Case Study Title: DAILY ATTENDANCE RECORD IN NAMRIA: A CASE STUDY

Introduction

Employee attendance monitoring is a key function in every HR department.

Without time and attendance system in an organization, it can be difficult for the HR

department to track and monitor attendance of the employees. Some organizations

which are heavily dependent on human beings have a separate time office where time

of individual employees is tracked. Employee attendance monitoring helps to make sure

that all employees and works are fulfilling their obligations and duties. Furthermore, an

employee attendance monitoring system helps HR department to see who is clocked in

and at what time. It gives an accurate picture of the organization’s labor cost. Employee

attendance monitoring system allows the HR department to track employee time and

attendance with precision.

Attendance management is the way organizations keep track of employee hours.

It is the system used to document the time employees work and the time they take.

Attendance management can be done by recording employee hours on paper, using

spreadsheets, punching timecards, or using online time and attendance software.

Background of the Study

National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) is the

government’s central mapping agency, depository, and distribution facility for natural

resources data of the country. It is responsible for the establishment of a nationwide

geodetic network of control points that serves as common reference system for all
surveys in the country. It conducts research on remote sensing technologies and

generates vital data/information on environment, land and water resources needed by

government agencies and other entities as the private sector and local government

units for development planning, environment and natural resource management, and

delineation of maritime territories. It was established by the mandate of Executive Order

No. 192 (June 10, 1987) created the National Mapping and Resource Information

Authority (NAMRIA), integrating into it the functions and powers of the Natural

Resources and Management Center (NRMC), the National Cartography Authority

(NCA), the Bureau of Coast and Geodetic Survey (BCGS), and the Land Classification

Teams of the then Bureau of Forest Development (transformed into a Forest

Management Bureau performing staff functions).

NAMRIA is mandated to provide the public with mapmaking

services and to act as the central mapping agency, depository, and

distribution facility for natural resources data in the form of maps,

charts, texts, and statistics.

To ensure effective and efficient delivery of its services,

NAMRIA upholds punctuality and accurate attendance during working

hours. Through Memorandum Circular No. 009, s. 2019, “NAMRIA

Adoption of policies on government office hours and leave

administration,” NAMRIA employees and officials are guided by

specific policies on accurate daily attendance record. There are

clear policies in checking and tracking of attendance, however some

of these policies are misunderstood. While there are exemptions in

recording attendance reporting on accurate detail of employee,

attendance is sometimes compromised which resulted to deduction in

leave balances because of inadequate documents. This creates

discrepancies in the implementation and observance of policies as

well as propagates misunderstanding among employees.

Literature

Employee attendance monitoring is the process of keeping track when an

employee starts and ends their workdays. It helps access and analyze work patterns,

attendance, and productivity of employees. Naturally, attendance checking ensures that

employees maintain their required work hours. Also identifying employees’ work

patterns will help figure out if any employees are being unproductive and work on

improving their efficiency. (Soucy, 2022)

Attendance tracking data is useful for employers and supervisors. Tracking

attendance is vital for two main reasons: reduction of absenteeism, and provision for

productivity data. Kojic (2022) explained that tracking employees is important for several

reasons. Supervisors can identify and address issues and inconsistencies in employee

attendance. Supervisors and managers get a straightforward account of employee

working hours. Managers get a way to create viable schedules based on realistic

employee time. Employees can easily work remotely and show evidence of their work

hours. It gets easier to requests and be given time-off. It gets easier to schedule

vacation.
 Attendance management keeps track of employee hours. It is the system used to

document the time employees work and the time they take off. Attendance management

can be done by recording employee hours on paper, using spreadsheet, punching

timecards, or using online attendance software. Attendance management allows

calculation for which employees work accurately. Tracking employee will also let

employers know if employees are punctual. Attendance management also keeps track

of how many days of employees use. (PeopleHum, 2022)

An attendance management system refers to an organization’s approach to

tracking employee time and attendance information. An accurate attendance and time

tracking system helps saves time and effort in calculating employee working hours. An

effective workforce management includes time and attendance management that

integrates easily with payroll. A time and attendance system featuring employee self-

service function can ease the burden on both managers and employees by allowing

workers to log hours, submit time-off requests, and clock in or out even while working

remotely. Beyond efficiency, there are plenty of benefits reap from having a systematic

attendance and time tracking system. By dedicating attendance system and

incorporating it in the payroll system avoid hassle and saves time. Digital accuracy

allows to rest assured that employee attendance management system is mistake-free.

As each employee has their own password-protected digital timecard, fraud may be

prevented. It can also help track employee leave. Keeping track of employee leave,

vacation, and sick days can be easier with attendance management system (Ascentis,

2022)
 Attendance management system is crucial for any organization. It allows to track

how regular the employees are and to know about the employees taking leave without

any reason. Furthermore, various HR functions make use of an effective attendance

management system. The amount of time spent by an employee in the office is in direct

relationship with the amount of work that the employee does. The number of hours

worked by an employee is a necessary information to now. It helps to calculate the

hours worked by the employee. This helps to know how much pay is needed to be given

to an employee. Attendance management system helps measure cost of direct and

indirect costs of absenteeism. Direct costs are directly incurred to the absenteeism of an

employee which include paid leave, overtime cost and replacement, while indirect costs

are those incurred indirectly due to the absenteeism including lost productivity or

delayed work due to an employee’s absence. In addition, the rate of absenteeism is

necessary mostly in industries with shift employees. By tracking the attendance of

employees, it will be helpful in knowing the employee’s rate of absenteeism that will

help the management know when to have replacement workers for the job and for other

costs that may be incurred thereafter. Attendance management keeps a track of the

hours spent in the office and the leaves taken. This information is transparent and thus

it is available to both management and the employee. This will help the employee to

know how any days leave is available for the employee. It also helps the management

to know how many paid leaves and non-paid leaves to allot for the employee based on

the current attendance of the employee. In accurate record of attendance can lead to lot

of money in overtime payments. It may also help violate labor laws which require an

employee to work a certain number of hours a week. Attendance management helps

with these issues. It tracks the attendance accurately which helps reduce the excess

money spent overtime. (Time, 2022)

