Best-in-Class Workforce Management Software from Industry Experts
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Introducing Apex Time Solutions Website Redesign!

October 28th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance On-Demand - (0 Comments)

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!

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Time and Attendance Software for the Hospitality Industry

October 24th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Self Service | Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Time and Attendance Software | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software | Workforce Scheduling Software - (0 Comments)

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.

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Eco-Time Solutions- Anywhere, Anytime

October 18th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance Solution | Payroll | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

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.

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Streamline HR and Payroll Functions with Employee Self Service

October 17th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Self Service | Employee Time and Attendance - (0 Comments)

“How much vacation time do I have left? How many hours did I work last week? “Was my vacation approved?”

These are just a few questions that HR managers get asked on a daily basis. In addition to screening, recruiting and a host of other duties, HR managers are often faced with employee questions about hours and benefits. Providing timely responses to these questions have never been easier.

The ATS Employee Self Service module gives employee access to their attendance, vacation balances and a host of other HR related functionality. Employees can access their information such as request time off through a web-browser with their own unique PIN number.

ATS Employee Self Service simplifies the automation of the request-and-response procedure. Employees request time off through the Employee Self Service portal- while supervisors receive a notification of the request, and can approve or deny the request. The time off request process is integrated within our time and attendance system, thereby eliminating paperwork and encouraging communication that can be tracked between employers and supervisors.

Companies using Employee Self Service can have configuration functions of this solution. For example, a company can determine the level of access it grants employees including how they enter their time or view available vacation. An HR or payroll practitioner interested in reducing administrative requests will find that the ATS Employee Self Service helps to streamline HR requests.

Solution Benefits:

  • Secure access and password protection
  • Allows employees to review their own benefit usage and benefit balances
  • Save time and reduce costs by putting employee information and HR processes on the web
  • Streamline HR processes, including benefits enrollment and vacation/sick time
  • Access employee information 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week
  • Reduce the number of phone calls received by HR
  • Employees can view and maintain personal information including, time off and review of schedules
  • The solution can accessed through a web browser such as: Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera and Google Chrome
  • Eliminates the manual entry of timesheet information into the payroll system.
  • Reduces requests for historical time and attendance information by providing the information to employees online
  • Allows employees to review their own benefit usage and benefit balances

ATS Time & Attendance Employee Self Service empowers employees with 24/7 access to their benefit information. When paired with ATS Workforce Management Software, the Employee Self Service module provides the added convenience of performing a variety of timekeeping employee transactions.

To read more go to our website. To join the conversation on our weekly user conference, follow us on twitter and to get employee time tracking solution updates join our LinkedIn group.

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Go Green and Eliminate Paper Timesheets

September 26th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance System | Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

 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.

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When Should You Consider Workforce Management Software?

September 21st, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Payroll | Time and Attendance | Time and Attendance On-Demand | Time and Attendance Software | Time Management Solutions - (0 Comments)

Technology is moving at an unprecedented speed. Your company is diverse, and may be spread over multiple locations with different pay policies. This presents a challenge in controlling labour costs, maintaining high customer service levels, and complying with provincial, federal and/or, state regulations.

ATS Workforce Management Software automates employee time and attendance and record keeping and significantly reduces the costs of error-prone, paper-based time sheets. Our integrated time keeping software provides managers with an easy-to-use product that eliminates the frustration and drudgery of manual processes and completes the “time clock to paycheque” solution.

Our Workforce Management Software will help you with:

Workforce Accruals—Automate employee balance accruals and time off requests to produce an accurate labour analysis.

Employee Attendance Management—maintains detailed attendance and absence histories for employees or patterns to notify supervisors when necessary.

Overtime Equalization—Automate overtime distribution to employees based on established business rules.

ERP, HR and payroll interfaces—Integrate time and attendance data with human resources and payroll systems to produce accurate payrolls and keep records up to date.

Training and Support—Users gain knowledge with our in-depth onsite or online training classes.

Employee Self-Service —Employees gain access to their personal information so they can request job changes, request vacation and personal time off.

Data collection—Collect time, labour and job tracking metrics quickly and easily to enforce time and attendance, employee scheduling and job assignments.

If you are still using paper time sheets or worse, the “honour system”, find out how our Workforce Management Software can save your company time and money. ATS Time and Attendance solution helps companies simplify employee time collection with our automated time clocks.  

Follow us on Twitter for product updates and releases and to arrange a live demonstration go to our website.

