Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software

How Ontario’s Bill 148: Employment Standards Act Reform Could Affect Employers

The burden of proof for hours worked by its employees is the responsibility of an employer especially in organizations that do not have an automated system. However, many companies might have employee hand books that contain language, which states, in part, that employees are required to record and report time work, and submit their time cards, to their respective supervisors for review and approval.

How Ontario’s Bill 148: Employment Standards Act Reform Could Affect Employers

On June 1, 2017 Bill 148, was introduced. If you operate a business in the province of Ontario, here is summary of some of the changes you should prepare for in 2018.

Benefit Accruals, Vacation, Statutory Holiday and Overtime Pay

Personal Emergency Leave: Rather than limiting this leave to organizations with more than 50 employees, all workers will be given 10 personal emergency leave days per year – and a minimum of two days would be paid. Further, employees will not have to provide employers with a sick leave note when requesting personal leave.
Overtime: The Mixed Hourly Rate (a weighted average established for employees with multiple rates) would be eliminated in favour of paying overtime at the rate of the work performed after the weekly threshold is reached
Vacation Entitlement Increase: Minimum vacation entitlement for workers would rise from two to three weeks per year (after five years with the same employer)
Public Holiday Pay: Calculation changes for public holiday pay that refer to regular wages in the pay period before the holiday divided by the days worked (rather than a four-week period of regular wages divided by 20)

Employee Workforce Scheduling

Three-Hour Rule: Broader application – The rule would extend to unworked on-call situations and when shifts are cancelled within 48 hours of the scheduled start time.
Advance notice: Employers must offer employees advance notice of 96 hours or be subject to refusal.
Three-Hour Rule: Removal of minimum wage component – Rather than topping up shifts less than three hours to three times the minimum wage, as proposed, eligible employees would be entitled to three times the regular rate.

The reforms to the Bill148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 will work in concert with the rise of the minimum wage that was also enacted into law as well. If your organization is still using an antiquated time tracking system or one that is no longer meeting your needs, it might be time to think about upgrading to a modern time and attendance solution- one that’s specifically, designed to comply with today’s ever changing regulatory and work-rule policies.

To learn more about ATS Time and Attendance Solution, go to our website, where you can download a pre-recorded demonstration, brochures or register for one of our upcoming live webinars.

To reach a representative, call 866.294.2467.

Benefit Accruals, Employee Workforce Scheduling, HR, Overtime, Personal Emergency Leave, Public Holiday Pay, Time and Attendance, Vacation

Is The Formal Business Attire Out Of Fashion?

August 10th, 2017 | Posted by ATS in ATS TimeWork OnDemand | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Workforce Management Software | Workforce Scheduling Software - (Comments Off)

In many respects formal business attire has become almost passé. The world of tech, in and particular, Silicon Valley CEOS regularly wears hoodies, jeans and sneakers to shareholders meetings. There are of course some exceptions, like politicians, foreign diplomats, some corporate boardrooms and select industries. According to the recent study by OfficeTeam 50% of the senior managers interviewed “said employees wear less formal clothing than they did five years ago. In addition, nearly one-third (31 percent) of office workers stated they would prefer to be at a company with a business casual dress code; 27 percent favor a casual dress code or no dress code at all”.

The trend to less formal business attire has shown no signs of abating and all indications are that this will continue for the foreseeable future. And according to several studies, technology companies are at the forefront of casual office attire.

Here is partial list of some of today’s leading companies that have made casual attire for its employees part of their DNA. This list is derived from a blog titled ‘10 Big Businesses With Incredibly Casual Offices’ and names the following companies:

Google

Google was one of the first companies to adopt the laid-back corporate culture that emphasized creativity and achievements on an individual basis that add to the team’s overall success. One of the company’s 10 principle philosophies is “you can be serious without a suit.” This philosophy speaks volumes for the casual culture of Google. Not only is the dress code casual, but the overall look and feel of the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is also laid back and fun. Google employees can enjoy ping pong, snacks in the break rooms, video games, and “huddle” rooms for everyone to take a break. Some additional office amenities include massage chairs, foosball and ping pong tables, an onsite gym, haircuts, and complimentary car washes.

2. Zappos

Zappos has put a lot of emphasis on its company culture and takes pride in being a casual yet successful business. Even though it was acquired by Amazon in 2009, Zappos has managed to hold on to the same values and company missions that it was founded on. Zappos’ casual work environment takes after the Internet marketing and e-commerce industries, which emphasize comfort over formality to help employees produce their very best work.

