Best-in-Class Workforce Management Software from Industry Experts
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We are in an era of budget restraints, cost cutting and reduced work hours for employees. That’s a clear indication that many companies have not escaped the economic slow down.

When employees are asked to work reduced hours they want to be assured they are paid for every working hour. Meanwhile, employers want assurance that their labour costs are in line with expected business volume. Corporate culture notwithstanding, a manual time keeping system does not provide accurate attendance records. Manual collection and calculation of employee hours through time sheets is both cumbersome and time consuming.

Our Time and Attendance system helps you manage your workforce and track employee attendance more efficiently. ATS industry leading, integrated Workforce Management Software, takes into account your organization’s specific requirements, collective bargaining agreements, work rule policies, labour laws and shift patterns. Our software solution enables you to streamline payroll preparation, improve wage and hour compliance, and optimize your labour investment. That, in and of itself, is a tall order for any manual timekeeping system. 

Benefits to using an Automated Timekeeping System:

  • Minimize employee inquiries to HR for attendance and accrual information with Employee Self Service
  • Track and maintain employee attendance records
  • Cost savings through the automatic tracking of attendance,  overtime, and eliminating human errors
  • Eliminate payment for unapproved overtime
  • Accurate payroll calculations assure correct pay for actual hours worked
  • Minimal administrative tasks through the automation of processes
  • Identify exceptions such attendance and absenteeism

The ATS Time and Attendance solution helps simplify employee time tracking by giving you the tools to ensure workforce compliance and also helps streamline your labour costs.  Our workforce suite includes tools to schedule employees based on skills, preferences, availability or other demands of your business. 

To speak to an account representative call us at 1.866.294.2467. You can also join the conversation on our LinkedIn group for product updates.

Collecting and analyzing attendance data, reducing labour costs and improving compliance are strategies for industry leading companies today. Software as a Service (SaaS)-based time and attendance solutions offer strategic advantages to businesses in a variety of sectors.

ATS Time & Attendance is an integral part of our Workforce Management Software suite. This web-based solution captures time and labour and automates the most complex pay rules. With this hosted solution companies avoid costly server purchases on which to host the software, licenses and version upgrades. Instead, companies can free up internal resources to focus their time on the day to day operations of their business.

Web-Based Time and Attendance Solution Features:

  • Online time card captures employee time and management adjustments
  • Data integration to a variety of Payroll, HR and ERP application
  • Labour analytic reports cover all aspects of attendance, absence and overtime
  • Employee Self Service allows employees and managers access to data based on authorization levels
  • Overtime equalization calculates which employees are eligible for overtime and when
  • Tracking of attendance through time clocks such as: biometrics, smart phones and badge collectors
  • The automation of accruals accumulates; vacation, sick days, jury duty, etc.

ATS hosted Time and Attendance is an eco friendly solution that automates and tracks essential processes that include: work hours, overtime, sick leave, vacations attendance and absences.

To read more about ATS measures to reduce our impact on the environment go to our website. Follow us on Twitter or join our LinkedIn group for Eco-Time Management solution product updates.

Study after study is commissioned every year by a plethora of firms and institutions about the role women play in the world of business. These studies all arrive at the same conclusion; the executive branch of today’s workforce should be open to more women. It should be noted that today’s workplace is vastly different from that of 20 years ago. It is also important to recognize that while more women have “broken the glass ceiling” there is room for improvement on that front. 

One of the more recent studies we came across is by the Kauffman Foundation, titled “Untapped Potential for Expanding Women’s Entrepreneurship Holds Promise to Grow the U.S. Economy.” While the title references the US, it could apply to just about any country.

Here is an excerpt of that study:

“Research shows that startup companies – particularly high-growth startups – are the most fruitful source of new U.S. jobs and offer the economy’s best hope for recovery. However, despite the fact that about 46 percent of the workforce and more than 50 percent of college students are female, and that women have risen to top positions in corporate and university hierarchies, they represent only about 35 percent of startup business owners. Their firms also tend to experience less growth and prosperity than do firms started by men.

“Overcoming the Gender Gap: Women Entrepreneurs as Economic Drivers,” a new paper from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, explores the reasons behind lower business startup rates among women and proposes actions that would help to realize the promise of female entrepreneurs in escalating the economy.

“There are plenty of highly qualified women in science and technology – industries from which the majority of high-growth companies are born,” said Lesa Mitchell, Kauffman Foundation vice president, advancing innovation, and the paper’s author. “More women are entering these fields than ever before. However, while women have broken through the glass ceiling, they seem to encounter ‘glass walls’ that keep them from venturing out of big companies or structured academic settings to launch their own firms at the same rate men do.”