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National Payroll Week

September 19th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Hosted Time and Attendance System | Payroll | Time Management Solutions | Workforce Scheduling Software - (0 Comments)

The National Payroll Week is held each year by one of Canada’s largest and most respected governing bodies The Canadian Payroll Association.

The association describes National Payroll Week with these words: “National Payroll Week (NPW) is the CPA’s largest annual public relations initiative. Now in its 17th year, NPW is designed to recognize the accomplishments of payroll professionals, the payroll community and the Association by building greater awareness of the size and scope of payroll and its impact on business, government and employees across Canada.”

Payroll Professionals from across the country, and in virtually every industry sector, participate in this annual event. The importance of payroll in a company should not be underestimated. After all, everyone who works for a living loves to get paid!

The Canadian Payroll Association goes on the say: “Canada’s 1.5 million employers count on payroll professionals to annually pay:

  • $810 billion in wages and taxable benefits
  • $250 billion in statutory remittances
  • $90 billion in health and retirement benefits
  • While complying with more than 191 federal and provincial regulatory requirements 
  • Payroll is mission-critical. Its size and scope impact business, government and employers across Canada from both a monetary and a business perspective.
  • Payroll professionals are the key communications point for employees and management on salaries and benefits.

Payroll professionals are responsible for paying employees accurately and on time while complying with more than 191 federal and provincial legislative acts”.

When you consider how important payroll professionals are to an organization, giving them all the tools, necessary to do their jobs will optimize the productivity of your company. ATS time and attendance accurately records: time worked, calculates vacation and sick time, and transfers data to your payroll software. Our hosted time and attendance system enables you to prepare your payroll more quickly and accurately, so you can spend more time on other important tasks.

Testimonial:

“Our time and attendance system continues to run smoothly and the ease of use is beyond my expectations. Your Company’s after sales support is both courteous and helpful. The prompt resolution of our problems and concerns keeps our system running smoothly and thus, the management and staff of our organization are extremely satisfied. Not only were we able to abandon the manual practice and move forth with technology, but you were able to customize the use of the software to meet our specific needs.  Please treat this letter as our solid support for your system and the Apex Time Solutions team. If any potential customer is interested in your products and services, I will be more than happy to provide a reference.

C Stone, Finance Manager, Community Health Services

To read more about our time and attendance system go to our website. To participate in our weekly webinar on time and attendance solutions and workforce management software join our LinkedIn group  and to speak one of our account executives, call us at 1.866.294.2467.

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Is Your Current Time and Attendance Meeting Expectations?

September 15th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Employee Time Tracking Software | Time and Attendance Software - (0 Comments)

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.

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Tracking Employee Time Off

September 14th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Absence Management | Web-Based Time and Attendance Software | Workforce Management Software - (0 Comments)

BBQ season is just about over. The cottage will be closed in a few weeks, and we will be putting away our summer clothes in preparation for fall and of course, winter. Over the last several years the words “work-life balance” has entered the vernacular of today’s workforce. An article by Elizabeth Landau, “why your brain needs vacations” pretty much sums up the health benefits to taking time off. HR managers have been trying to find an effective tool that allows their company to track employee absence request.

ATS integrated cloud-based workforce management software might be just the answer. Our time and attendance solution helps streamline the cumbersome attendance process to bring about an efficient and time-saving practice. Our powerful employee time tracking solution includes the absence request module.

Some of the benefits that numerous companies enjoy from this solution include:

Employee Absence Requests: through a web browser employees can submit their absence requests. The absence request is instantly sent to the appropriate supervisors for action. Employee receives the absence request status: approved, denied, or pending, is displayed on the employee’s page.

Flexible Functionality: the employee interface makes it easy for employees to request a partial day off, full day off, or a range of days.

Accruals and Balances: employees can view time taken and the remaining balance for benefit hours (sick time, vacation, and soon) at their leisure, without asking for HR assistance.

The ATS time and attendance solution absence request process is configured based on company rules. The processing of Excel and manual time sheets is error prone, takes time and is unsatisfactory for both the company and the employee. Costs associated with this manual processing will be reduced with the ATS automated absence request module. The workforce absence request module is a great example of ATS workforce management software capabilities to automate the eligibility and approval process, manage external information and track activities, deadlines and timeframes.

To read more about the ATS workforce absence request module, download a free copy on our site. To join our weekly time and attendance solutions webinar, go to our website.

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The Psychology of Change

September 13th, 2011 | Posted by Apex Time Solutions in Employee Time and Attendance | Employee Time Tracking | Hosted Time and Attendance Software | Time and Attendance On-Demand - (0 Comments)

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.

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