee working hours, can help achieve this.

Management could use the data collected by their time and attendance system to monitor not only the contracted hours of their staff but also the extra hours that employees put in to complete projects. 

Armed with this information they 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 their employees - perhaps introducing a Time in Lieu scheme or incentives for those that put in the hard yards?

This could not only improve staff wellbeing but also boost productivity, suggested Mark Day, spokesperson for Simplyhealth.

"Organisations with healthy, happy employees can find they see improvements in productivity and results," he added.

There are many more benefits of using an automated time and attendance system, visit Mitrefinch online to find out more.

Suffering from overworkitis? Take a dose of "Go Home on Time" today!

Do you struggle to clock off on time? Never enough hours in the day to do all the things you want to do? Does having a Smart Phone mean you are always connected to the office?

 
New research by The Australia Institute in the lead up to “Go Home On Time Day” has found that, 6.8 million Australians' personal time is interrupted by work phone calls or emails, 2.2 million don't know what time they will be heading home from work when they leave the house in the morning, and 4.8 million find it hard to take their annual leave at a time that suits them. 

Now in its fourth year, “Go Home On Time Day” (November 21) is an initiative of The Australia Institute and its aim is to show employers and their staff that life doesn’t need to revolve around work. 

The day was originally conceived as a light-hearted way to start a serious conversation about the impact of poor work/life balance on our health, relationships and workplaces – and needless to say the team here at Mitrefinch are keen supporters!

The negative impact working excessive hours can have on an employee’s mental wellbeing are well documented. Just a couple of months ago, we reported on a UK study that found working 11-hour days on a regular basis can more than double a worker’s risk of depression compared to those who typically work an eight hour day – Read the "Excessive Overtime may be linked to Depression" blog post.

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

In our opinion, if you don't monitor your employees’ working time 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! 

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 

Also, be sure to relieve work related stress this afternoon and Go Home On Time! 

For more info on “Go Home On Time Day” and to get your workplace involved see: http://www.gohomeontimeday.org.au/

Is stockpiled Annual Leave an issue for your Organisation?

According to the latest Government figures, Australian workers have accumulated a staggering 129 million days of annual leave worth up to $40bn in wages*.

While this means a lot of overdue holidays, it can also represent a huge liability on the balance sheet for many organisations, and employers should take action and encourage employees to redeem accumulated annual leave as we approach the Christmas and Summer holiday season.

Interestingly, HC Online also report that a global study by travel website Expedia show that Australia is the fifth most holiday-deprived nation, and Australian workers are reluctant to take all of their leave due to the uncertain economic outlook and uncertainty over how their employer will react to their request. 

This is particularly important when you consider that, employees who don’t take annual leave can often demonstrate higher levels of depression or anxiety-related stress compared to those who do take their holidays. 

The “No Leave, No Life” campaign supported by Tourism Australia, provides organisations with helpful resources to tackle the issue of stockpiled annual leave. The campaign website features an employer toolkit with a series of modules and practical case studies to assist with implementing a successful annual leave program. 

Do you know how much annual leave your workers have accumulated?

An automated time and attendance management system can help you effectively manage leave and holiday planning processes by:

• Keeping a central repository of all employee leave records, tracking all leave types such as Holiday or Personal leave
• Calculating leave eligibility based on an employee’s hours worked and hire date
• Creating work schedules that take in account employees on leave, thus ensuring you have sufficient cover to meet customer or project demands and deadlines
• Generating real time absence management and holiday planning reports 

In addition, Employee Self Service functionality empowers your staff to check their own leave records and entitlements, and request/book leave online without having to converse with their supervisor or HR.

Want to find out more?

If you would like find out more about effective Leave Management and Holiday Planning contact Mitrefinch today on 1300 884 831 (+61 2 8762 7888) or email sales@mitrefinch.com.au

*Source: HC Online - No winners when it comes to untaken leave 

Also see our previous Blog Post “No Leave, No Life”