Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software

An Effective Cloud System Will Prepare You For The Fair Labor Standards Act

The Department of Labor (DOL) has given businesses advanced notice so, they can prepare their organizations in time and being compliance with the upcoming December 1, 2016 when the new overtime rules takes effect. And, to that end, the system you are using should allow you to automatically record overtime for exempt employees at certain salary levels and job profiles. To some extent that may be easier said than done, because we are not referring to spreadsheets here as that mode of tracking of paying employee won’t cut it, especially, if the Department of Labor (DOL) comes knocking on your door.

A Effective Cloud System Will Prepare Your For The Fair Labor Standards Act

When these new overtime rules take effect companies need to ensure they have:

Implemented the necessary changes within their time attendance system to accommodate the overtime rule changes. If by chance, your system is archaic to begin with, this might be the perfect time to deploy a solution that not only meets all of those requirements, is robust and flexible enough grow with your organization.
Taken the necessary steps to determine the salary threshold and which employees qualify for overtime pay. The U.S. Department of Labor Fair Labor Standards Act has a plethora of information, from which you can glean. If you are in the hospitality and/or retail industry, for example, you will need to figure out how this is going to impact your organization. Typically, managers in those industries and others work an inordinate amount of hours per week-but with the new rule employers will have to limit workers hours to 40 per week.
Used all the available resources at their disposal by ensuring tracking of employee hours is done accurately, hence, those clunky punch clocks and spreadsheets are simply not going to cut it anymore.

An effective time and attendance solution will accurately track employee hours, vacation and other leave management requirements, and provide real-time reporting analytics. Moreover, ATS cloud computing solution can quickly adhere to— work rule compliance, collective bargaining agreements (CBA), and will quickly adapt to the eligibility rules for exempt and non-exempt workers. So, if the Department of Labor comes knocking after December 1, 2016 you will have at your disposal, all required information.

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Cloud Computing, Collective Bargaining Agreements, Hospitality, The U.S. Department of Labor Fair Labor Standards Act, Time and Attendance

Want To Challenge The Status Quo? Get A Millennial In Your Corner

July 7th, 2016 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Software-as-a-Service (saas) Workforce Management Software | Time and Attendance Blog, Workforce Management Software | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software - (Comments Off)

There has been so much written about this generation of millennials with arguments about them being social media obsessed and range of other stereotypes . Regardless of whether your company welcomes them with open arms or not, they are not going away and so some companies would be wise to see the value in hiring them. After all, they are the future CEOs of industry and government. Here at ATS, we are fortunate to have leaders who wholeheartedly believes in the hiring of millennials and also encourages them give feedback to their superiors in order to enhance the organizational improvement in all areas of the business.

In a recent article, contributor to inc.com Ryan Jenkins, wrote an article titled “How Millennials Can Save Your Company From Irrelevance” One of his poignant statements in this article reads in part; “An organization left unchanged will conspire against the effectiveness and relevance of itself. The people, habits, or structure of an organization can get in the way of the growth of the organization if the status quo remains unchallenged.”

Society is filled who challenged the status quo and came out on top, despite the naysayers. Elon Musk for example, took the almighty car industry to task and succeeded in selling cars directly to consumers and, Steve Jobs ignored what the so called experts said could not be done and reintroduced the world to mobile computing in a way that it had not been done before with crowds lining up for many blocks to purchase an iPhone. Despite these examples and many others that include; cloud computing and a range of other disruptive technologies, the naysayers persist, in large part, because, doing it the way it has always being done, is the safest way, at least in their minds.

Want To Challenge The Status Quo? Get A Millennial In Your Corner

Another sentence from the article reads in part; “Who’s best positioned to challenge the status quo? The next generation of leaders…the Millennials.”

Many of today’s Millennials are ambitious, and they are also keen on having a job, but may not want to be tethered to a desk for eight hours every day, and frankly, with advancement of technology who would want to? They grew up in an era of social media so it should not come as a surprise that it’s their mode of communication with friends and colleagues. Of course, not all Millennials are perfect but, then neither are the very people who they will someday replace. Change is tough and it happens regardless of the roadblocks that appear to be in its way.