3.FaceBook

Facebook also adopted a Google-like office culture that consists of casually-dressed, but hardworking youngsters. Facebook has offices in more than 15 countries, some of which have bean bag lounges, kegs, on-site chefs, and plenty of places to kick up your feet and relax. At the Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., employees have several unique amenities that fit the laid-back online culture. Workers can break a sweat on the outdoor skate park, play some tunes on the office turn tables, and take care of their laundry or leather repairs without leaving work.

Electronic Arts

EA is one of the biggest companies in the video game industry, with an estimated 8,000 employees worldwide. Although most of the EA studios and subsidiaries have embraced a informal office culture, the EA campus in Vancouver is one of the most casual and decked-out facilities within the company. The campus has a state-of-the-art building featuring a theater, restaurants, coffee bars, a complete fitness room, and a full-size soccer field. EA Canada is also the company’s largest and oldest studio, so, naturally, it houses the world’s largest video game test operation and many employees take advantage of this cool feature.

5.Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking service that knows how to have fun. The Twitter offices are located in San Francisco, San Antonio, Boston and New York City, and are chock-full of awesome amenities to keep their employees relaxed and satisfied. Twitter employees get to enjoy everything from free gym memberships, complimentary yoga/Pilates and rock climbing classes, as well as on-site laundry and dry cleaning services.

Today, more than ever companies from healthcare, to retail and in some corporate environments, businesses have replaced the formal attire for men and women, and are instead, encouraging their employees to dress casually for work. Hard dress codes, it appears, have all but disappeared.

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Amazon, Boston, Facebook, Google, Healthcare, New York City, Retail, San Antonio, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Twitter, Zappos

How To Quantify The Benefits Of A Workforce Management Solution

Companies using an outdated workforce management solution not only fail to take advantage of the latest technology advancements and functionality, but they also run the risk of relying on an unsupported and an increasingly unreliable system-thus, making their entire business vulnerable.

Using a reliable and modern workforce management solution has many benefits. However, in order to quantify the benefits of such a system, you first have to know what to look for. ATS workforce management solution can help you in different areas.

Here are three benefits of an ATS Workforce Management Solution that will deliver immediate results to your business:

Paper Reduction
ATS Workforce Management Solution will reduce the cost associated with creating and distributing paper timesheets. Cost savings result from:

Direct savings from reduced paper, printing, and distribution costs
Indirect savings from time spent handling paper timesheets

Paperwork Transfer
A big expense with a manual time tracking systems is that of transferring timesheets from one person to another. For example, the employee needs to get blank timesheets from the HR or payroll department. They fill out the timesheet and walk it over to their manager. The manager signs the timesheets and walks them to the payroll department. A very conservative estimate of the direct time spent on simply transferring the paper timesheet around would be 2-3 minutes per employee each pay period.

Improved Data Quality
Manual timesheets must be keyed into a computer in order to be processed for payroll. Whenever data is keyed into a computer from a hand-written document, errors will be made. These errors can cost you in many direct and indirect ways:

Incorrect pay. How many employees complain if they get overpaid? If even a small number of employees keep their overpayments, it is costing plenty. And when employees get underpaid and complain, issuing a new paycheque or adjustment is costly.

Without accurate information, you lose the ability to perform useful decision support. Payroll is the biggest controllable expense in most organizations. You should have accurate information about hours worked, and departments worked in, to support your decision.

To read the complete white paper on the benefits of an ATS Workforce Management Solution, go to our website. And, to download a demonstration or to register for one of our weekly webinars, go to www.atimesolutions.com

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How To Quantify The Benefits Of A Workforce Management Solution

Human Resources, Payroll, Workforce Management Solutions

Using An Effective Scheduling Solution Will Improve Employee Engagement

The latest brouhaha over employees being scheduled for on-call shifts hit a crescendo, a few days ago, revealing a practice that is frowned upon my many workers, many of whom, have cited the effects these on-call shifts are having on workers ability to plan activities outside of work. It’s possible that some of these companies are using a variety of spreadsheets and other manual methods to schedule employees.

If your organization is using an outdated scheduling system, chances are, you could be wasting valuable time and money. ATS Workforce Scheduling system is powerful and robust software that provides broad-based capabilities to help companies better manage their business and their labour force. The ATS Workforce Employee Scheduling targets small, mid-size and large-scale operations in retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and services.

Using An Effective Scheduling Solution Will Improve Employee Engagement

ATS Workforce Scheduler Includes:

Budgeting and Forecasting
ATS budgeting and forecasting module features an independent, definable structure that supports the creation, editing and reporting of business volume and workforce forecasts. With a wide variety of options for defining productivity tasks, standards, drivers and parameters, ATS Budgeting and Forecasting tool provides unprecedented detail and accuracy of workforce requirements.

