Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software

Leave Management: Tracking and Managing Employee Absence Requests

Tracking complex employee leave requests through paper time sheets is costly and often results in errors. By automating this process, companies enhance the communication between employees and supervisors while simultaneously eliminating the manual process.

ATS Leave Management is a software module that allows employees to request time away from work. Through a web portal, managers can grant or deny leave, based on a company’s overall work policies.

Our Leave Management software allows employees to make use of the employee self-service module and review the status of their leave requests. They can also view personalized accrual balances through the application.

ATS uses a company’s existing policies to configure the rules for leave tracking validation and enforcement. ATS Leave Management module prevents the ability to enter accrual balances when it’s not applicable. The result is a system that accurately displays employees accrual balances in their respective web portal.

Benefits of ATS Leave Management Software:

Tracks attendance and leave policies consistently in order to streamline payroll costs and control unauthorized employee absences
Track and manages US Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and Canada’s Family Medical Leave (FML) that overlaps with provincial, federal and state leave laws
Supervisors have the ability to approve leave request through any web browser
Employees see approval messages from supervisors through employee self service
Gives employees more control of their time off and a greater sense of fairness through consistent policy enforcement

ATS Leave Management takes control of intermittent leave conditions. The software tracks leave for: family day, jury duty, vacation, short term disability and parental leave. The solution comes equipped with audit trails, attendance records and leave-of-absence records. Companies can minimize risk of litigation, audits and employee grievances with this powerful tool.

To download a copy of our time and attendance leave management brochure, go to our website. To view an online demonstration, please contact one of our account executives.

Attendance Tracking, Family Medical Leave, Family Medical Leave Act, Leave Management, Time and Attendance

Workforce Management Software: Create or Buy?

In a recent conversation with the VP of a distribution chain, we found out that their in-house software had been created by one of their IT personnel. Since this person left the company three years ago it has become a nightmare trying to maintain the product. Before you decide to create your own software consider the following:

1)       Are there people on staff who understand the nuances of time and attendance?
2)       Which member of your team is going to maintain the software once it has been created?
3)       Who is going to be responsible for keeping up with: federal, state and provincial legislative policies that must
           be be adhered to in business automation software?
4)       If the creator of the software leaves the company how is that software going to be managed?
5)       Are you able to create import files for time clocks and other third-party applications like payroll, HR or ERP?

There numerous benefits to purchasing workforce management software. Some of these include:
1)       The software contains numerous pay and work rule policies.
2)       The time and attendance software algorithm can be configured to suit any collective bargaining agreement.
3)       Software updates are created automatically by software engineers at no additional costs.
4)       The import utility allows for payroll interfaces to any third-party payroll application.
5)       The software can be accessed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
6)       Back-up is done daily and is available on demand.
7)       Changes to new shifts, overtime and other pay policies can be done in seconds.
8)       The software has integrated modules that include: employee self-service, points and incidents,
overtime equalization, job costing, and forecasting.
9)       Complementary data collectors include: biometric facescan, fingerprint readers, proximity time clocks, online time sheets, iPad, and smart phone time entry

The decision to create or buy, a time management software should be given careful consideration. In some instances, competitive advantages exist if you have the internal resources and the time to create your software.

To learn more about workforce management software go to our website.

Forecasting, Job Costing, Overtime Equalization, Payroll, Time and Attendance Software

Simplicity Works Best

In some of our previous blogs we discussed how something as simple as a time management system is made complicated by industry jargon that confuses the customer. Quite frankly it doesn’t have to be that way. The tracking of employee time through our time and attendance software is a very simple process. However, some people make it seem complicated. Of course, we are not suggesting that you purchase for its simplicity and while ignoring its ability to adapt to your company’s work policies. ATS time and attendance software was designed to meet the most complex needs of an organization and at the same time, can be scaled down. The product is intuitive, user-friendly and has a modern look and feel that utilizes today’s web-based technology concepts.

The advent of automated time management was borne out of changing times. In years past, it was customary for a company with many employees to use paper time sheets or punch clocks to register attendance. Despite advances in technology, some companies still use antiquated methods to track employee time in the 21^st century.