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Cloud Computing, iPhone, Millenialls

When Used Properly, Analytics Can Help Businesses Streamline Payroll Costs

It’s no secret that attitudes toward cloud technology are rapidly changing, and discussions about the potential downsides of cloud deployment are quickly evolving into valid, evaluations of the risks associated with not making the move. Perhaps, it’s a combination of sober thought and some companies witnessing their counterparts in the same or different industries deploy cloud computing technologies, with success hence; the adoption of it. And, with the emergence of cloud-based technology, the use of analytics have also increased. In an op-ed by Rodger Howell, principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers for CFO magazine, he writes;

“Today’s technology, cloud, and IoT-driven world is continually generating a wealth of data, creating both opportunity and challenge for those tasked with deciphering and analyzing it. CFOs in particular are now facing increased pressure to connect the dots between multiple data streams to identify patterns that will optimize a company’s growth and align its costs with its strategy.”

Now, that a statement that packs a powerful punch and is noteworthy, if your company remains unconvinced about the rapid acceptance of cloud technology, and its plethora of advantages it can bring to your business.

Rodger Howell’s article provides a blue print for companies to follow when considering, cloud computing software solutions and analytics. In no particular order, it reads in part:

“Setting Goals and Objectives: CFOs should first identify the organization’s short and long-term objectives, developing key performance indicators to track progress. Consider this step the impetus that will motivate business leaders to introduce data analytics to their day-to-day operations and to assess their impact on business goals.

Proposing Pilot Projects: Once CFOs have buy-in from key players within the organization, they should use this support to introduce pilot projects rooted in data analytics. CFOs can start small by proposing new operations and always being sure to encourage participation from other members of the organization.

Seeking Feedback: CFOs must realize that ongoing feedback from other members of the organization, including its leadership, is necessary after introducing new data analytics platforms, and processes.”

Cloud computing and analytics is an increasing priority for companies of all industries especially, for business executives who want to streamline payroll and overtime costs and other related business expenditure.

When Used Properly, Analytics Can Help Businesses Streamline Payroll Costs

ATS Cloud-Based Time and Attendance is the industry’s most flexible and wholly integrated solution. It’s accompanied by best-in-class services across software as a service (SaaS), platform. ATS Cloud-Based Time and Attendance helps organizations drive innovation and business transformation by increasing business agility, lowering payroll costs, and reducing IT complexity.

To learn about ATS Cloud-Based Time and Attendance solutions, go to our website. You can also download a demonstration or register for one of our weekly webinars.

Analytics, CFO, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things (IoT), Overtime, Payroll, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Are HR Leaders Readily Embracing The Cloud?

That is an excellent question, when you consider that traditional software used by HR, some of which includes; Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Payroll and Time and Attendance have all gone the way of the cloud. HR leaders no longer have to be burden (unless, they want to) with swaths of paper or excel spreadsheets to track employee time and/or track time-off requests.

In a recent article by Curtis Franklin Jr. of Information Week, titled “Why Cloud Computing Is Crucial For HR” he interviewed Erica Volini of Deloitte Consulting. An excerpt of this article reads in part;

“The cloud is the ultimate long-range destination for everyone,” the HR transformation practice leader and principal at Deloitte told InformationWeek in a phone interview. In this case, IT is going to help HR get to the cloud, because doing so will help HR fulfill the new mission business has for a department that has been the poster child of “support” as long as it has existed.

Are HR Leaders Readily Embracing The Cloud?

The possibilities of the cloud for modern HR managers are endless. Gone (although they likely existing with some companies) are the days, when an attendance report would take several hours or a day to obtain. Cloud computing has made it a reality for you to get reports in real-time thus propelling business growth, that’s based on informed decision-making.