Eradication of Scheduling Conflicts
ATS Workforce Scheduler allows managers to see details of how a team of workers is scheduled through the day, coupled by the use of an advanced heuristic algorithm that enables companies to meet forecast needs by developing an optimized schedule of employee work assignments. ATS Workforce Scheduler has the distinction of being able to build individual employee shift and job preferences into weekly work schedules. ATS Workforce Scheduler provides real-time employee availability, thus, allowing managers to immediately correct any necessary conflicts, due to overlapping shifts, and overtime. With this unique feature, the software will reduce workforce turnover and increase employee satisfaction.

Ability to Schedule Employees in Real-Time
ATS Workforce Scheduler provides updates in real-time. For example, once a manager has completed their staff schedulers they can send it to their employees through mass updates. Employees, in turn, can view their schedules online from any device that’s connected to the Internet.

Easy to Use Tools
Get the peace of mind you deserve by making sure you have the right people scheduled at the right time and place. With ATS Workforce Scheduler, you can schedule employees by department, shift, or multiple sites. ATS Workforce Scheduler automatically calculates the number of hours each employee is scheduled to work and compares it to the number of hours they wish to work each week.

Reporting Capabilities
ATS Workforce Scheduler creates intuitive analytics that are based on your business and workforce requirements, relevant work and shift rules, and individual employee information.

In conclusion, with a growing number of regional, state and provincial governments clamping down on on-calls shifts, manual spreadsheets will not help your organization. What you need is a robust solution that will reduce time spent on scheduling, save costs, increase productivity and employee engagement.

To see a demonstration of ATS Workforce Scheduling Solution, go to our website. You can also join the conversation on: LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ or Pinterest.

Budgeting, Employee Scheduling, Forecasting, Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, On-Call Shifts, Overtime, Retail

On-Demand Webcast: How Businesses Can Use Analytics To Achieve Profitability

Today, leveraging analytics is an absolute must for most industries and it has become more feasible as economic approaches have emerged to cultivate the velocity and variability of data, formerly too massive for traditional time and attendance database systems to process. ATS Software Engineers will give an overview of our workforce planning and analytics module built within ATS cloud-based time and attendance and address its challenges for today’s growing industries.

In this webinar you will learn how you can have a real-time view of your business and events as they occur. You will also learn how other companies are utilizing analytics to give them a competitive edge in shop floor data collection, financial data, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), up-to-the minute data metrics and more.

Webinar details: Friday, October 9, 2105 at 1:00pm Eastern. To register for this webinar go to our website. To reach us by phone call: 866.294.2467.

On-Demand Webcast: How Businesses Can Use Analytics To Achieve Profitability

Analytics, Attendance OnDemand, Cloud Based Time and Attendance, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Webinar, Workforce Planning

Is Your Company Compassionate?

September 2nd, 2015 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Workforce Management Software | Workforce Management Solutions | Workforce Scheduling Software - (Comments Off)

The recent New York Times Article created a topic of conversation for “water coolers” across North America and elsewhere and was a hotly debated on major networks and online forums. An article titled “The Power Of Compassion To Drive Your Bottom Line” written by Rob Ashghar for forbes.com espouses the virtues of how several organizations treated their external customers. it goes without saying, that a company that does not have compassion in its corporate DNA towards its internal customers/employees cannot expect its workforce to be a happy one.

Three of the most of the most poignant paragraphs in the article reads, in part;

“Dignity isn’t the only example of an enterprise that has benefited from a human touch. UCLA’s health system has long had a sterling reputation for cutting-edge research and technical knowledge. But it had a middling reputation for the human touch. Hospital CEO David Feinberg concluded that the most state-of-the-art medical instruments would be rejected if they were too cold, and accordingly made human touch the utmost priority at all levels of the organization. Within a few years, UCLA’s hospitals moved from the 38th percentile to the 99th percentile in responses to the question, “Would you refer us to a friend?”

Marvin O’Quinn, chief operating officer for Dignity, says that the compassion model isn’t just a nebulous attitude, but a concrete tool for making decisions at an enterprise that employs nearly 11,000 physicians and 56,000 employees at some 300 care centers and hospitals spread across 21 states.

He points to Dignity’s choice to keep the doors open at four hospitals in bankrupt municipalities, lest many thousands of people in those communities lose the ability to receive care. Those hospitals are not profitable in and of themselves, but they are still seen as core to the mission and character of the overall organization.”

