In the construction business, money is being spent virtually every second passively – in the use of expensive materials and tools, in the energy costs it takes to power heavy machinery and, of course, in paying on-site workers.
Traditionally, construction site staff have operated on paper time sheets to clock in and out. However, these sheets aren’t the most accurate or responsible way to monitor worker hours in the digital age. Not only can they be lost or stolen, but they’re open to tampering, should someone be so inclined.
Modern digital alternatives, like time and attendance software, can offer a far safer, more trackable and more accessible way for both workers and staff to monitor the hours they spend on-site, so they can be paid accordingly – among a host of other benefits.
With this in mind, here are just a few ways time and attendance software trumps traditional construction site timesheets.
Construction site time and attendance software benefits
A lasting digital record in a secure environment
While paper timesheets can easily be stored for future reference, over time they would begin to take up a lot of space in an office or filing cabinet if kept for a long period. And given the sheer size of many construction jobs, filing timesheets in this way would be simply illogical. This is why many paper timesheets are thrown out once it’s deemed they’re no longer needed. However, should a manager or admin clerk need to refer back to them at a later date to double-check attendance records, there would be nothing they could do.
But by digitizing attendance tracking using time and attendance software, managers can have full access to the attendance records of all workers at the touch of a button in a secure and lasting digital environment. Even once the job has been completed, if for whatever reason someone from the company needed to log on to check a specific worker’s attendance on certain days, they’d be able to do so without filing through mountains of paperwork.
The software is also often backed up with strict access requirements (login details and passwords) to ensure only authorised users have access to sensitive time and attendance data. This is in comparison to paper timesheets, which are usually kept under a traditional (and easily breakable) lock and key, if at all.
Easy to clock in and out via an app
After a busy day’s work, it can be easy for a member of site staff to want to head straight home to relax – only later to realise they did not clock out properly before leaving. The same can happen when clocking in, too, if people are in a rush to finish an important task by a deadline.
With approximately 80% of timesheets in the United States needing corrections, according to data published by Quickbooks, the need for accurate timekeeping on sites – and workplaces of any kind – has never been more prevalent if companies want to keep excess costs low.
With time and attendance software, forgetting to clock in and out can become a thing of the past. By utilising a smartphone app to clock in and out, rather than paper timesheets, workers are more likely (in the age of the smartphone) to get on the app and mark their arrival and exit times. Or, if they do forget, they can be prompted by the app to ensure the issue is solved before it snowballs.
Or, on the more technical side of things, some time and attendance systems also incorporate impressive facial recognition software which scans the face of the worker before they enter a site, without fuss. This scan is then logged, effectively acting as a clock-in. The same goes for clocking out, too, making for a fast and effective process.
Pay employees for the right hours every time
Keeping costs at an absolute minimum and ensuring employees are only paid for the hours they work is also a wider problem in time and attendance tracking.
According to the same data provided by Quickbooks, “wage theft” (where employees exaggerate their working hours) costs U.S. companies $11 billion per year. In the same breath, employees have been underpaid a staggering $22 billion per year after having their hours mismanaged or mis-entered into a system.
Neither of these instances needs to be a fear with digital time and attendance tracking, though. Because employee attendance is logged in a digital system at the point of entry and logged again when they leave, disputes about attendance can be solved quickly by simply referring back to the digital log. This works even better thanks to smartphone apps and facial recognition software, which offer undeniable proof a worker clocked in (or didn’t) at a specific time.
But all of the above is barely scratching the surface as to why time and attendance tracking in the digital age is a far more effective choice than paper timesheets. If your company wishes to reap the benefits mentioned above and keep excess costs as low as possible, choose digital time and attendance software for clear and manageable shift tracking.