Following evolving technologies, there are new innovative ways to monitor

individual attendance. While hundreds of years ago attendance monitoring was carried

out with time punch cards, continued by manual presence marking, the newest

attendance monitoring systems provide biometric integrations with automatic data

enrollment into the system. Needless to say, there are numerous advantages to such

systems:

Data accuracy. With traditional attendance monitoring systems, the human

resources department needs to track and calculate each employee’s working hours by

manually inserting this data into the system. This may lead to input and calculation

errors resulting in inaccurate data and incorrect salaries. The American Payroll

Association has estimated a staggering 1-8% error rate from manual attendance

tracking. Automated attendance tracking systems make sure only accurate data is

inserted into the system, therefore, the payroll data average error rate is reduced to less

than 1%.

Improved productivity. Complex physical timesheets are time-consuming for

employees, their managers, and the administration. By switching to an automated

attendance monitoring system, employees would not need to spend time reporting their

working hours, requesting time off or holidays. Subsequently, their managers would

have a broader picture of employees’ workflow, save time and effort in keeping track of

their employees, and the administration would not need to manually collect, input and

pass on data, resulting in greater efficiency of all parties involved.

 Reduced workflow. Since the human resource department and payroll do not

need to manually collect, input, and calculate data provided, fewer human errors reduce

the workload of the teams. They do not need to work overtime entering the data

themselves or fixing existing errors, therefore, automated time and attendance software

systems save time for the company’s administration.

Financial savings. Although purchasing a smart attendance monitoring system

(SAMS) might be costly, it will definitely pay off in the long run. Reduced workflow

means no overtime payments, accurate data – no need to find any additional help to fix

existing issues, and improved efficiency allows employees to complete more tasks in

the same time period. In short, no additional unplanned expenses will be needed to fix

manual attendance monitoring system errors.

Speed and reliability. Manual clocking systems require patience and time not all

companies have. On the other hand, automated attendance and monitoring systems,

especially biometric time clock ones, work instantly. 

A biometric attendance system essentially verifies the identity of the employee

and captures one time of entry and exit using his/her fingerprint. Such systems are very

popular today and for good reasons. This prevents any chances of buddy punching

which leads to time leakages that can affect the productivity of an organization.

Biometric systems are usually integrated with other systems to convert the data into

lucid report. Such systems have also been found to be extremely cost effective as there

are no-cost heads apart from the actual biometric machine itself. (PeopleHum, 2022)

Time and attendance tracking is a key function of every HR department. This is

to ensure all employees are fulfilling their obligations and that the company follows
various regulations. Without time and attendance system in place, it can be difficult for

the HR department to track and monitor attendance. Over the course of the year, HR

representatives must account for vacation days, sick time, and other types of absence.

Tracking is also important for avoiding potential staffing issues. (Triton: Benefits & HR

Solutions, 2022)

Daily Time Record (DTR) is the process of monitoring and organizing time

information. Having DTR system allows a company to effectively manage its employees

by providing adequate data. Most companies and government offices require duly

accomplished DTRs for salary and compensation audits. This is because having an

effective system for daily time record can disrupt payroll systems, increase paperwork,

and impede accurate productivity computation. There are various types of DTR: manual

DTR, computerized DTR, access card DTR, and biometric-enabled DTR. Manual DTR

employs the use of timecards and logbooks to manually jot down time information.

These are commonly used by small companies that only have a handful of employees.

Computerized DTR is like manual DTR, employees use PINS or passwords to manually

enter time information into management software utilizing computer or tablet. Access

card DTR is commonplace in medium to large scale companies. It usually employs

magnetic stripes or RFID to store data or badges. These cards correspond to a

particular identity and are used to automatically record time information. Biometric-

enabled DTR is commonly used in large-scale companies that have 500 or more

employees. Usually uses technology such as facial recognition for information gathering

and access control. (Filmetrics, 2020)

 In today’s competitive business environment, it is essential to have a system for

tracking and recording how employees manage their workloads. This enables

employers to accurately assess the true cost of providing services to clients and the

time it takes to do so. It also encourages employees to be more focused and productive.

This ensures all hours are accounted for and generates a clear picture of company

operations daily. Managing the workforce with time recording gives staff a picture of

their contribution to the company in terms of cost and profit. This provides incentive to

review their performance and adjust methods working if necessary. Workloads can be

prioritized more effectively and more focused approach to the task in hand will emerge.

Employees will gain greater understanding of the company’s long-term strategy, and the

knowledge that their input is integral to the plan will increase motivation and improve

productivity accordingly. Managers will benefit from comprehensive and on-going

overview of all projects, making it easier to guide staff as necessary. (Tricostar, 2022)

Time recording is not just for the present. It is also an ideal tool for planning

future work in a cost-effective way. It becomes easier for managers to set realistic

goals, allocate the correct resources and pressure that everyone is fully engaged from

the upset. Companies can be confident that the budget is correctly assigned and the

likelihood of wasting money further down the line is considerably reduced. (Tricostar,

2022)

Analyzing how time is spent casts a helpful light on all areas of the business.