And on how HR leaders can leverage the cloud through mobile “One of the things that technology does is improve access to data, but you need HR professionals who have the skill set and be able to use the technology,” Volini said. Part of that ability, she said, is having the time to analyze data and turn the analysis into action.

“You need to free up capacity so the HR business partner has the time and isn’t always in fire-fighting mode. The cloud can help with this through the self-service capability,” she said. “The way that the self-service capabilities are being presented to the business is through mobile technology.”

If your HR leader is still using spreadsheets, there is a better way and it’s faster, flexible, and easy-to- use. Welcome to the world of cloud computing.

To learn about cloud computing time and attendance solutions go to our website. You can also download demonstration, or call; (866) 294-2467.

Cloud Computing, HR, Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), Information Week, Payroll, Spreadsheets, Time and Attendance, Workforce Management

Feeling Left Behind Because Your Are Using Old Technology?

To suggest human beings do not like change or are fearful of the unknown is an understatement. Can you image a business in 2016 handing out Index Cards to its sales reps, (who all travel to the office daily) to make cold calls instead of using a customer relationship management (CRM) software. Sales reps driving to an office to make cold calls in a world with advanced technology? If this sounds like a movie in the era of the 80s, it probably is. Fortunately, a large percentage of businesses are fully aware that cold calling is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and to that end, have deployed technology to help them increase their sales.

Feeling Left Behind Becuase You Are Using Old Technology?

An article commissioned by IBM and featured on Fast Company, titled “Agility and Security without the risk, states in part; “Across countless industries, the race to the cloud is on. Forrester Research recently predicted that the “hypergrowth” cloud market—including applications, platforms, and business services—will reach $191 billion by 2020, an astonishing 20% increase over Forrester’s previous prediction, just three years before. For companies of virtually any size, the promise of a dynamically scalable environment, the ability to deliver services at lower cost, and the agility to develop new apps in hours rather than weeks makes game-changing business sense.”

Cutting costs, increasing productivity might sound like buzz words to some, but for many businesses and their shareholders, its music to their ears. After all, are companies are constructed to make profits. Think about this; the traditional way of accessing business applications have always been very complicated and expensive. The amount and variety of hardware and software required to run them are daunting. You need a whole team of experts to install, configure, test, run, secure, and update them.

The advancement of cloud computing which also encompasses time and attendance is designed to help today’s companies manage cost, remain lean and increase profits. For example, with a cloud-based time and attendance, you eliminate the headaches of having to manage hardware and software—and leave that responsibility to a team with deep industry expertise at Apex Time Solutions. With ATS cloud-based time and attendance: You only pay for what you need, upgrades are automatic, and scaling up or down is easy and, the best part, is that you won’t be left behind the technology curve.

To learn more, go to our website and register for one of ATS weekly webinars. And, get access to its latest cloud-computing technology solutions, you can download a demonstration.

Feeling Left Behind Becasue You Are Using Old Technology?

Cloud Based Time and Attendance, Cloud Computing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Forrester Research, IBM

How’s That Spreadsheet Working Out For You?

Over the last several years, the issue of overtime has become, somewhat of an albatross for some companies but, in reality it does not have to be. When you consider how easy it is to automate employee attendance. And, with the advancement of cloud computing it has now become inexpensive and faster to deploy a time and attendance solution that will accurately track overtime hours. So, why do some companies consistently rely on paper time sheets when they can save costs by using an attendance system?

A recent article written by Eric B. Meyer for Eremedia says that although, the new overtime rules by the department of labor may not be enacted until the end of 2016, there are some steps that companies can take ahead of this law. They include:

 “Ensure that non-exempt employees receive minimum wage and overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a work week.
 Double check employee classifications to confirm that exempt employees truly are exempt (and vice-versa).
 Do you have independent contractors? Or are they employees whom you’ve simply labeled independent contractors? Now, may be a good time to vet that.”

