How a Biometric Time Attendance Machine Can Reduce Time Theft

Time theft is a big issue for employers today costing nearly $400 billion annually in lost productivity. But what exactly is time theft? It occurs when employees are paid for the time they have not actually worked. Time theft is not limited to any specific person or industry; it can be found in any business and industry. Though time theft was difficult to deal with in the past, requiring last amounts of physical manpower to prevent it, advancements in technology have provided ways to eliminate it. Things like biometric time attendance machines have allowed a reduction in the manpower required by using sophisticated new technology to track employee productivity.

Methods of Time Theft and How to Prevent Them

1. Buddy Punching– Buddy punching is a real problem for many employers. It happens when one employee punches in for another on his or her behalf. When you track employee attendance via time sheets or papers, it becomes too easy for one employee to sign in or punch ID card for a friend. But buddy punching can be prevented with the advancement of biometrics. You can deploy a biometric machine for attendance that will read individual faces, scan fingerprints and irises to help you keep track of employees.

2. Beating the Time Clock– It’s not uncommon for employees to fudge their time when completing paper attendance sheets. It probably happens more often than you can imagine. In this case, employers cannot even track properly when employees are leaving early or coming late. With biometric systems, you can easily get attendance reports and automate calculation of work hours. It will also prevent employees from beating time clock, as they know they are being monitored continuously with a biometric time attendance machine.

3. Unauthorized or extended breaks – Since employees face a wide variety of temptations throughout the workday, they often tend to take unauthorized or extended breaks. Time and attendance software that uses biometric clocks is the most effective method for preventing extended breaks as you can easily check through the software to determine employees practicing such things.

Several surveys have found that employees indulge in time theft activities. They have done so at least once. Time stealing can severely impact the bottom line of companies due to lost productivity and payroll loss. But if you are able to install and use a biometric time attendance machine, it will become more difficult for employees to cheat the system. A Biometric machine for attendance can help eliminate buddy punching, time clock cheating and extended breaks, and save companies a lot of money.