When certain assignments are identified as taking too long to complete, measures can

be implemented to improve the situation. (Tricostar, 2022)

 In 2017, the Finnish government carried out a two-year basic universal income

experiment. 2000 randomly selected individuals, who at the time were entitled to

unemployment benefits, started receiving monthly payments to meet their basic needs

to pay for their food and housing, no-strings-attached. Compared to the control group

receiving the unemployment benefits without any additional payments, the participants

stated that they felt more secure, had better mental wellbeing. Overall, they had more

average number of days of employment than the control group, meaning that even

when receiving a certain amount of money every month, they did not work less.

Attendance monitoring is beneficial for the employer since it does not allow falsifying

working hours for malicious employees, and vice versa, it creates a secure environment

for the employees in regards to hours worked for the company, therefore, they get a fair

salary appropriate to what they have worked for. It gives an accurate picture of how

much the company’s labor costs. (NCheck, 2023)

Biometric time and attendance systems have become popular in the business

world today when it comes to tracking employees and their attendance. Biometric

systems are easy to use, easy to install and track data regarding employees for

management to analyze. The biggest advantage of these systems is that they prevent

employee from clocking in for another. Previous methods include a timeclock, a sign-in

sheet and swiping and ID card. There systems create more of an honor system for

employees to follow reducing employee time theft. Biometric time and attendance

systems use the fingerprints of employees to verify who is clocking in and clocking out

of work each day. The system scans the finger of the employee, coordinates are

determined and then the system maps the endpoints and intersections of the
fingerprints. These are then referenced what is in the system from the employee. There

is no personal information used in the biometric expect for the employee’s fingerprints

and his/her employee number. (Mitrefinch, 2021)

An attendance management system tracks employee performance. Daily

attendance is an important metric to measure performance. The time and effort put in by

employees daily reflect their results. It assists payroll processing. Payroll and

attendance go together. To calculate the exact amount of pay for employees, an

accurate attendance record is needed. This includes overtime worked by the employee,

the leaves, paid time-off, vacations, half-days and more. (Suresh, 2021)

It is clear that monitoring employee attendance patterns have a range of

benefits for businesses. By understanding the patterns in absence, employers can

detect fraudulent data, improve medical leave management, and increase workforce

productivity. There are numerous ways to monitor employee attendance, each with its

own set of advantages and disadvantages. The essential thing is to figure out what will

work best for your business and employees and to get started tracking those patterns

today.

Additionally, conducting interviews with the concerned workers and straight

asking them why they’re always late or absent can help you better understand them and

assist them in breaking these bad non-presence habits.

It is critical to track employee absences to avoid losing top employees and

maintain productivity in the office. So, it is essential to use appropriate employee

attendance monitoring tools to detect employee attendance patterns. An employee

attendance pattern reveals how often an employee arrives late or on time for work. It
also considers the number of times employees are present and absent at work without a

good reason. Employees’ start and log-out times are used to calculate their schedules

and attendance rates. A dedicated employee attendance monitoring system is an

excellent method to assess staff participation, work patterns, and overall productivity. 

Before you can proactively address absence, you need to know what absence

means for your workforce. Look at employee absences and consider whether it is

reasonable for people to be taking off as much time as they are. If multiple people are

calling in sick on any given day, it might be a case of an illness spreading through the

office. But if someone is regularly calling out with unrelated illnesses, it might indicate

that there’s an underlying issue at play. Figuring out what’s causing employee absences

can help you best tackle staff issues going forward. Ensure managers are on top of

absence management. If you’re not careful, managers can miss opportunities to keep

their teams healthy. Be proactive to know when a particular employee is sick to call in

another worker if needed.

Checking up on your employees can also help you keep tabs on their productivity

or lack thereof. When you see a string of absences that don’t match up with approved

vacation time or sick days, it might be time to dig in and figure out what’s going on. You

may discover that someone is working elsewhere and not telling you, or they have a

medical condition they’re struggling to cope with and feel they need to hide it from you.

Keeping track of employee absence gives you a better idea of who performs well and

who might need extra attention. By keeping tabs on which workers tend to miss work,

you’ll be better able to develop strategies for keeping them engaged and productive.

And by encouraging them to improve their attendance record, you can increase their job
satisfaction along with productivity. Finally, accurate records help ensure that no one

falls through the cracks when it comes time for performance reviews or salary

adjustments. When everyone knows what’s expected, there’s less room for confusion –

and fewer reasons for slacking off.

Another benefit of tracking your workers’ attendance is that it keeps you better

communicating with them. When you have up-to-date information about when they’re

scheduled to work, you’ll be more likely to stay in touch and provide support when they

need it. Medical leave is also called sick leave or disability leave. An employee benefit

allows people to receive a portion of their pay for leave when they are injured or sick.

This type of leave does not include maternity, vacation, personal, or general holidays.

Businesses keep track of their employees’ medical and disability history to

protect themselves from any adverse events that may occur while someone is on

medical leave. Businesses keep track of medical/disability absences by having

their human resources team monitor employee attendance and key in employee

absences into a computer database. These databases help employers review data such

as: what percentage of total work hours were missed, what time during work hours was

missed (did it happen during regular business hours? how many hours did they miss per

day?), how many days per year were missed and which employees have high rates of

absenteeism compared to others.

