Every company is aware of time clock abuse, but each company handles this issue differently. Wasted company time can come from many areas, such as stretched-out lunch breaks, unjustified sick leaves and excessive socializing among co-workers.
According to the American Payroll Association magazine, Paytech, recent studies have shown the average worker wastes two to three weeks annually just on preparing to start work and on interruptions unrelated to work throughout the day. Also, hourly employees often waste company time by waiting a few minutes before they clock out.
Experts estimate the typical worker wastes well over five weeks of company time each year.
Here are seven tips for curbing time clock abuse in your workplace:
No. 1: Educate your employees about time clock abuse. Define what time clock abuse is and discuss the company policies that govern it with your employees. Make sure they understand how serious the company takes time theft.
No. 2: Ask employees for their ideas. Make use of a suggestion box and place it in a high-traffic area, such as the lunchroom. Reward any employees who come up with the best ideas for time clock management.
No. 3: Change lunch break time. Changing one-hour lunches to half-hour lunches will discourage employees from running personal errands. Also, they will tend to stay in the building, which increases the likelihood they will come back to work on time. The advantage for the employees is that they can leave a half-hour earlier.
No. 4: Don’t overstaff your company. Rather than hiring full-time employees to cover the workload year-round, use temporary help for peak production periods. This will help you to better control employees’ paid hours during the off-peak times, because your company will not be overstaffed.
No. 5: Review your company’s overtime rules. Overtime is another form of time clock abuse. Time thieves can change records to show false overtime hours worked instead of actual time worked.
No. 6: Warn time clock abusers. Call offenders into your office, and make them aware they are abusing time. Give them suggestions on how to correct this behavior and a warning there will be consequences for repeated offenses. For repeat offenders, use formal write-ups or even termination to remedy the issue.
No. 7: Reward proper time clock use. Acknowledge and reward employees who properly manage the time clock. For example, you could give those employees bonuses, gift cards, extra vacation time or allow them to leave early on a Friday.
Clearly communicating with employees about time clock abuse and the company’s policies will substantially reduce payroll costs. Remember, if the employees understand the rules, they are more likely to follow them. This will lead to higher profits for the company and increased employee productivity.
Brian Weimer is CEO of A Plus Payroll Ltd. He can be reached at brian@apluspayroll.com.
