Wondering How to Track Employee Hours? Check This Out!

Wondering How to Track Employee Hours? Check This Out!
Written by
Daria Olieshko
Published on
3 Sep 2023
Read time
5 - 7 min read
You should track employee hours to ensure your employees are paid for all their hours and billed accurately for projects. Getting it right protects you from payroll hassles and ensures your compliance. Every company has its own approach. So, we at Shifton are on a mission to share our insights on the importance of monitoring hours and the best methods to go about it. Stay tuned — it's beneficial for any business!

Why You Should Track Employee Hours

Working on employee time management helps you understand how your team spends their hours, boosting productivity, improving project planning, and managing costs effectively. Here's why:
  • Nailing Payroll: Accurate payroll is crucial for businesses with hourly employees. Tracking hours ensures that everyone gets paid for their work and helps prevent time theft and payroll errors. Integrating automated time tracking with your payroll system simplifies the process and minimises timesheet mistakes.
  • Staying Compliant: Staying compliant with the law means following regulations like the Fair Work Act, which requires employee tracking time. It's all about counting their daily and weekly hours and pay to ensure you're doing the right thing.
  • Perfecting Project Planning: When you track employee hours, you understand how long tasks take, which is invaluable for planning projects accurately. It's a win-win for both managers and the team.
  • Benefitting Everyone: Tracking hours helps your team manage their time better. When tracking is automated, less time is spent filling out sheets, and more time is spent doing work.
  • Being a Superb Manager: If you don't track employee hours, you might micro-manage everything. But with a timesheet tracker, you have enough data to see what needs improving and build trust with your team.

5 Simple Methods to Track Employee Hours

Now that you understand why call centre time tracking is a big deal and its relevance to any business, let's check out the five most common ways to do it. Let's get started:

1. Tracking Hours Manually

If you're new to tracking time, the simplest way to start is the old-fashioned way. Get your team to note the time when they start and finish. But be warned: adding up hours by hand can be a bit of a chore, and mistakes are bound to happen.

2. Using Paper Timesheets

Paper timesheets are a step up from jotting things down on paper. Instead, you fill in hours on a spreadsheet like Excel or Google Sheets. Thanks to the magic of formulas, it's easier to add up the total hours. This method works well for small teams where you don't want to spend too much time on it.

3. Work Timesheet Apps

Time tracking software monitors employee hours on salary, hourly, or contract. It works on computers and phones and even integrates with work timesheet apps, making it super easy to manage time. Such applications assist in monitoring chargeable and non-chargeable time, which is fantastic for maintaining efficiency and overseeing financial plans. There are loads of options for time-keeping hotels, restaurants, medical centres, call centres, real estate time-tracking software, and any other businesses. Brilliant!

4. Time Clocks

A punch clock is an easy solution for businesses where everyone's mostly in one or two locations. Employees punch in and out, which is handy for places like factories where they're not always on computers or phones. Setting up a time clock costs a bit upfront, but it's a one-time expense that makes tracking hours a breeze.

5. GPS Check-In

A regular tracking hours app might not do the trick if your team is always on the move. That's where GPS tracking comes in. With GPS apps, you can see exactly where your crew is. And it's not just for paying them — it can also help determine other bonuses based on their performance. Interested? Let’s take a closer look!

How Employee GPS Tracking Works

Employee GPS tracking is all about using GPS technology to track employee hours as they go about their workday. It is convenient for businesses with folks on the move, like delivery services or field technicians. In agriculture, property management, logistics, delivery, or construction, timesheet software increases productivity, completes tasks effectively, and ensures safety. Big names like UPS use this tech to streamline their delivery routes, while utility companies dispatch their repair crews faster. Automating time monitoring makes things run smoother and keeps the team safe. Here's how it works: Employees carry GPS-enabled gadgets, such as smartphones or special trackers. These gadgets send location data to a central system, which allows managers to monitor where everyone is in real time, spot trends in the data, and adjust operations as needed.

Here's a Final Thought to Consider

It's essential to keep track of how much your team works. It helps you make smart business decisions, like ensuring everyone's doing their best, following the rules, and getting paid right. GPS apps are a popular choice for keeping track. They're easy to use, especially on phones, and they don't cost much. They also come with cool features like showing where your team is in real-time and generating reports. Look for a simple app like Shifton to get everyone on board. We offer:
  • Complete route mapping showing where your team's been during their shift, with all the timestamps.
  • Stats on how your team's moving around for some detailed insights.
Are you feeling nervous about setting it all up? No worries! When you partner with us, we've got your back every step of the way. We take full responsibility for ensuring everything's up and running smoothly. Our customer support team is always here to help, whether through online resources, a quick call, or an email chat. With Shifton, you can easily track employee hours and boost your team’s effectiveness! If you've made it this far in the article, it's your turn to give our offer a go!
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Daria Olieshko

A personal blog created for those who are looking for proven practices.