Keeping track of employee attendance helps you ensure that work deadlines and

project timelines are met. If your team misses several days or hours, you can quickly

analyze if an employee’s absence hurts company performance or productivity. You can

also see if a particular individual has a pattern of skipping certain days at work. Overall,
being aware of when people show up for work and when they don’t can help reduce

absences due to illness, improve overall workforce performance and enhance

organizational efficiency. Managers can use employee absence data to take a more

active role in employee productivity. By closely analyzing and reviewing each team

member’s attendance trends, you can identify potential problems and suggest solutions

to help improve employee productivity. For example, if you see two employees taking

frequent sick days every Friday afternoon, you may want to review their workloads or

suggest that they take all vacation requests online rather than requesting time off in

person. Likewise, if an employee always seems to be late for work, you might

encourage them to try getting up 15 minutes earlier or make minor adjustments, so

they’re not rushing through tasks in a frantic rush.

A proper employee attendance tracking software tool will assist you in

detecting any absenteeism or tardiness concerns among your staff. With the right

solutions in place, you’ll be able to figure out why problems with absenteeism arise or

recur, as well as the best solutions for them. Employee attendance tracking systems

are now automated and more sophisticated than ever before, allowing you to  keep track

of staff schedules and check in on attendance correctly. When utilizing this method,

employees must enter their valid credentials into an automated system to be recognized

as “present” at work. (Work Status, 2022)

Statement of the Problem

 This study aims to determine the perceptions of NAMRIA employees towards the

adoption of policies recording of attendance in the Human Resource Department.

Specifically, it seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What is the profile of the respondents in terms of:

2. What is the level of awareness of the respondents towards the existing policy in

recording daily attendance?

3. What are the perceived benefits derived by the respondents from accurate

recording of daily attendance?

Alternative Solution

This study will use the descriptive case study method. It involved fifteen (15)

employees in NAMRIA as respondents of the study. It used a researcher-made survey

questionnaire composed of three parts. The first part covers the demographic profile of

the respondents. The second part determines the level of awareness of the respondents

towards the policy on recording daily attendance using a 5 – point Likert Scale, namely:

5 – Very Aware (VA), 4 – Aware (A), 3 – Moderately Aware (MA), 2 – Slightly Aware

(SA), and 1 – Not Aware at All (NA). The third part of the questionnaire aims to identify

the benefits of accurate daily attendance also using a 5 – point Likert Scale with

corresponding verbal description as 5 – Strong Agree (SA), 4 – Agree (A), 3 – Disagree

(D), 2 – Strongly Disagree (SD), 1 – Undecided (U). The data collected was tallied,

tabulated, and analyzed using the percentage and frequency distribution, and the

weighted mean.

Evaluation of Alternative Solution

 Respondents showed diverse demographic characteristics among NAMRIA

employees. With regards to age, employees’ age ranged from 24 years old being the

youngest to 55 years old being oldest employee. In terms of sex, there were more

female employees than male employees. Employee designations were also varied

including Admin Assistant II, Chief Geospatial Development System, Commission

Officer, DP III, Engineer III and IV, PDA I, II and III, Seaman 3 rd Class, and SN3. The

employees were a combination of office and field employees. As to years in service, 0.3

years being the shortest years in service, and 31 years being the longest years in

service. There was one respondent who chose not to disclose his/her demographic

characteristics.

With regards to the respondents’ level of awareness towards policy on recording

daily attendance. Data showed all statements were rated 5 by the respondents

indicating they are all very aware with the adopted policy on recording daily attendance.

The respondents confirm that they are aware of the clauses of the policy. It also implies

that Memorandum Circular No. 009, s. 2019 was widely disseminated and implemented.

This data indicates that the employees possess a shared understanding of the policies

because of seminars conducted about it.

As to the benefits of accurate daily attendance, data revealed that the

respondents strongly agree that accurate daily attendance ensures that all NAMRIA

employees fulfill their obligations and duties, allows the HR department track employee

time and attendance with precision, ensures that employees maintain and observe their

required work hours, keeps track of employees leave and vacation days, and assists

and facilitates efficient payroll process, all these statements were rated 5. Meanwhile,
the respondents two statements were rated 4.93 by the respondents. They determined

that accurate daily attendance provides clear picture of employee work and productivity

patterns and generates a clear picture of department daily operations. Overall data

indicates that NAMRIA employees strongly agreed that daily attendance has benefits. It

is important to have a proper and accurate record of daily attendance as it is an integral

part of the daily operations of the agency.

Considering the data analyzed, the researcher proposed several alternative

solutions. Attendance issues among employees can have a massive impact on

business if left unchecked. Team members who are always absent can

seriously affect team’s productivity.  Here are some steps to address

employee attendance issues:

Step 1: Develop A Clear Employee Attendance Policy. Ensure that there is an

attendance policy that clearly explains attendance expectations and

the consequences of not following the attendance guidelines.  This way, there’s no

confusion –  employees are aware of what they need to avoid such as the following:

 Definition of absenteeism and tardiness.

 A clearly defined leave policy – i.e., the definition of approved vs. unscheduled

absence, unexcused absence, and PTO (paid time off).

 Sick leave vs. personal leave.

 Exempt and nonexempt employees as part of the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards

Act) regulations. 

 FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act) protected leave.

  ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) protected leave. 