While there are some companies who continue to treat their employees as a number, rather than a human being, there are many others that treat their employees with a great deal of dignity and pay them a respectable salary including overtime when applicable. Is that a lot to ask for?

Bottom-line; a company that does not have a compassionate bone in its corporate DNA, towards its internal customers/employees, should not expect its workforce to be a happy or long tenured one.

To learn more about ATS you can go to our website or join one of our monthly webinars. You can also download a demonstration to review our time and attendance product.

Is Your Company Compassionate?

DNA, New York Times, North America, Overtime, Workforce

How ATS TimeWork Workforce Management Solution Can Help Your Business Grow

The priority for every company is to grow. This means; grow sales, revenue, exports and, at the same time, optimize workforce productivity. The ultimate goal in all of this is to provide a solid return on investment to shareholders. Trying to accomplish all this requires investment in technology, innovation and updating product lines. It is therefore critical that today’s business have the right tools in place to eliminate inefficiencies. By getting rid of paper-timesheets and streamlining workflows across the business, you utilize resources in other areas and produce the capital necessary to re-invest and generate business growth.

How ATS TimeWork Workforce Management Solution Can Help Your Business Grow

ATS TimeWork Workforce Management Solution removes software road-blocks and offers companies a robust, yet easy-to-use, time and attendance system that will undoubtedly, increase business efficiency and reduce costs on all levels. Just imagine being able to extrapolate data whenever you need it, from any device, anywhere in the world? And that’s not all, using the latest cloud-computing technology, ATS TimeWork Workforce Management Solution enables you to collect, manage and process employee attendance more effectively. This is your chance to move beyond manual paper-based time sheets and old fashion clunky time clocks to an updated time and attendance system that will keep your shareholders at bay.

Whether your company is growing exponentially or refining business processes, it’s never too late to take control of your company’s profitability. The many features of ATS TimeWork Workforce Management Solution includes; benefit accruals, workforce planning, budgeting and forecasting, employee self-service, business analytics, ERP, HR and payroll data integration-accompanied by a role based executive dashboard that complements a plethora of time and attendance features.

Ultimately businesses need to ensure that they are always on a upwards trajectory of growth and part of ensuring this is by having the right workforce management solution in place.

To learn more about ATS TimeWork Workforce Management Solution go to our website. You can also download a demonstration or contact an account executive at 866.294.2467.

Benefit Accruals, Business Analytics, Employee Self Service, Time and Attendance, Workforce Planning

Cloud and Big Data Drives Today’s Advanced Time and Attendance Solution

Charged with the responsibility of calculating the attendance and pay records of thousands of employees, ATS TimeWork Time and Attendance helps to streamline payroll expenses, increase productivity and — process and, positively transforms the way people work.

If you are currently using ATS TimeWork unified workforce management solution chances are, your company is reaping the benefits of a robust, time keeping system that uses— the power of the cloud to help you better schedule, track and measure your workforce strategic activities.

Cloud and Big Data Drives Today’s Advance Time and Attendance Solution

Benefits of ATS TimeWork Time and Attendance include:

Increase business agility with Big Data- Achieve more, faster, while using less resources. With ATS TimeWork you can access the cloud to see up-to-the-minute attendance, missed punches, absenteeism, broad-based activities, the power of the cloud, and big data, while transforming your business for the future.
Employee Self-Service –Engage your employees with a user-friendly self-service module. With ATS self-service module, employees get access and the ability to request time-off, see changes anytime, from a Web browser or Smartphone.
Time Tracking – Using your business rules and policies ATS TimeWork responds to and will automatically calculate breaks, statutory holidays and hours paid.
Management Exception – Define rotation plans based on shifts and work plans. Define which employees can charge to which organizations in your company. ATS TimeWork identifies exceptions that requires action, and provides a list of each employee based on selected rule and/or exception information.
Well Constructed Calculation Engine – ATS TimeWork will accurately calculate unpaid, paid and specialty wages. TimeWork calculation engine is robust and uses rule-based time and attendance configurations.
Job Costing and Labour Tracking– ATS TimeWork job tracking capabilities gives you broad flexibility to track employee time and projects in different departments. This, all while working within the same system and, maintaining visibility of your jobs and business on a moment-by-moment basis.
Time and Attendance Benefit Accruals– ATS TimeWork accommodates a wide variety of methods for accruing leave time, as well as the many complex rules. ATS TimeWork benefit accrual module, can generate benefit time earned, as well as deduct time taken, maintaining an accurate, editable record of all your employees benefit time.

To learn more go to our website or contact us by phone for a demonstration.