Industry giants like the Canadian Payroll Association, American Payroll Association and the Aberdeen Group have been commissioned on numerous occasions to conduct surveys. The conclusion of these surveys has revealed that it costs businesses using paper based time sheets 1.5% to 10% of gross payroll.

Leading organizations of all sizes are implementing ATS automated workforce management system and as a result, are seeing a significant reduction in payroll and labour costs.

To learn more about our solutions go to our website.

Employee Time Management Software, Time and Attendance On-Demand, Workforce Management Solutions

Many people tend to use the end of the year as a time of reflection. We, at Apex Time Solutions, decided to compile of a list of questions received from businesses over the past 12 months. In some cases, these questions came from companies who were unhappy with their time and attendance vendor. We also received several calls from prospective customers who were using manual time sheets and wanted to understand the benefits of automating the attendance process at their organizations. This list is not exhaustive. It represents a small fraction of the many queries we received during the course of this year.

1. Do you offer support across different provinces and/or states?
Yes. In addition, we also provide support in different time zones. When selecting a vendor, make sure they can not only answer this question but have customers who can attest to this as well. Support made it to the top of the list because this question came up numerous times from prospective customers.

2. I am told fingerprint readers are better than other biometrics, is that true?
Based on our experience that’s false. The data collector (employee time clock) should be recommended based on your company’s needs. There is range of things that should be taken into consideration when deciding on which data terminal will work best for your company.

3. Can we implement payroll, ERP and time and attendance at the same time?
We would not recommend a company implement several modules or different systems at the same time. Each product requires its own project plan and testing. The implementation of business automation software should be given careful consideration and all the facts laid bare prior to deployment.

4. Would you recommend web-based software over an on premises solution?
That depends on a company’s corporate culture and internal resources among other things. Recommendations are made based on a the needs of a company.

5. Can your system interface to our payroll software?
This question is usually followed up by: “Are you sure, your software is compatible with our payroll application?” We have created interfaces to 300 plus payroll HR and ERP systems. Today’s software applications have import utilities that allow for interfacing to third-party programs.

6. How fast can you implement our system?
There are many variables to consider prior to deployment of workforce management software. Once we have a full understanding of your needs, we will be in a better position to give you a timeline.

7. If there is a certain report we want, can you build it?
Absolutely! We have no shortage of expert programmers who can build any report you want. We do, however; recommend that customers first browse through our library of reports as it may already exist within our software.

The ATS Time & Attendance manages absences and accruals, streamlines payroll integration and eliminates time fraud/buddy punching. For more information about workforce management software go to our website.

As the year comes to a close we would like to take this opportunity to wish our customers a Happy New Year!

Employee Time Clocks, Web-Based Time and Attendance Software, Workforce Management Software

Employee Facial Recognition: A Revolution in Timekeeping

Over the years we talked to a lot of businesses and also helped many of them solve a variety of time and attendance problems. One of the most common problems we hear about is buddy punching. Of course, buddy punching is nothing new. It is the practice of one employee punching in/out for his or her colleague.

So, the question becomes, how do you eliminate this practice in your organization? The ATS Biometric Facescan is a robust time tracking device that reduces payroll fraud. When combined with TimeWork ATS’s leading edge time and attendance solution, the Biometric Facescan helps reduce labour costs and manage your resources.

ATS FaceScan Biometric Time Clock Features:

Scans employee face and records time in less than 1 second
High-Sensitivity CCD Camera with IR
Non-intrusive and non-contact verification process
Operating environment temperature: 0-50°C
Multi factor authentication

Benefits and features of ATS TimeWork:

Cost savings through means of tracking employee attendance and eliminating human errors
Business automation reports that covers all aspects of attendance, absence, and overtime
Labour analytics data that enables an organization to analyze and forecast its workforce requirements
Automated and accurate payroll calculations
Up-to-date real-time information in an easy to use format
Employee self-service capabilities that enables managers and employees to access up to the minute information
Tracking of employee punch data through various data terminals including: Barcode and magnetic swipe clocks, fingerprint time clocks, proximity time clocks, biometric hand punch data collectors smart phones and tablet pc’s

The ATS solution gives you the tools necessary to capture employee time data, automate mundane processes and integrate with payroll and human resources applications. The results are reduced administration time and increased workforce productivity. ATS state-of the art facial recognition technology extracts real-time data and stops budding punching in its tracks.