Step 2: Gather Information and Evidence. Before approaching an employee about

an attendance problem, gather evidence of the same.  Ensure there’s a reliable

system for keeping track of poor attendance. Go through attendance records

thoroughly to check if the employee is frequently late or absent (also known as chronic

absenteeism.) This may involve going back through attendance register, whether it is a

written copy, a spreadsheet, etc. Check the number of sick days and see whether the

employee provided a doctor’s note.  Additionally, having a proof of actual dates and

times is also needed to prove excessive absenteeism. Not only will this help get the

case across, but it will also show the employee involved that you are serious about the

issue – so they are also more likely to take it seriously themselves.

Step 3: Encourage Open Dialogue. When going into a meeting to address an

employee’s absenteeism, ensure you are willing to listen – the employee may have

a valid reason for being absent. Here are a few things to remember before this

meeting: (a) Host the meeting in a private place, not at the employee’s cubicle where

anyone can eavesdrop. If the employee works remotely, arrange a one-on-one video

call. ; (b) Maintain a mood of curiosity and information gathering, rather than one of

condemnation and threats. The goal is to solve the problem that’s causing employee

absenteeism. Let the employee know you’re concerned with their well-being; (c) Keep

communication lines open by being available to employees (through video calls, instant

messaging, etc.). This way, they can speak to you about why they keep missing work.

Step 4: Be Accommodating. If employees have a good reason for staying off work,

be accommodating and sensitive to the situation – because each one is unique and
requires a different approach. Sometimes you’ll need to be extra understanding. For

example, if an employee has lost a family member or has issues with childcare, show

them compassion, and give them extra time off if necessary. Other situations may

require a firmer stance, for example, when employees take a day or two off every week

to recover from a weekend of partying. In some cases, you may be able to arrange

a flexible work schedule if it doesn’t affect your business and other employees. You

could also consider allowing employees to work remotely, some or all of the time.

Additionally, consider rewarding good attendance, so employees have more of an

incentive to come in regularly. For example – they can receive a bonus after a year’s

worth of good attendance.

According to Martin (2021) Managing employee’s attendance records can be

tedious, and with traditional methods, there is too much room for inaccuracy. It’s time to

consider a more streamlined approach – attendance management software. This

approach is a no-fail way to keep track of employee attendance. It Increases

productivity and accountability. You can easily keep track of the number of hours an

individual works and the tasks they complete during that time. As time worked is tracked

down to the minute, it’s easier to keep track of absenteeism, tardiness, etc., and hold

them accountable. Furthermore, it improves accuracy and security. Traditional methods

of recording employee attendance, such as signing in on a ledger, often lack security

measures to protect employees’ data. After all, with multiple employees accessing these

records, anyone can easily alter information. Employee attendance tracking solutions

are tamper-proof, so you can be assured that the hours recorded are accurate.

Likewise, it makes remote attendance tracking possible. If coming into the office is an
issue (for example, due to restrictions following the COVID 19 pandemic), employees

can easily work from home, and their hours can still be tracked with attendance

management software. It also eases concerns about whether remote employees

are actually working when they say they are, even if they aren’t physically in the

workplace.

Attendance is extremely important in the workplace. When employees are present

and arrive to work on time, it helps keep everything operating smoothly. Some potential

effects of poor attendance include: (a) other employees have to pick up the slack, which

can decrease employee morale; (b) morale can also drop and teamwork can suffer if

employees with good attendance start resenting those who are frequently absent; (c)

you might have to pay for a substitute employee, or other employees might have to

work overtime, which increases their pay rate and costs you more money; (d) lower

productivity can slow projects down, resulting in missed deadlines; (e) work processes

and customer interactions are inconsistent when different people handle them. This can

increase mistakes and hurt the customer experience. Ensure your workplace has an

attendance policy in place that is fair for all staff and clearly outlines the definitions and

procedures for tracking and documenting attendance. Having a reliable tracking system

helps you monitor the attendance of employees. Some systems are easier than others

due to automation. Consider these tracking options:

Manual tracking. Attendance might be tracked manually. One person handles

attendance and marks people as absent when they’re not there. This is the most basic

option, but it can be time-consuming. It’s also easy for employees to show up late or

leave early if no one is monitoring them.

 Timesheets. Another traditional option is having employees fill out timesheets, either

physical or online. Employees can track time under different projects if you want a

breakdown of how they use their time. This option is time-consuming for employees and

the payroll department, and it’s easy for employees to lie about their time. This is a cost-

free solution and it’s something most employees would easily agree to. They are tables

with employee names which either employees themselves or their supervisor complete

with information on when each employee came to work and went home. Probably the

most popular variation is tracking attendance in Excel, Google Sheets or similar

platform. In addition, a completed monthly timesheet is a ready-made report in itself. If

completed by a supervisor, timesheets are generally reliable, but can quickly become

time-consuming with a larger number of employees. (Insightful, 2022)

Keycards. Instead of traditional punch cards with a timeclock, many businesses use

a keycard system. Employees simply scan their cards to clock in or out. It’s quick and

easy for employees, and the system tracks time automatically for you. However, it’s

easy for an employee to give another employee their keycard, so they can clock them in

and make it appear as if they were at work when they weren’t.

An extremely popular technique of attendance tracking, especially in medium and

large companies, is the use of keycards. Employees simply clock-in with their card

when they enter the company premises and again when they leave and the system

keeps all the data in a database. There are quite a number of different variations of

keycards, but since they mostly differ in terms of technology used, we’ll discuss them all

together here. So, let’s first take a look at all the different options. Punch cards are the

old-fashioned way of punching a time and date on employees’ cards. The newer
technology are swipe cards, otherwise known as magnetic stripe cards, which are

swiped through a machine (like credit cards). Keycards can also use QR codes for

employee identification. Lastly, there is contactless technology like proximity cards and

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), with a very slight difference. Some of the

advantages of keycards are that they aren’t intrusive to employees and they generally

won’t forget to swipe in. Furthermore, they can also be used as access cards or facility

keys, so there’s an added security. Finally, their use is intuitive and straightforward. In

the case of using RFID, employees don’t even have to take their cards out of their bags

or pockets. Nevertheless, keycards are prone to misuse and ‘buddy punching’ and

employees can also forget to bring them. In addition, they only measure the time when

employees went into the building, not when they actually started working (read: morning

coffee and chat with colleagues). Besides, it can quickly amount to a costly solution if

you run a business on multiple locations and it doesn’t account for remote workforce.

(Insightful, 2022)

Time-tracking software. Sophisticated software can track your employees and

monitor how they’re using their time. Many programs have various features you can

use, such as GPS monitoring to see where employees clock in and monitoring the

websites and apps they use on their work computer. These programs can simplify

payroll because they automate much of the process. If employees work on different

projects that are billed or tracked differently, the software makes it easier to

differentiate. Even though it’s not as common as timesheets or keycards, GPS tracking

is also sometimes used as an attendance tracking method. It’s specifically useful for

tracking whereabouts of remote or field workers. Examples include delivery workers,

door-to-door merchants, etc. However indispensable GPS is for employees working in

the field, there’s one major concern - privacy. For optimal employee privacy protection,

GPS should be tracked on their corporate phones. This works for field employees, but

not so readily for office workers who might be inclined to leave their work phones in their

office, thus rendering GPS unusable for attendance tracking.

Finally, an increasingly more popular option to track your work hours is the

implementation of time tracker for work. Basically, employee time tracking and

scheduling software works by tracking time and activity on every corporate computer

from the moment it’s turned on until an employee switches it off and leaves the office.

There are many benefits of time attendance tracking software like Insightful in

comparison to other methods of taking employee attendance. Even though it’s typically

not free, it’s not as costly as biometric data readers or even keycards. Also, there’s no

hardware maintenance as everything can be stored on cloud.

Since staff time tracking software monitors computer activity (that is, apps and

websites used and time spent on projects), unless their colleagues can work on two

computers simultaneously, there’s no threat of ‘buddy punching’ and time stealing. This

also means that the data and reports from task time tracking software reflects the time

employees are actually working on different projects and tasks, which gives you a more

precise insights into their working hours as well as more accurate reports for your

clients. Using attendance tracking tools can improve other things apart from optimizing

attendance tracking. For instance, time tracker can help with time management,

productivity and work delegation. Plus, it’s an invaluable technology for your remote

workforce. The one potential problem with using a software solution to track employees’
activities is getting them to accept it. But being straightforward, honest about it and

sensitive to their concerns will go a long way in ensuring they know it’s just another

highly efficient and precise method to track their work time.

Biometrics. This attendance tracking system requires a fingerprint, facial recognition,

iris scan or similar data to clock in and out. Biometric data readers eliminate the

possibility of buddy punching, where someone else clocks an employee in to make it

look like they were on time. It’s also a quick way for employees to clock in and out. (Tips

to manage and improve attendance at work, 2021) The most technologically

sophisticated attendance tracking option are biometric data readers, such as fingerprint

and iris scanners, as well as face recognition technology. These solutions detect

inherent biometric data that is unique to every person and use it as a sort of ‘keycard’

when employees come to work and leave. Because employees can’t give this data to

another person, this is by far the most secure and buddy-punching-proof attendance

tracking solution. It can even be applied to remote workers with the new developments

in mobile technology like high-resolution cameras and fingerprint recognition. And it

completely eliminates the possibility of employees ever forgetting their ‘access card’. On

the other hand, biometric data readers are also by far the most expensive solution, and

the technology can be perceived as intrusive by employees. More seriously still, even

the more sophisticated types of biometric data readers like iris scanners are potentially

vulnerable. However unlikely, security breaches of this type would be much more than

just an inconvenience as biometric data theft would be a serious injury to your

employees’ privacy. (Insightful, 2022)

 Meanwhile, Seivani (2022) mentioned digital system for attendance monitoring.

Digital systems have been utilized widely in many organizations since they are

considered safe and difficult to sabotage. Several types of digital attendance system

include: finger print, face recognition, PIN-based system, web-based system, magnetic

cards. Fingerprint is an attendance system that require employee’s fingerprints to clock

in and out. The strength of this system is that it is not easy to manipulate. However, this

system may not recognize finger prints when they are wet or dirty. Face recognition is

more complicated than the finger print system. It examines the human face and eyes. If

the face matches the data inside the system, it means the employee has been

successfully clocked in and out. In the PIN-based system, each employee will have their

own password. It can be in the form of numbers or letters. To record presence, the

employee just need to input password to the system. It seems simple but it can be

easily manipulated. For web-based system, each employee should have access to the

website to log in their presence. What they need to do when the company uses this type

of attendance system is browse the website, enter personal user name and password,

and clock in. The weakness of a web-based attendance system is that it requires stable

internet connection or else, it would not record attendance. The use of magnetic cards

enables employees to swipe the card on the machine. After that, attendance data will be

automatically stored in the system.

If absenteeism is problematic, there is a need for clear and consistent approach to

effectively curb absenteeism. These steps include the following according to Marcum

(2021):
1. Put it in writing. An employee handbook is a great way to spell out your policy on

absenteeism, as well as the reporting process employees should follow if they’re

late or absent. State the consequences of excessive absenteeism — including

the potential for termination. Even better? Share this policy when onboarding

new staff, so everyone knows your expectations from the outset. Having new

employees sign a statement acknowledging they’ve received a copy of the policy

may also be considered.

2. Gather information. Before you broach the subject of absenteeism with individual

employees, prepare yourself with examples and the dates and times they were

late or absent. With data in hand, you may feel more confident in addressing the

problem – and they can’t deny it.

3. Show your concern. Once you’ve made clear that you’ve noticed, follow up with

something like, “When we don’t hear from you like we’ve defined in our policy, we

get concerned that something may have happened to you. That’s why it is so

important to notify us.” Placing the emphasis on your employees’ wellbeing helps

take them off the defensive.

4. Open up a discussion. Give them a chance to explain and offer solutions. Their

poor attendance record may be the result of a bigger issue. Ask: “Is there

something going on that’s causing you to be late or miss so much work? Is there

something we can do to help?” 

 5. Make accommodations when appropriate. If an employee has difficulties getting

to work on time after dropping their children off at school, for example, you might

consider allowing a more flexible schedule.  However, if a health condition or

family medical emergency is the root cause of absenteeism, it’s wise to consult

an HR professional right away. This situation needs to be handled delicately to

ensure compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Family Medical

Leave Act. In this situation, there may be multiple ways to address the problem,

including a staff member taking a leave of absence.

6. Know when to take it up a notch. If the absenteeism or tardiness persists, it’s

time for formal counseling. Depending on your company’s structure, counseling

could come in the form of meetings with the employee’s immediate manager or

an HR representative. Lay out your expectations for attendance, and the serious,

specific consequences for unexcused absences from work.

Meanwhile, attendance checking is not a sole solution to curb attendance issues in

the workplace. Haranhan (2020) argued that leaders do not only monitor attendance but

also find ways to improve it by other means. In his article entitled, “6 ways to improve

employee attendance,” he emphasized the following:

1. Make sure employees are aware of attendance expectations and the effects of

excessive absenteeism on the business including remaining team members,

productivity and customer service. This sort of information should be made clear

at an employee’s induction and reinforced through your employee manual, code

of conduct and/or Personal/Career’s Leave policy.

 2. Analyze attendance records to properly identify the extent of employee absence

and any particular trends. For example, employees who seem to always be off on

a Monday or a Friday or before or after a public holiday. There is no law against

confronting an employee and asking for an explanation as to why their absences

mostly seem to occur on particular days.

3. Have a clear policy and procedure that employees must follow if they are going

to be absent.

4. Make employees aware of the consequences of not adhering to your

Personal/Career’s leave policy which may include disciplinary action. Remember

to focus on whether the employee has followed the correct notice and evidence

procedures rather than try and establish whether the person was genuinely sick

or not.

5. Follow up with employees face to face when they return to work and enquire

about their wellness and whether they are fit to resume normal duties. This lets

the employee know that you are concerned about their well-being and that you

have “noticed” their absence.

Contract Recruiter (2023) explained that there are possible ways to talk to

employees about poor attendance.

A. Meet With Them Privately. When an employee is frequently calling out sick,

showing up late, or not showing up at all, the first step is to meet with them

privately. Discussing their absenteeism in the lunchroom or an open office space

with others isn’t a good idea. The first time you address the issue, you want to
 ensure that the tone remains one of concern and information-gathering rather

than discipline. You don’t want to put them on the spot or ask them about their

poor attendance with all their coworkers watching. Doing so can make people

feel defensive and embarrassed, and they likely won’t feel comfortable sharing

why they missed work when an audience is there.

B. Be Compassionate. When an employee frequently misses work or shows up

late, it can be easy to assume that they are simply doing so because they don’t

care about their job. It’s important to first approach the issue with concern and

compassion, though. Something may be going on in their life that is impacting

their ability to arrive on time or perform their job duties.

The reasoning behind their absenteeism is very important, and you’ll want to be

compassionate towards your employee when you first reach out about their

attendance.

Your employee may be having transportation issues or suffering from health

problems. Maybe they are dealing with a challenging personal situation, such as

a divorce or the recent death of a loved one.

During this meeting, it’s essential to listen and be empathetic. Through open

communication, you might find that it is appropriate to give your employee some

time off or find another solution that works for them.

C. Communicate Clearly. Once you have spoken with your employee, you may

find that they don’t seem to have a reason to explain their frequent absence from

work. It’s a good idea to proactively deal with the issue of absenteeism by

working to improve the policies outlined in your employee handbook. If it seems

appropriate, given the information you’ve gained from your employee, you can

take this time to remind them of the policies written in the handbook and how

they apply to their particular situation.

You can also use this time to explain to your employee how their missed work

days impact their team and the business. They may not realize the negative

effect it has on the company when they call out sick.

Of course, you will want to determine whether or not it’s appropriate to point to

the handbook at this time or discuss the negative impact of their absenteeism on

the business. If your employee did communicate that they are dealing with a

difficult situation that is impacting their ability to show up for work regularly, it

might be best to save this part of the discussion for another time. Instead, you

can work to create a solution that works both for the employee and for your

organization.
D. Address the Problem Right Away. Like most issues that crop up in a business,

it’s best to address the problem of absenteeism immediately rather than let it

continue for a long time. The tension between your employee’s work and

personal life may be causing them a great deal of stress, and just having the

opportunity to explain themselves to their manager or the business owner can be

an enormous weight off their shoulders.

