Biometric Time Clocks Lower Payroll Costs For Small Businesses
Biometric time clocks help small businesses reduce payroll costs by preventing widespread time theft—such as hours padding, unpaid break misreporting, and buddy clocking—and minimizing human error in time tracking through unique biological identifiers like fingerprints or facial recognition, offering precise, tamper-proof recording of actual hours worked while being easy to install and operate, though employers must consider relevant state biometric laws when choosing a system.
If you have hourly workers, your organization may be leaking cash unnecessarily. This is often due to time theft, which can be just as expensive as employees stealing merchandise.
Time Theft Is Widespread Among Hourly Workers
Time theft comes in many forms:
- Hours padding: Employees may write 9:00 as their start time even if they arrived at 9:07. Since the shift was supposed to start at 9:00, there is little chance of being caught. The stolen minutes don’t cause a red flag when the supervisor approves the time card.
- Not clocking out for unpaid meals and breaks: In workplaces where time cards are not scrutinized in light of company policies, employees may get paid for time not actually worked by not clocking out for unpaid breaks. Surveys reveal that time theft is common in most industries.
- Punching in for a co-worker (buddy clocking): This is when a co-worker clocks in for an employee who is not at the workplace. Sometimes, the employee never shows up for any of the shift.
Human Error in Time Tracking
Employers also pay for time not worked due to human error. Employees may forget to write down clock-ins on paper timesheets. When filling out a timesheet days later, they can only guess previous start and end times. Memory is fallible, and it’s easy to forget exactly when a shift started.
Hiring more managers for oversight is not a viable solution for most small businesses.
Biometric Time Clocks for Small Employers
Small business owners are discovering the advantages of biometrics. A biometric employee time clock uses unique biological identifiers to verify identity. There are clocks that scan a fingerprint, entire palm, the iris, or even the whole face. The clock captures punches to the minute, so payroll is based on actual hours worked instead of guesses or abuses.
Biometric technology is cutting-edge but easy to install and operate.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Biometric Time Clock
- 1.State laws regarding biometric time clocks: Many states, including California and New York, have enacted privacy laws that limit the type of information an employer can collect.
- 2.Number and location of employees
- 3.Physical environment: There are clocks that work in dusty and wet environments as well as places with chemicals present.
- 4.Do your staff members wear gloves? An iris scanner would be a good choice.
Advantages of Biometrics
Reducing time theft is only one advantage. If your workplace needs controlled access, biometric time clocks offer the highest level of security. They also prevent duplicate and missed punches.
Biometric clocks integrated with a time tracking system offer tools for accruals calculations, overtime alerts, employee self-service HR, and labor law compliance.
Swipeclock offers WorkforceHub, a unified Human Resources portal that helps optimize the performance of managers, employees, and companies. WorkforceHub includes features such as onboarding, benefits enrollment, performance reviews, employee engagement, scheduling, automated time and attendance tracking, regulatory compliance, and labor cost reduction.
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The article explains that time theft among hourly workers—such as hours padding, failing to clock out for breaks, and buddy clocking—causes significant financial losses for employers, and suggests that biometric time clocks, which use unique physical attributes like fingerprints or iris scans, offer a cost-effective solution to reduce human error and prevent fraudulent timekeeping without the need for costly additional management oversight.
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