Big Data, Job Costing, Time and Attendance

Give The People What They Want, Not Stress By Too Much Paperwork

February 17th, 2015 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | TimeWork | Workforce Analytics | Workforce Scheduling Software - (Comments Off)

It’s fair to say most businesses have the same objective: remain profitable, efficient, and streamline operational cost. Depending on corporate culture and organizational priorities these goals may differ in order slightly. Regardless of the order in which these priorities rank, ATS time and attendance advanced technology ensures that employee data is captured in real-time with accuracy, efficiency, and effectiveness.

So an executive, if your company’s Payroll, HR Department, Plant Manager and Financial Controller are complaining about the amount of time, effort and paperwork involved in getting you accurate information-consider the following if you automate:

Comprehensive data capture: With an array of employee time clocks to choose from, you can say good-bye to those manual pesky timesheets that cost your company thousands of dollars each year in human error.

Powerful analytics: Just imagine no longer have to guess the correct number of employees needed to cover a shift, or the best worker to fill an open one? With ATS forecasting and workforce analytics tool, you can now remove the guessing out of the equation. Instead, you will now have at your fingertips, real-time data, for actionable insights.

Seamless integration: That means no more keying data into excel spreadsheets, ERP, payroll and HR systems. With ATS time and attendance you can now connect quickly to other applications.

Deployment to success: ATS professional service team will help you plan and manage your ATS TimeWork time and attendance deployment and will we will strive to help you understand all of the support options and tools that are available. We will also continue to provide needed services throughout the life of your relationship with ATS.

Innovative solution: Cloud-delivered ATS TimeWork Time and Attendance provides yearly enhancements at no additional cost or disruption.

So how do you automate your current manual process or changed from the current system that’s not meeting your needs? That’s easy, we can help you launch that strategy – and help ensure that you reap the benefits, of a workforce management solution, quickly and cost-effectively.

To learn more, download a demonstration or, if you prefer, one of our account executives can contact you by phone.

Forecasting, HR, Time and Attendance

Want To Rev Up The Engine Of Your CFO? Tell Them You Have Access To Accurate Data

Sometimes it’s not easy to convince senior management of the benefits of a time and attendance solution. Imagines of an old fashion time clock on the wall that requires employees to punch in and out of their shifts does not exactly inspire excitement in most business executives. However, getting your CFO involved at the early stage of the project is crucial-especially, if the discussion delves into accurate reporting. CFOs are responsible for the forecasting, budgeting and overall financial health of an organization and, so it stands to reason that they will want a system that will provide them with the most accurate and up to date metrics.

ATS Time and Attendance Business Software advantages include:

Mobile Timesheets- If your employees work outside of the office you can grant them access the to cloud-based mobile timesheets features with features that include, the ability to punch in and out of a shifts, reviewing their overtime, requesting specific days off through the leave management module. The ATS Time and Attendance application can be used on a Blackberry, Android or an iOS device.

Streamlining Time-Consuming Processes– With ATS you can effectively manage your workforce and ensure and policies are in place to avoid lost time and productivity. ATS workforce management solutions provides CFOs with the tools to forecast labor, define and assign workforce schedules to meet business demands, collect hours worked, attendance, job costing and productivity gains, all while adhering to local labor laws and pay policies.

Big Data Analytics– ATS Time and Attendance is robust and comprehensive and helps to empower every aspect of your business. You gain the visibility through the various data-points to increase efficiencies — and to transform them into competitive advantage. Through a variety of unprecedented key performance indicators (KPIs) you have instant access into your business, with real-time view ensuring consistent, compliant management across the organization, locally and globally.

ATS TimeWork Time and Attendance provides innovations that is second to none and provides an immediate cost estimate for a cost-effective deployment-that delivers the flexibility to adapt as your needs change. Best of all, ATS Time and Attendance solution is affordable and is a safe long-term investment.

To learn more download a demonstration, or go to our website.

Big Data, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Payroll, Time and Attendance, Workforce Management Software

How Ontario’s Bill 148: Employment Standards Act Reform Could Affect Employers

Is The Formal Business Attire Out Of Fashion?

2. Zappos

How To Quantify The Benefits Of A Workforce Management Solution

Using An Effective Scheduling Solution Will Improve Employee Engagement

Is Your Company Compassionate?

How ATS TimeWork Workforce Management Solution Can Help Your Business Grow

Cloud and Big Data Drives Today’s Advanced Time and Attendance Solution

Give The People What They Want, Not Stress By Too Much Paperwork

Want To Rev Up The Engine Of Your CFO? Tell Them You Have Access To Accurate Data

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