Tracking employee overtime through the use of spreadsheets is a time-consuming process, but don’t fret, there is a better way. ATS TimeWork OnDemand is a cloud driven time and attendance application that delivers, on-the-spot predictive analytics, of employee attendance at your fingertips. And with ATS TimeWork OnDemand, you get:

Benefit Accruals-Choose to accrue employee hours daily, weekly, or bi-weekly—or even monthly—and based on time passed or employee’s time logged.

Alerts-You can get automatic alerts sent to your mobile device so you know when an employee punch in or out and warnings about employees that are approaching overtime so you can take necessary action.

Leave Management-Your employees can now request any time-off from their mobile device or any workstation with Internet connection.

We’ve only scratched the surface of the many things that ATS time and attendance can do. If you are interested in learning more, register for an interactive webinar, ‘Controlling Overtime Pay through Automation’ on Friday, November 27th at 1:00pm eastern.

To download brochures, go to our website or call (866) 294-2467.

How’s That Spreadsheet Working Out For You?

Accruals, Cloud Computing, Leave Management, Overtime, Time and Attendance

The Future Of Cloud Computing: Will It Stay Or Will It Go?

Whenever a product or service offers an alternative to the “old way of doing things” there is always going to be resistance. Cloud computing is no stranger to resistance and despite that, it has continued with nonstop momentum. Some of the naysayers to cloud computing are surprised when told that; online banking, accessing Google and Yahoo mail or even sending files to icloud and Dropbox are essentially cloud computing.

An article written by Graham Winfrey complete with infograpics for Inc.com titled “The Future of Cloud Computing–and Why Your Resistance Is Futile” states in part; “By 2017, two-thirds of all business workloads will be processed in cloud data centers, according to data cited by the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The percentage of organizations using the cloud for some form of database-as-a-service (DBaaS) is also expected to double by 2017, from 23 percent to 44 percent.”

The Future Of Cloud Computing: Will It Stay Or Will It Go?

The cloud is quickly transforming the way today’s businesses operate, allowing access to real-time data and increased communications across all the different departments and locations. There is no doubt that the cloud is the platform of the future. And, as businesses grapple with the new economy, the need for a solution that will help reduce costs, improve productivity and provide a healthy return on investment-becomes even more important.

We recognize not all businesses are keen on adopting a cloud solution, in part because for fear of the unknown and/or because some businesses have the personnel and hardware infrastructure to host a database in-house. Whatever the business rationale, next time you are evaluating time and attendance applications, consider the cloud as an alternative to the old-style client-server technology.

To learn more, register for one of our weekly webinars on Friday, November 6th at 1:00pm eastern. You can also download a pre-recorded webinar or contact us at 866.294.2467.

The Future Of Cloud Computing: Will It Stay Or Will It Go?

Cloud Computing, Dropbox, Google, iCloud, Technology, Time and Attendance, Yahoo

Still Stuck In The 80s? Well, It’s Time To Move To The Cloud

Ah yes, the 80s were all about John Hughes movies, big cell phones, white computer monitors, ripped jeans and the list goes on. Some have argued it was the one of the best eras ever and times were much simpler. And, while this may be true for some things using that old white computer with dos-based software will not cut it in today’s digital era.

For those companies still struggling to grasp the concept of the cloud or why it has such staying power here is a synopsis of a report from a research giant Forrester that reads in part; “Public cloud services continue to drive big changes in the markets for software, hardware, and IT outsourcing, while providing a foundation for age of the customer innovations. How much and when will cloud transform these markets? In this research, we project that the public cloud market will reach $191 billion by 2020, from 2013’s total of $58 billion.”

Still Stuck In The 80s? Well, It's Time To Move To The Cloud

If your company is using a time and attendance solution that is no longer meeting your needs, or worst, is part of the 80s type of technology, here are three reasons to switch to ATS cloud-based solution:

Ease-of-Use, Flexibility and Mobility
One of the largest benefits of moving employee time and attendance in the cloud is the ability to access real-time information from any tablet, PC or mobile device, anywhere, at any time. The adoption of ATS cloud-based time and attendance solution empowers CEOs, CFOs, Payroll and HR managers, by giving them more flexibility to access on-the-spot information.