E. Work to Find a Solution. Once you have spoken with your employee and

learned the reasoning behind their frequent poor attendance, you can work to

solve the problem. For example, there might be a fairly straightforward obstacle

that has been getting in the way of getting to work consistently, such as

transportation problems. If this is the case, you might be able to adjust their

hours slightly so that it works with a public bus schedule.

If your employee is dealing with a distressing personal situation, offering them

some time away from work might be appropriate. Sometimes people need a little

bit of time away so they can return with focus, engagement, and energy. When

they return to work, you’ll want to monitor their attendance and see if the situation

improves. If not, it will need to be addressed again.

F. Continue to Monitor Attendance After Your Meeting. After meeting with your

employee and working to create a solution, the next step is to keep an eye on

their future attendance. If it continues to be an issue, you will want to address it

immediately. If you notice that their attendance improves, though, this is the

perfect opportunity to communicate to your employee that you appreciate that

they have worked to improve their attendance.

 While many employees might have legitimate reasons for their absenteeism or

tardiness, it’s also possible that a frequently absent employee already has one

foot out the door. For example, when someone has already started looking for

another job, it isn’t uncommon for them to mentally check out from their current

position.

If you suspect this is the case, it might signal that it’s time to begin the recruiting

process if you haven’t done so already.  The more proactive you are in recruiting,

the more time you have to find the right candidate to fill the position.

Conclusions

Based on the data gathered, the researcher concludes that NAMRIA employees

shared a common understanding of the policies on recording daily attendance. They

value punctuality and promptness in the workplace. Since, the policies are mandated

through memorandum circular, it was evident that NAMRIA employees follow these

policies strictly. However, due to their work assignment and other official businesses,

some employees recording attendance tend to be compromised. Nonetheless, if the

concerned employees uphold the policy with integrity, they will be able to execute the

necessary procedures in the systematic daily attendance record. Furthermore, the

employees fully understand that accurate attendance affect the agency’s operation.

While there are identified benefits of accurate attendance recording and disclosure,

employees should deepen their understanding about accurate checking of attendance

that it reflects the department and its performance as a unit.

Monitoring workforce's time and attendance is crucial to improving business

performance and productivity. Organizations that implement effective timekeeping

strategies can help employees keep up with project goals and deadlines, enhance client

satisfaction, and strengthen overall awareness of employee output. Business

productivity largely depends on how well you manage employee time and attendance.

Proper timekeeping can help you track the expected duration of specific projects and

identify aspects that may take up more time than usual. This allows you to mitigate

potential challenges and optimize employee performance. Tracking employee work

hours enables project managers to stay on top of their team's workflow without

constantly asking team members for updates. Team leads can divide each project into

multiple tasks and assign them to employees so they can clock their time appropriately.

This way, teams can complete project successfully without the risk of scheduling

errors that lead to last-minute pressure. Similarly, documenting your workforce's leave

and attendance data can help managers honor team member availability and reassign

tasks as necessary. Recording the time spent on each project also ensures accurate

customer invoices. By analyzing time and attendance data, you can glean useful

insights about your workforce and address potential issues. For instance, reviewing

employee leave data could help you understand your organization's absenteeism rate.

A higher absenteeism rate means lower employee morale, higher burnout, and an even

higher employee turnover rate. Similarly, analyzing the timesheet data can help

managers see if team members have equal and fair workloads. They can also use this

data to protect employee from burnout. Documenting employee hours enhances

organizations compliance with local and regional labor laws. By maintaining accurate

data, you could also save your organization from potential lawsuits. This data can help

you prove your organization's adherence to employee protection rights. Careful

timekeeping can yield so many benefits for your workforce. While you can still choose to

track hours manually with spreadsheets, many organizations find it's much more

convenient and effective to adopt online time and attendance systems. (Arun, 2022)

Employee attendance monitoring system helps to satisfy employees of the

organization. Employees will be happier because time and attendance software

guarantees timely and accurate pay. If the employees of the organization are satisfied

and motivated they will work more as a result there will be great enhancement in

productivity. There is always a chance that something may go wrong while you are

manually records the employee’s attendance. Employee attendance monitoring system

is a modern electronic and computer aided method of keeping employee records. It

keeps employee records very fast, accurate. The average employee attendance

monitoring system has an error rate of less than one percent, which is much less than

expected when the task is performed manually. An employee attendance monitoring

system is a useful tool for organization to increase efficiency save money. Implementing

a technology based time and attendance solution with biometric devices will straight

away help to reduce organization’s labor costs. More the number of people accessing

employee’s data there is more chance to experience some type of breach at some

point. If you are using employee attendance monitoring system then you do not need to

worry about the security of your employee’s important information. Employee

attendance monitoring system is a best way to protect the people who work for you.

Time is a limited resource that we must use wisely. Consequently, using

automated processes for tasks such as employee attendance tracking and monitoring is

beneficial for all parties involved. The biggest advantage is that it improves data
accuracy and reliability. With fewer human errors, it allows for better time management,

employees are able to concentrate on more pressing matters, thus improving their

efficiency in the workplace, and fewer payroll data errors reduce workflow for the

administration. Additionally, contactless biometric attendance monitoring systems grant

an opportunity to recognize people wearing masks and allow remote connections. 

Recommendation

The research recommends further implementation of the polices on attendance.

Continuous reminder and information dissemination of information about the policy is

encouraged.
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