50 !

PEO INSIDER | APRIL 2012

Tis article will attempt to
address a few of the issues
PEOs have experienced with
timekeeping systems and
ofer potential solutions for
both PEOs and their clients.
Biometric Clocks
Not Functioning Properly
Biometric time clocks rely on a unique
attribute of the user, such as a fngerprint,
to record time and attendance data. Tese
devices are a great tool to avoid buddy
punching and simplify the process for
clocking in and out without having to
remember a badge or card.
Biometric devices are ideal for
clean, low-moisture ofce environments
where employees do not perform manual
labor or are exposed to chemicals that
could potentially temporarily impair
fngerprints. Using biometric clocks
outside of an environment like this can
sometimes be problematic. To ensure a
higher success rate with similar benefts
of using this type of system, biometric
clocks are available that measure a hands
geometry rather than an attribute like a
fngerprint.
Tese types of devices are a viable
option and usually have a much lower
failure rate than typical biometric devices
because they capture the size and shape
of a users hand, which does not change as
often as a fngerprint. Te only downside
to these devices is that they usually come
with a much higher price tag than regular
biometric devices. However, with this cost
comes a high success rate and increased
durability, two attributes every client
wants to hear about!
Errors in Payroll Due
to Lack of Integration
Are clients making changes that can afect
payroll and not telling you about them?
Tis is a particularly common occur-
rence in employee terminations and rate
increases, and the more common these
changes are, the more likely you are going
to experience issues with payroll.
You cant always avoid a client failing
to notify you of an employee termination,
so you have to confrm you have the tools
in place to enable communication between
software applications. Integration with
other workforce management applications
is integral in overcoming this issue. Ideally,
applications like time and attendance,
payroll, and human resource management
should be on a single database so that
information seamlessly fows across each
solution your client uses.
If your software is not on a single
platform or database, there are a number
of ways to ensure key information is
transferred between applications. A
call to your provider requesting a list of
integrations that are currently in place
with the system is a great jumping-of
point. An additional solution would be
to institute a payroll changing report or
questionnaire clients should complete
prior to each pay period. It can be as
simple as sending an e-mail to your
clients with two or three basic questions
to help you understand if any changes in
payroll need to occur.
The Top Five Time and Attendance
Problems and Solutions for PEOs
Tracy Hofmann Roth
operations
1. Biometric
Clock Failure
2. Errors in Payroll
3. Missing Punches
4. Lack of Flexibility
5. Unrealistic
Expectations
Reproduced with permission of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations
APRIL 2012 | PEO INSIDER ! 51
Frequent Occurrences
of Missing Punches that
Require Onsite Corrections
You may fnd that your clients employees
do not punch in or out during their
scheduled times. As you know, clients
that have employees repeatedly missing
punches can be problematic and can
hold up payroll if managers have to make
onsite corrections.
Technology is available that makes
it easier for your clients to track and
manage missed punches. Modern
systems have the ability to enable daily
e-mail notifcations that alert managers
of missing punches, while requiring
them to submit and close timesheets
prior to processing payroll. A dashboard-
type screen is also helpful for high-
lighting exceptions like missed punches.
Tese screens allow managers to quickly
see what items need to be addressed
before a pay period is closed.
Another valuable feature in some
time and attendance systems is access
rights for administrators. Acquiring access
rights as a PEO would allow you to log
in to the system and make any necessary
changes to timesheets when the onsite
manager is not available. A quick follow
up would then have to occur to let the
client know that employees punches have
been edited. Of course, the PEO must
take care when such access is aforded.
Tere may be legal issues, collective
bargaining issues, or notice requirements
when edits occur. Similarly, there may be
recordkeeping issues for such edits.
Lack of Flexibility
in Scheduling Functionality
Depending on your system, scheduling
can be a recurring issue for clients. For
instance, you may have a client who wants
to restrict employees from punching
in prior to their scheduled start times,
or you may have a client who only uses
the schedule as a general guideline for
employees.
Modern software features that
recognize when an employee is scheduled
and not scheduled should alleviate this
problem. If employees come into work on
non-scheduled days, the system should
be able to warn employees at the time of
the punch that they are not scheduled and
they need to see their managers. Systems
can also have features that allow non-
scheduled employees to punch in, yet the
punch would be fagged as a non-sched-
uled workday. In these cases, schedules can
be updated and applied retroactively.
However, scheduling systems are
only as good as the users who maintain
them. Clients need to take responsibility
and update the systems when a schedule
change occurs. Otherwise, you or your
client will need to take a closer look at
recurring issues with lateness, absences,
etc., to ensure attendance records are being
refected properly.
Clients Dont Have Realistic
Expectations of the Software
A general challenge you may be expe-
riencing is that your clients dont have
realistic expectations of the time and
attendance systems you provide, especially
clients coming from completely manual
systems. Tese expectations can vary from
delivering certain types of custom reports,
managing complicated schedule rules, or
handling industry-specifc processes.
Contact your time and labor provider
to see if there is a way to handle the
requests, and if there is, the provider will
most likely walk you through the setup
process. However, if your clients are
constantly coming to you with a list of
expectations for the system that it cant
handle, you should begin asking questions
to help understand their goals. You may
discover a way to handle clients requests
once you understand what they are trying
to accomplish.
To prevent this issue from happening
with new clients, practices can be imple-
mented during the sales process. You
should create an extensive set of questions
that help identify the clients particular
policies and procedural needs for time and
attendance. Once complete, you would be
able to set clear expectations about what
your system can or cannot handle.
Clients using software to automate
their time and attendance processes
should help you complete payroll in a
more timely and efcient manner. If youre
encountering too many issues and have
to resort to manual processes as a solu-
tion, the technology you provide may be
hurting you more than it is helping. If this
is the case, you should contact your current
provider to request system enhancements
as these issues arise. Otherwise, it may
be a good idea for you to reevaluate the
technology you have in place for clients
timekeeping needs.!
Tracy Hofmann Roth is implementation
and support manager, time and labor
management and human resources at
SaaShr.com, Branchburg, New Jersey.
further reading

An article about
telecommuting
issues is avail-
able to NAPEO
members at
www.napeo.org/members/insider/aug09/
bestpractices.cfm.
Reproduced with permission of the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations