Time and attendance is an element that is increasingly present in most companies. This control makes it possible to to know exactly when workers enter and leave the company, This allows for a more comprehensive accounting of actual working time, which benefits both workers and employers.
Time control is the documentation of employees' work periods. In other words, it consists of monitoring the time when workers enter and leave their workplace, which makes it possible to know exactly how much time is spent during the working day.
This timetable control can be carried out in different ways depending on the type of work. Generally, especially in the case of a workplace that is located in a specific place (e.g. an office, industry, shopping centre, etc.), time control is carried out on the basis of a hardware device where the employee in question is identified both at the time of entry and at the time of exit, which makes it possible to know the exact time he/she has spent at his/her workstation during the day.
On the other hand, there are also other time and attendance devices that are designed to be remotely controlled. In these cases, instead of having a hardware device, the most common is for the employee to have some type of software downloaded to your computer and that, when working, the employee logs on and accounts for the time spent working. This option is applicable to most computer-based jobs, and especially to jobs that are carried out remotely on an ad hoc basis or by teleworkers on a continuous basis.
The importance of timekeeping lies in the fact that it allows for know exactly how much time is spent on the job and, consequently, adjust pay accordingly. This benefits both companies and workers, as the result is that pay is adjusted to be fairer and more in line with the actual time worked.
In this way, workers are assured that the overtime hours they perform will be accounted for and therefore paid in the next payroll. In the same way, companies ensure that, if a worker does not work the number of hours they are required to work, they will be paid in the next payroll. assigned to them as a minimum in their working day, The Commission may take appropriate action if it deems it necessary.
Currently, companies are required by law to keep a record of the number of hours worked by their employees. According to the law, companies must keep this record for at least four years and, in addition, it must be available both to employees who request it and to trade unions. It should be borne in mind that time control has been compulsory in Spain since May 2019, The fines for non-compliance can range from €600 in the most economic cases to €6,250 in the most serious cases.
This and other measures related to employee timekeeping are designed to improving conditions of pay for workers. On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that there are several ways to improve workers' pay without the need for a direct wage increase, such as in the case of the Flexible Compensation.
Flexible Remuneration is a system that allows for converting part of workers' wages into payment in kind, which they can spend on various daily expenses (Ticket Restaurant, Transport Ticket, Childcare Ticket, etc.). These are expenses that employees have to face on a regular basis, so they are expenses that will be financed from their net salary. However, thanks to the Flexible Remuneration, the part of their salary that is converted into tickets is exempt from taxation, The same gross salary, however, is not available for the same number of employees, the purchasing power of the employee is increased by avoiding loss of purchasing power in the form of withholding taxes.
