Patricia
Small businesses make up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses and employ 47.1% of U.S. employees. Even so, some small businesses have less than 10 employees when they are first starting out.
To avoid employee turnover and make your small business as successful as possible, you need to track employee attendance. Having a system in place can make your business run as smooth as possible.
Before implementing a system, you need to know some of the common employee attendance tracking mistakes. Keep reading to learn more.
1. Not Having an Attendance Policy
One of the most common employee attendance tracking mistakes is not having a policy in place. The employee attendance policy should detail the following:
- Official work hours
- Annual leaves
- Leave approval process
- Definition of absenteeism or tardiness
- Consequences for attendance policy breaches
The policy should be available to and signed off by each employee.
2. Allowing Proxy Attendance
Proxy attendance is something no company should deal with but some systems are easy to manipulate. For example, physical paper registers make it easy for a colleague to mark an employee’s attendance.
Online time clocks work best because they require a unique employee time card for identification. Click for more about this type of system.
3. Not Tracking Log-Out Time
Another costly mistake that can happen with even attendance tracking technology is not noting the log-out time of employees. This means the employee is counted present for the entire day after they’ve logged in.
Tracking log-out time allows you to count the total hours worked without the possibility of manipulation. Make sure your employees are logging out when they leave for the day.
4. Having a Confusing Leave Policy
Confusing leave policies can lead to employees not showing up for work when they are scheduled. If you have available leaves for employees, ensure that the policy in the system matches the written word policy.
If you notice rumors swarming around your company about the leave policy, create a formal channel of communication regarding attendance. This task is often delegated to the HR team.
5. Not Counting Tardiness or Absenteeism
Tracking staff attendance is important, but it is also equally important to track tardiness and absenteeism. These problems are unproductive and can lead to repeats without consequences in place.
Employees should not be absent without informing management, come in late, leave early, or take undue long breaks. These habits can increase expenses and affect the culture and motivation of employees.
6. Unfair Implementation
Attendance policies and rules should be equal for all employees. Different rules for different departments will create employee resentment and cause cultural difficulties.
Working hours should apply to all employee levels, including management.
Employee Attendance Tracking Mistakes You Need to Avoid
Startup businesses and small businesses begin with minimal to no employee attendance tracking. Even with few employees, tracking attendance is a necessary part of the job.
Not only will having a system in place help as your company grows, but it will also boost productivity and company morale among other things. For these reasons, it’s important to avoid employee attendance tracking mistakes.
For more business advice like this, check out the other articles on our website.