Studies like this one from the Kauffman Foundation and others will continue for many years. A diversified workforce with women in senior roles starts with cultural shift. Some corporations have elevated women to senior management roles and have been the beneficiary of growth and profits. In contrast, there others that “like things just the way they are”. Time has a way of catching up to those who abhor positive change.

Our blogs typically focus on the advantages of time and attendance software in an organization. However, we thought it would be a refreshing change to comment on a subject that is of great importance in today’s workforce.

To learn more about Apex Time Solutions, go to our website and to join our weekly workforce management software webinar visit us online.

Economists and financial experts are tripping over themselves on the state of the economy and thus far, many are unable or unwilling to predict whether we are headed for another global recession. Some are pointing fingers at countries loaded with debt and are asking if it’s going to flow in their back yards. At the same time, governments in many countries are telling citizens to watch their spending, while others are implementing austerity measures to curb a freefall in their economies.

Business executives do not like uncertainty in the market-place so when the economy slows, job loss tends to follow. There are many things that keep executives up at the night regardless of the health of the economy. Labour is the highest expense for most companies and the ability to trim that cost during an economic downturn is foremost on the minds of many businesses. One of the most effective tools for managing labour costs is a time and attendance system.

If one or more of the reasons below applies to your company, you need a time and attendance solution to help curb your payroll expenses.

Payroll:  If hours are manually keyed into your payroll software at the end of each pay period, chances are errors will occur. The ATS data integration is a seamless process and best of all, it saves time and money.

Reporting:   Your employees work on different projects during the course of a shift and you would like to know how many hours are spent on these projects. Using Excel spreadsheets and multiple hand written time sheets is a slow and frustrating process for supervisors and the payroll department. Instead of relying on employees to keep track of the jobs they worked why not switch to an automated time management solution? Our system creates precise records based on the hours that were actually worked.

Buddy Punching:   This is when an employee punches a time card for a friend of theirs. When this practice goes unnoticed it can costs a company thousands of dollars a year. The implementation of a biometric time and attendance solution is the answer.

Overtime: In addition to automatic tracking of overtime, an automated time and attendance solution will track: premiums, statutory holidays, multijurisdictional pay policies, vacation and personal time off.   

The large amount of evidence gleaned from years of studies, shows that companies who implement an employee time tracking solution receive an immediate cost savings on their annual payroll expense.

To learn more visit us online to view a demo of our time and attendance software.

 John Edwards, a contributor to CFO Magazine wrote an article titled “A Sense of  Validation” In this article, he espouses the virtue of a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model   and it many advantages. On a few occasions, members of our team have spoken to small and mid size businesses executives who cannot afford a full time IT person, yet express the need to  have an automated time and attendance system.

ATS web-based time and attendance and employee time clocks help businesses reduce costs and stay compliant with labour laws. Our workforce management software provides improves accuracy in data gathering and generates a quick return on investment.

Benefits of ATS web-based time and attendance software:

Cost Reduction: Our employee time tracking software solution reduces IT and maintenance costs. There is no hardware to purchase or maintain. The ATS time tracking solution protects data with disaster-recovery capabilities. Our time and attendance management solution streamlines data and provides managers with a consolidated reporting tool. With an ATS hosted solution, you don’t need an IT person or department to maintain hardware or software.

Compliance: Using an ATS time keeping system helps managers keep accurate records of hours worked by employees. Accurate records include: overtime and absenteeism and provides assurance that applicable employment policies are followed.

Workforce Data: The ATS time and attendance software provides a flexibility which allows executives to gain control of day to day employee activities. This data and the corresponding reports can be accessed 24/7 via any browser.

To learn how other companies have taken advantage our integrated time and attendance software solutions to streamline costs, go to our website. To arrange a demo visit us online.

Not all time and attendance solutions are created equal.  When shopping for workforce management software, one should not assume that they all look alike. While there may be small similarities in the fundamentals, there are enough differences in the functionality to warrant broadening your search. To quote a line from a TV ad from ING Bank, “Look out for bad apples masquerading as oranges.” Some important factors that should not be overlooked include: project management; service level and the expertise that will be facilitated during and after deployment. If you are merely comparing prices and that’s your only focus, chances you are you will end up with a “bargain basement price” solution that is riddled with problems. We often hear of cases in which a time and attendance solution is shipped to the customer in a box with tutorials, very limited support and at a price they simply could not turn down.

Here are 7 ways to tell if the price was too good to be true:

1)       You have to navigate through several screens to add a new employee

2)       The system requires frequent maintenance and upgrades

3)       Your payroll manager spends a tremendous amount of time manually calculating time cards and responding to employee inquiries

4)       Supervisors cannot produce meaningful reports because of rigid predefined templates

5)       You cannot track your mobile workforce

6)       Response time for support queries exceeds an hour

7)       Managers are frequently entering employee hours in the system

The ATS Workforce Management Software includes the following benefits:

Labour analytics: a variety of employee time clocks to improve job costing, employee and labor tracking

No software to buy: avoid capital expenses of purchasing and maintaining a software license

Invoicing is done on a monthly basis: you only pay for what you use and nothing more

Save time: allow payroll practitioners and HR managers to run payroll and get back to other responsibilities

Reduce manual errors: automatically calculates overtime pay, premiums, absenteeism, statutory holidays and hours worked

Buddy punching: eliminate the practice of employees punching in/out for each other with the use of our biometric time clocks

Absence request: the use of our absence request module allows employees to request personal time off via any web browser. The approval process from managers to employees is instantaneous

The ATS employee time and attendance system (Software-as-a-Service) automates time tracking. Our technical support team provides uncompromising service that is simply unmatched.

To learn more, contact Apex Time Solutions follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn group for updates on time and attendance solutions and workforce management software.

We all know that time is not static and so, metaphorically speaking, sticking your head in the sand will not stop change. In today’s rapidly changing world almost every process is automated. In fact, most businesses would be hard pressed if they had to resort to paper and pen for all of their daily operations. It is still surprising to find a significant number of companies using paper based time sheets to track employee hours. Today’s technological advancements allow business executives, HR managers and financial controllers to be more productive and efficient. In a recent conversation with a business executive, he confessed that to change from the punch clock system, to an automated time and attendance solution would be a cultural shock to his entire organization. Change, in this instance, was just too painful to bear, despite the fact, the cost of tracking employees hours manually were insurmountable to their bottom line.

Managing your workforce’s labour should be the least of your worries. ATS Time and Attendance Canada offers industry-leading software solutions that provide the knowledge, tools and support needed to optimize the deployment of your workforce.

If your business is still using paper-based time sheets, chances are you have not been introduced to the advantages of an automated time management system.

Cost savings and benefits of an ATS time and attendance solution include:

Track and Manage Labour Costs
ATS web hosted time and attendance, measures labour ratios and reduces unnecessary costs.

Vacation/Personal Time Off
Personal Time Off with our TimeWork software synchronizes requests and approvals and ensures adequate coverage.

ERP, Payroll and HRIS Data Integration
ATS hosted time and attendance seamlessly integrates to any ERP, Payroll and HR system.

Data Synchronization
Employee time clock synchronizes in real time, with the ATS workforce management software. No more adding up of employee hours using a calculator.

Stop Employee Time Theft
Using paper-based time sheets or an antiquated punch clock can cost a company thousands of dollars a year in productivity and human error.

Notifications
Alert notifications trigger in real time to alert managers of issues requiring immediate attention.

Human Resources Information
TimeWork can be used to track employee information such as: certifications, uniforms, asset tracking, training and next of kin contact information.

ATS integrated workforce management software saves time, cuts costs and aligns employee performance with your operational business goals.

The ATS time management solution automates and integrates ERP, payroll, HR, scheduling, forecasting and labour analytics. Even the most cost-conscience organization can find ways to use their workforce more efficiently. Our time and attendance system helps you plan, deploy and track your employees and their performance on one single platform. The result is enhanced productivity, and better, more informed decision-making.

Here is what one of our many customers had to say:
“Once again I must commend the work and dedication of your support department. Jackie was waiting at 8:00 am today to help fix the problem in the system. She worked for a good 2 hours to get everything back on track and had me test it to make sure from my end. I do not know what I would do without her. I assume you must have other clients that feel the same. Please add my name to that list for anyone who is interested in discussing ATS commitment to servicing its clients”.
Sheila P, Director of Payroll Operations- L Building Supplies

To read more about our time and attendance and workforce management software go to our website. To join our weekly user group session register online.

That’s an important question that most businesses cannot answer. Study after study has shown that most businesses cannot remember the last time they backed up their files. As companies are becoming comfortable with cloud computing software it has become paramount that businesses have a way to back up their important data. One of the most useful ways an organization can use cloud computing is for online data back up and storage. ATS cloud-based time and attendance storage offers companies many benefits, not the least of which is instantaneous data back up—a service that provides companies with both convenience and peace of mind.