For an onsite demo, go to our website or contact us by phone.

Biometric Face Recognition, Facial Recognition Software, Facial Recognition Time Attendance System

Access and Manage Employee Data with your Tablet PC

A couple of months ago we signed a customer up with our cloud-based solution. During training she could not hide how excited she was about the prospect of accessing: reports, attendance trends, audit trails and downloading employee hours to her payroll software using her tablet PC.

The challenges of running a business are real, and in our experience, business executives opt for solutions that are commensurate and adaptable to their needs. Our solution provides all the benefits of an employee time management solution without the IT infrastructure requirements (database, server hardware, data backups, security management, system management, service packs and patches, etc.). The

ATS on-demand time and attendance solution does not require installation of any software on your employee workstations or network.

The ATS hosted solution gives you instant access to: real-time labour reports, overtime hours, employee vacation request and labour forecasting all designed to reduce payroll costs.

Employee Vacation Request, Labour Forecasting, On-Demand Time and Attendance, Tablet PC, Web-Based Time Management Solution

The Evolution of Workforce Management Software

A blog by Cindy Waxer titled “A New Dawn for Time and Attendance Technology” encapsulates the importance of a time and attendance system in an organization. Here excerpts of the paragraphs we found most poignant:

“For years, time and attendance software has been the least sexy cousin of the work-force management family – a humdrum tool lacking payroll’s sense of urgency and analytics’ flair for number crunching. But that’s slowly changing.

These days, time and attendance software is quickly gaining a reputation for generating more accurate data, boosting revenue and cutting labor costs. In fact, according to “Evolving Time and Attendance,” a report by Aberdeen Group Inc., the best-in-class companies surveyed were able to improve the accuracy of time data by 65 percent and decrease overtime costs (as a percentage of payroll) by 59 percent by using time and attendance solutions.”

Here is another paragraph we felt pretty much sums up the evolution of time and attendance as we know it today.

“Corporate America’s rekindled interest in this age-old HR technology is understandable. More and more companies are now struggling to manage an increasingly mobile, culturally disparate and geographically scattered work force. “A lot of the renewed interest in time and attendance systems has to do with the changing demographics of the work force,” said David Weldon, an Aberdeen analyst and author of the “Evolving Time and Attendance” report. “Companies are trying to capture, analyze and measure data from a lot of different locations for a lot of different people. That’s getting harder and it takes more work to do it right.”

Apex Time Solutions product offerings are complemented by a portfolio of web-based software solutions. Our software suite represents years of investment in capturing our industry expertise and an ongoing commitment to add value to our customers’ business operations.

To learn more go our website or check us out on Twitter for product updates.

Employee Scheduling, Employee Time Management Software, Overtime Costs, Time & Attendance System, Time and Attendance, Time Tracking Software

Endless Possibilities: Celebrating the Containment of Labour Costs

November 9th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Employee Self Service | Employee Time Tracking | Time and Attendance Software - (0 Comments)

We are honoured to work with some of North America’s leading companies, and have them as customers, in industries such as: retail, manufacturing, oil and gas, hospitality, distribution, health care, consumer goods and construction. A few months ago, one of our newest customers migrated from a paper-based time sheet to our On-Demand Time and Attendance Solution. Our team received a pleasant surprise when this health care customer told us they would be sending us a testimonial two weeks after the system was installed. What did not surprise us was how fast this customer realized their return on investment.

Helping customers realize their return on investment is what we have been doing for years with our powerful business automation software. The ATS Time and Attendance Solution delivers real time activity based costing and helps to govern and automate the entire process.

The flexible pay rules library allows for 100% automation of rules without costly changes to core code. Hours and wage rule compliance are consistent and automated with alerts when a threshold for violation is approached – providing proactive reconciliation. The employee self-service capability of an ATS Time and Attendance Solution increases productivity as employees and managers spend less time managing administrative tasks and more time focusing on customers. Our business automation software tracks, performance and automatically adjust operations as business and market conditions change. And you can do all of this regardless of the size of your enterprise.

