It is called time control to the recording of employees' working hours. This control, in addition to being mandatory in some cases, is also a very useful tool that allows companies and workers to know the working hours actually worked, and not only those that are in accordance with the contract.
Timekeeping is the recording of hours worked in a company by an employee. These hours may be the ones that the employee in question is in their usual place of work (such as an office).
However, they can also be those that are undertaken during working hours but are not carried out at the usual place of work. As is the case with employees teleworking due to restrictions and confinement because of positive coronavirus cases during the pandemic.
Also in the case of workers who are displaced and carry out their working day outside the office. See the example of hauliers or sales representatives, to name just two.
It is a control that allows to know both the time of entry and exit of the worker, as well as the actual hours worked, This is not always in line with those stipulated in the employment contract.
This way, both the company and the employee can know the actual working hours carried out, which will be especially important when executing the wage payments.To find out more about this point, in this article we give recommendations for the Payroll management.
The main importance of time control lies in the fact that it is the only way to to know the actual working hours the worker performs.
This allows know the overtime that the worker has carried out throughout the month. But it also allows you to know if any worker has carried out fewer working hours than they are entitled to, and therefore it is a very useful tool for both employees and the company itself.
In this way, by keeping a record of the actual hours worked, payments can be adjusted based on that record, taking into account both ordinary and overtime hours.
Broadly speaking, two types of systems can be differentiated: analogue and digital. Analogue control systems they are destined to disappear, as they are not precise systems and allow the record to be altered with great ease.
These systems usually consist of simply recording the employee's time of arrival and departure on a piece of paper, which, by doing so, can be used as a means of recording the employee's time of arrival and departure. usually with pen and paper, can be modified without any control real thereof. Which could lead to a high rate of absenteeism labour.
On the other hand, the so-called digital time and attendance systems They are automated systems that use technology to determine the employee's clock-in and clock-out times.
There are a wide variety of systems, ranging from those activated by a non-transferable personal card those who make use of the fingerprint. Or, as the work clock, those that work Logging in with a personal account (especially useful when tracking hours while working remotely or travelling).
These systems, being connected to a digital platform, cannot be tampered with, meaning that as well as being much more convenient and precise, they are also the most secure and efficient way to carry out time tracking in any company.
Additionally, another important aspect to consider regarding digital systems is that a wide variety of them exist.
This also allows them to be very flexible systems that are easy to adapt to any type of business who wants to carry out time tracking: from a large multinational company with its headquarters in an office building, to a restaurant or small business with no more than 10 employees.