Written by: Allied Time
Summary: Stop time clock fraud by setting your expectations up front, and following through on time and attendance policies.
Time clock fraud is defined as an employee or employer’s attempts at manipulating hours worked. It costs businesses money to pay employees when they aren’t working, and employees lose money when their hours aren’t properly noted. Therefore, it’s important to take steps to prevent time clock fraud.
Set Expectations
When you interview and make new hires, set the expectation that employees must work their assigned schedules. Lay out your time and attendance policy up front, and be sure that there are no hidden issues that would prevent the employee from meeting those guidelines. Show them the location of your amano time clock, and briefly show them how it works. If they are given a time card, be sure they understand that it must be on them at all times. Some companies will use the employee name tag as the time card for this reason.
A commute does not mean an employee will always be late, so be sure to work with this group of people if you really want the hire. Adjust their hours or give them some leeway, just be sure that you cover all of these bases before they start their first day.
Require a Check-In
During the first week, employees should be fairly eager to work. Have them clock in with the employee time clock, then have them find a member of management. They can assign the employee work for the day at that point, and check that they are meeting their assigned hours. You can also institute this policy for employees who are chronically late, but you should still reward employees who do well.
Provide a Report System
Employees who witness time fraud may not be willing to report it, either because they don’t know how or they are afraid to do so. Human Resources should set the standard for reporting bad behavior, and provide a safe space for employees to do so. Be sure that there is a method for employees to mention this behavior with some level of anonymity to protect their identities from retaliation.
Update Time Tracking
Ditch the outdated punch clock, and upgrade to an Amano or something comparable. Employees shouldn’t have to struggle when they clock in or out, so clocks that force them to spend too much time recalling a passcode or signing in are more trouble than they are worth. If you want employees to cut down on time fraud and clock in properly, make it easy for them to do so. Newer systems also have better time tracking capabilities to make payroll’s life easier.