Vendors like Apple® icloud, IBM® cloud and many others who offer Software-as-a-Service with a secure way to back up your data, support the prevailing theory of its importance.

ATS Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery model allows companies to reap the benefits of enterprise class software without the burden and extra cost of servers and an IT department to manage software. The end result, customers appreciate several key advantages from the SaaS delivery model and at the click of a button, can back up their own data.

An online demo of our cloud computing software is also available on our website. For additional information, register online to attend our weekly webinar.

Recent talk of a double dip recession is the new norm among the so called financial experts. Many of these experts were the same ones back in late 2006 and the early part of 2007 who said there were no signs of a recession.  What has become apparent since our “Great Recession” is that businesses are becoming more vigilant with their expenditures. In that same vein, controlling labour costs is one of the greatest concerns for many businesses, regardless of their size. When productivity and labour costs are aligned with a company’s objectives, rosy forecasts and profits tend to follow. And so, as your business grows beyond manual time tracking and paper time cards, you need a time tracking software designed to ensure you receive the most accurate information. ATS workforce management software enables you to collect, analyze and take immediate control of your labour data – all online and in real time.

 At times, the business case for a time and attendance system, does not become apparent until a company’s paper time cards or antiquated punch clock show their inherent flaws. The question then becomes, can you really save time and money and see a return on your investment?

 Here are some benefits to using our employee time capture system:

 Elimination of paper time card costs

The costs associated with paper time cards include: storing them, distributing them, manually collecting them, routing them for exception checking and, for organizations with multiple locations, shipping them to central locations.

 Preparation of Employee Time Cards

When using a manual system, it takes an average of three to five minutes for an employee to fill out a time card for each pay period. When the preparation of these time cards is processed very quickly, employees are more likely to have inaccuracies. In contrast, it takes mere seconds to make an edit when using an ATS time management system.

 Reduction in the Payment of Unproductive Time

When using a manual time tracking system, it is difficult to track employees who leave early, come in late or take extended breaks. The use of a time management system shows the employees who have punched in or out. Companies that automate their time keeping business process reduce data entry errors.

 We have only scratched the surface you can get by automating your time tracking methods. The evolution of a 21st century time and attendance system is a distinct advantage for many businesses. By carefully examining your company’s employee data collection, you are likely to find other areas where you can improve the efficiency of your time collection process.

 Follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn group for updates on Time and Attendance Solutions and Workforce Management Software.

Download your free copy of “Benefits of using an ATS Time Management System.” To learn more about our software solutions visit our website.

Despite the best efforts of HR management, payroll practitioners and departmental supervisors, employee scheduling has become a constant headache. When asked what would make life easier in your department, the answer invariably amounts to, “I would like a system that can capture our work rule policies and allow me to schedule employees for the right shifts depending on preference and/or business volume. “It is important to note that not all scheduling software is created equal or serves the same verticals. The type of scheduling functionality required by a manufacturing plant will be different from that of a hospital that operates 24/7.

Our employee time and attendance scheduling module empowers managers to accurately create schedules that align labour with anticipated demand, while adhering to all company and regulatory scheduling policies consistently.

The ATS scheduling module meets the needs of the various sectors:

 The technology of our scheduling module allows the master scheduler or department manager to quickly identify qualified substitutes and select one to fill the shift.  ATS scheduling software significantly reduces the amount of time, resources and overall cost associated with employee scheduling.

Here are some benefits to using our scheduling software:

  • Produce any schedule for any time frame in minutes to save time
  • Make schedule changes quickly and effortlessly to better utilize staff
  • Pre-assign shifts and time-off to better plan your schedules
  • Print schedules, send them via e-mail, or post schedules online to keep your staff up-to-date
  • Automatically copy schedule patterns and rotations to cut time needed to create reoccurring schedules
  • Display staffing levels to eliminate time-consuming and error-prone calculations
  • Instantly view your shift coverage to assure all shifts remain properly covered and to avoid being under-scheduled
  • See the number of hours scheduled per employee to avoid overtime
  • View available personnel and their contact information to find replacement or assign additional shifts in no time
  • Track staff skills, credentials, and training to find immediately qualified personnel for open shifts
  • Access historical scheduling data to better forecast your staffing needs

The ATS Scheduling module is part of our time and attendance software suite, which gives you complete workforce management control.

You can read more about our time and attendance scheduling or visit our website to learn about scheduling automation for your workforce.

Follow us on Twitter and join our Linkedin group for updates on Time and Attendance and Workforce Management Software.