Rapid Deployment
Who has time to spend on a 12 month software deployment? Unless your company has multiple locations, several collective bargaining agreements, multiple work and payroll rules, and perhaps in excess of 1000 employees spread across various jurisdictions- there is really no reason for long implementation, reminiscent of 15 years ago. And, in this era of cloud computing, it is easy to deploy an ATS cloud-based time and attendance seamlessly and efficiently. ATS cloud-based time and attendance solutions are designed to integrate with every payroll, HR, ERP, Recruitment and CRM application.

Lower Cost and Better Collaboration
At the outset the most obvious benefit in adopting an ATS cloud-based time and attendance is that it will provide business with significant savings. For example, your company no longer has to be concerned with purchasing a server on which to house software, or the use of your IT resources to manage the data. Managers can access the application, using any browser, from any workstation, or mobile device to view attendance, extrapolate data and review and respond to employee time-off requests.

So, is your company thinking about moving to a cloud based time and attendance? If so, it’s not too late. And, if you are a fan of some or everything 80s, you can listen to Def Leppard or AC/DC on your favorite device, while at the same time, access up-to-the minute business analytics on employee attendance.

To learn more about ATS time and attendance you can download a demo. You can also register for one of our monthly webinars, and to speak to an account executive, call us at 1.866.294.2467.

Still Stuck In The 80s? Well, It's Time To Move To The Cloud

Cloud Based Time and Attendance, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP), Platinum Blonde, Recruitment Software

Benefits Of Cloud-Computing In The World Of Business

Cloud-based apps are popular because they offer a superior advantage over computer-based software. Some of the benefits of cloud-based apps include; the accessing of information anywhere using any device with an Internet connection. And for many consumers who are proponents of everything cloud, the ability to store music, games, documents, photos and other files through the cloud is a dream come true. By contrast, the business world, cautious by nature was a little apprehensive about cloud computing. And some, rightfully so, questioned if the pros outweighed the cons in a cloud-based time and attendance. To answer the question about the pros and cons of cloud-computing, you don’t have to look took far to see that many of today’s businesses, are embracing cloud-based time and attendance like never before.

Benefits Of Cloud-Computing In The World Of Business

One of ATS largest customers, in manufacturing healthcare, with 7 locations across Canada and the United States said it best;

“I wish our company had a more open mind to using a web-based time tracking system before. It’s only after implementing the ATS TimeWork that we began to see the benefits. Our employees no longer bombard their supervisors and our HR department with questions about time-off requests, scheduling and confirmation of hours worked prior to be paid, because, they can now do it online. Our financial controller is happy, because she can access the reports she wants at anytime and the best part of this system, is that our payroll department is no longer taking 2 and a half days to complete payroll. With 1500 employees our payroll and benefits personnel was spending too much time with our old-fashioned time and attendance system that could not keep up with the times and to top it off, the support was dismal.” Leggatt, VP of Operations-Owens Health Manufacturing

Benefits and cost savings of ATS Cloud-Based Time and Attendance include:

Up-To-The-Minute Information
ATS TimeWork provides information for proactive decision-making in real-time. And, with real-time information at your fingertips, workforce decisions shift from reactive to proactive. If overtime is straining the budget, managers can now use up-to-the-second data to access and quickly identify the problem and take immediate steps to fix the situation.

Ease-Of-Use and Flexible
ATS Cloud-Based Time and Attendance is infinitely scalable — and highly configurable framework to easily manage and monitor workforce productivity and absenteeism. ATS Time and Attendance can be accessed via mobile, PC tablets and has an intuitive and user-friendly platform that encourages accountability and compliance.

Award-Winning
ATS Cloud-Based Time and Attendance system is built from the ground up and takes advantage of modern cloud computing technology. With our award-winning multi-tenant model, you can run your business operations on a 21^st century, scalable and affordable platform that delivers continuous innovation.