Let’s face it, manual time sheets are a thing of the past. We also know that whenever data is keyed into a computer from paper time sheets, errors will be made.

Not sure if a Time and Attendance Solution will work for your organization? Connect with us for more information and read customer testimonials on our website. You can also reach us by phone at 1.866.294.2467.

Absence Management, Business Automation Software, Cloud Computing Software, Employee Scheduling Software, Employee Self Service, Employee Time and Attendance System, Employee Time Tracking, Employee Time Tracking Software, Software-as-a-Service, Time and Attendance, Time and Attendance Software, Workforce Management Software

Introducing Apex Time Solutions Website Redesign!

With all the hustle and bustle around here, we have not had the chance to let our customers and prospects know that Apex Time Solutions has updated its website!

Our blog page is also new and allows us to share updates about our software and other business intelligence with everyone. We intend to add more functionality to the site with the help of our creative team in the next several months.

The new ATS website contains user friendly content, and provides a better experience for our visitors. It is also easier to get information about our workforce management software and select solutions that match your requirements.

With the new design, we placed an emphasis on specific areas such as, the “contact us” page. We want prospects to be able to reach us quickly, and once they have completed their review of our labour analytics and absence management products.

ATS integrated time and attendance suite saves time, cuts costs and aligns employee performance with a company’s goals. Companies of all sizes are increasingly implementing employee time tracking solutions. It helps you plan, deploy and track your employees and their performance. The result is enhanced productivity and more informed decision-making.

So on behalf of all of us at Apex Time Solutions, we wish you a belated welcome to our new website. Stay tuned!

Absence Management, Biometric Readers, Biometric Time and Attendance System, Biometric Time Clocks, Cloud Computing Software, Employee Biometric Time Clocks, Employee Time and Attendance, Employee Time Tracking, Hosted Time and Attendance Software, Hosted Time and Attendance Solution, Payroll Software, Software-As-A-Service, Time and Attendance, Time and Attendance Canada, Time and Attendance On-Demand, Workforce Management Software

Time and Attendance Software for the Hospitality Industry

One of the hospitality industry’s biggest challenges apart from controlling costs is the ability to schedule the right people at the right to meet business volume. Whether it’s a quick serve chain, a large resort or urban hotel, the inherent challenges mirror each other. In a time of persistent economic uncertainty and intensifying competition, finding the right tools is essential to help control costs, increase revenue, and sustain customer satisfaction.

The ATS Time and Attendance Solution delivers real time activity based costing and helps to govern and automate the entire process from punch to pay. The pay rules library and flexibility allow for 100% automation of rules without costly changes to the core code. Hours and wage rule compliance is consistent and automated with alerts when a threshold for violation is approached – providing proactive reconciliation. The self-service capability of time and attendance increases productivity and managers will spend less time managing administrative tasks and more time focusing on customers.

The ATS Hospitality Workforce Management Software suite provides the following benefits:

Tracking of overtime, on-call shifts, premiums and tips
Labour forecasting and optimization
Employee scheduling by preferences, seniority and certifications
Tracking and managing split shifts and location of staff
Ability to configure and maintain various collective bargaining agreements through the software code
Schedule versus actual labour
Recognition of the real hours worked by individual employees
Elimination/reduction of manual processes e.g. timesheets and spreadsheets
Efficient processes through accurate transfer of data to payroll
On the spot human resources and labour reports
Accurate alignment of resources with the needs of the business

ATS Workforce Management Software for hospitality enables customers to accurately collect and report time and attendance data for payroll generation and benefits administration, produce enterprise-wide forecasts of upcoming business, calculate staffing requirements, automatically generate optimized schedules that meet forecasted workforce requirements, and extract key workforce and business data.

To read more about our hospitality time and attendance software suite or for a demo go to our website.

Leave Management: Tracking and Managing Employee Absence Requests

Workforce Management Software: Create or Buy?

Simplicity Works Best

Top 7 Time and Attendance Questions of 2011

Employee Facial Recognition: A Revolution in Timekeeping

Access and Manage Employee Data with your Tablet PC

The Evolution of Workforce Management Software

Time and Attendance Software for the Hospitality Industry

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