While you’re busy running your business, it can be hard to keep track of seemingly small problems like employees taking long breaks. But when your employees take advantage of these minutes meant to be used for work, it adds up in the long run.
Let’s say your employee arrives to work at 6:02 pm and leave at 8:57 pm, but their handwritten timesheets always show as 6pm to 9pm. These micro differences on the front and back ends of their time cards may seem insignificant (and hard to catch). Your employees might also think, “What’s the big deal?” But let’s do a little math. At $8 an hour padding time cards only 5 minutes a day comes to $174 a year. For part-time hourly employees, that’s a free week of pay just by padding their time cards. Are you going to catch 5 padded minutes a day while juggling 22 other balls? And what if this time theft is happening across the board and not limited to just a handful of employees?
Don’t let employees get away with padding time cards or any other means of stealing time. Here are two of the top ways employees steal time from your business and how Chronotek is the solution.
Buddy Punching
Employees are able to use buddy punching when they sign in via paper timesheets or swipe a card to clock in or out for each other. Employees often use this to round their time when they are consistently late.
To avoid buddy punching, Chronotek gives each employee a unique account to log in and clock in and out. If the employee is clocking in or out via a phone call, they have an employee code. We know this won’t stop everyone from trying to pad their timecards, so we offer the option to receive check-in alerts for specific employees. If you have suspicions about a couple of employees who work together off-site, use check-in alerts to monitor them. When you are alerted that they have both checked into a job, call one on his cell and ask him to put the other on the line.
Abusing Flexible Schedules
For remote employees, it can be easy to wake up, start their computers, and take their time making the morning coffee before actually sitting down. Those that commute to remote job locations can also easily show up a few minutes late or head home a little early without much supervision. While flexible schedules are perfect for employees that honestly and accurately report their time, it can be an easy way for others to pad their time sheets.
The tricky part of remote work is the employer not being able to monitor breaks and verify the hours being worked. How do you know if they took an extended lunch or actually worked the hours on their timesheet?
Regularly checking in with your remote workers is essential to hold them accountable and prevent them from abusing flexible schedules. With Chronotek’s time tracking system, communication is built in and makes it easy to stay in touch no matter if the employee clocks in via a phone call, the mobile app, or the web clock. You can also view live time card data at any time.
Now that you know how Chronotek is able to help you prevent employee time theft, it’s time to start tracking! Try Chronotek’s remote employee monitoring tools today with your 30-day free trial!