Service
ATS delivers 99.9% uptime — in effect exceeding the service levels of our nearest competitor. Our 99.9% up and renewal rate demonstrates that we deliver both the reliability and availability that our customers demand.

Implementation
ATS Cloud-Based Time and Attendance reduces the cost of installing, maintaining, supporting a Server onsite. Our cloud-based solution will get you and running in a matter of weeks not months, thus, allowing you to focus on business decisions rather than technology. And, as an organization, your total cost of ownership is lower throughout the lifetime your use of ATS TimeWork Cloud-Based Time and Attendance.

So, isn’t it time you said good-bye to your antiquated system and lackluster provider and move to the cloud? With ATS Workforce Management Solution, you get a single, comprehensive platform for business operations. Whether you are in Toronto, Calgary, New York, Kamloops, Philadephelia or in south and central America, you have access to a powerful cloud computing application that: lower costs, gives you infinite scalability and reliability you can trust.

To download a brochure, see a demonstration, or to request additional information about our cloud-based time and attendance, go to our website.

Benefits Of Cloud-Computing In The World Of Business

Cloud Computing, Employee Self Service, Manufacturing, Time and Attendance, Workforce Management Solutions

Disruptive Technology Is The Future For Growing Businesses

At a recent meeting between ATS professional services team members and executive managers of a Midwestern U.S., 500 employee food manufacturing plant, who also happens to be an existing customer of ATS-the discussion centered on the company’s growth plans to add locations in a few more states and some provinces in Canada over the next 18 months. One of ATS professional services team member suggested that the customer migrate to our cloud-based time and attendance system to leverage its business growth potential. Cloud computing is disruptive and has no boundaries, two elements that should be embraced by organizations.

A recent report by IDC, reads in part, “The cloud has changed the fundamental nature of computing and how business gets done and it will continue to do so through 2020. In fact, IDC predicts that by 2020 clouds will stop being referred to as “public” and “private” and ultimately they will stop being called clouds altogether. It is simply the new way business is done and IT is provisioned. IDC research also shows that the global cloud infrastructure is super-scaling and becoming the launch pad for infrastructure innovation and as a result, hardware vendors’ innovations are shifting to “cloud first”.

And in an economic climate, that is still struggling with; effects from 2008’s recession, continued job losses and, where shareholders expect a rapid return on investment from IT and other related expenditures, the report goes on to say; “IDC is seeing organizations leverage cloud services as a foundation element in this strategy and layering on advanced analytics, collaboration capabilities and new technologies to drive rich customer experience, speed to market in of new products/services, creative digital marketing, mobile commerce and optimization of operational efficiencies amongst others.”

If your company is one of those growing businesses, and if you decide to migrate to the cloud, you will gain:

Unprecedented Flexibility — ATS provides its customers with the freedom to choose the timing of their Attendance ONDemand time and attendance upgrade. Just imagine having your software match the needs of your organization through release updates.

The Power of ATS Cloud Computing Database Migration — ATS Software-As-A-Service platform enables organizations to migrate their on-premises data effortlessly to our platform without concerns of sacrificing control or flexibility.

24×7, 365 Days A Year Of Access—ATS customers can leverage a cloud-based environment to get instant access to attendance, on-the-spot analytics and address leave management challenges, all on your smart phone, tablet PC or workstation from anywhere. Now that’s the modern way of business management.

As a leader of cloud-based workforce management solution, companies depend on ATS Time Attendance OnDemand to run mission-critical business processes globally and in the cloud. ATS cloud-based time and attendance lower IT costs, while increasing productivity, as the adoption of the cloud services is accelerating around the world.

To learn more follow Apex Time Solutions blog, LinkedIn business group and Twitter handle for real-time updates.

To have one of our account executives contact you go to our website.

Attendance OnDemand, Cloud Computing, IDC, LinkedIn, Manufacturing, Software-as-a-Service, Twitter

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